8/8/2014
Honorable Mayor and Councilors
City Manager
City Attorney
Clerk of Council
Subject: (EXCP-6-14-1331) Special Exception Use Request for a place of worship exceeding
250 seats located at 6804, 6720 and 6714 Forrest Road; 6759 and 6763 Mitchell
Drive.
Liberty Hill Baptist Church/Robert Jones have submitted an application for the
Special Exception Use cited above. The property is located in an SFR2 (Single
Family Residential 2) zoning district. The site for the proposed place of
worship is approximately 7.51 acres. The applicant has submitted a site plan,
which is attached. Places of worship in excess of 250 seats are permitted in
an SFR2 zoning district only on a site-specific basis upon approval of the
Council based upon the following criteria and conditions:
-
Access. - Is or will the type of street providing access to the use be adequate to serve the proposed special exception use?
Forrest Road is classified as an undivided arterial and Mitchell Drive is a
local street that connects to Schatulga Road and through the neighborhood to
Kingsridge Drive. Ingress/egress of the site will be provided at these two
streets to accommodate the flow of traffic during the hours of service for the
use.
Note: Forrest Road Widening Project from Woodruff Farm Road to Schatulga Road:
Acquisition is underway and expected to be completed by Fall 2014. Construction
should then begin by the end of the year.
-
Traffic and Pedestrian Safety. - Is or will access into and out of the property be adequate to provide for traffic and pedestrian safety, the anticipated volume of traffic flow, and access by emergency vehicles?
The site allows ingress/egress at Forrest Road and Mitchell Drive, which should
maintain adequate flow of traffic to and from the subject property.
-
Adequacy of Public Facilities. - Are or will public facilities such as schools, water or sewer utilities, and police or fire protection be adequate to serve the special exception use?
Services such as water, sewer, utilities, police, and fire protection will be
adequate and serve the proposed use at this location. Furthermore, there will
be no impact on neighboring schools in the immediate area.
-
Protection from Adverse Affects. - Are or will refuse, service, parking and loading areas on the property be located or screened to protect other properties in the area from such adverse effects as noise, light, glare or odor?
Parking and loading areas shall be set forth per the UDO requirements.
Off-street parking will be utilized on-site. No buffer requirement exists for
SFR2 property abutting SFR2 property. External dumpsters/compactors and
lighting are addressed in the UDO. Noise impacts are addressed in the City
Code.
Fort Benning has reviewed the request and recommends that smoke disclosure
statements to be included in real estate documents. This smoke disclosure is
necessary due to potential impacts from their federally required prescribed
burning activities. They also recommend compliance with the National Pollutant
Discharge and Elimination System (NPDES) permitting and implementation of best
management practices.
-
Hours of Operation. - Will the hours and manner of operation of the special exception use have no adverse effects on other properties in the area?
The hours of operation for this use will not have an adverse impact on the
neighboring properties in the area. The Church and Fellowship Hall hours
through the week will be on Wednesday 5-9 p.m., Thursday 12-9 p.m., and Sunday
8 a.m.-2 p.m. The Church will only be used on Sunday unless there are programs
scheduled. All other meeting will be conducted in the Fellowship Hall at times
stated above.
-
Compatibility. - Will the height, size or location of the buildings or structures on the property be compatible with the height, size, character or location of buildings or other structures on neighboring properties?
The height, size and location of the proposed structure will be compatible with
other structures on neighboring properties.
Council District: District 4 (Turner Pugh)
Sixty (60) property owners within 300 feet of the property have been notified
by mail of the proposed Special Exception Use. To date, the Planning Department
has received three inquiries regarding this request. They were asking about the
impact of traffic on the neighborhood particularly facing Mitchell Drive and
also the proposed location of the detection ponds. One of them was concerned
about the buffers to his property that is south.
Additional Information: The existing church will be demolished and a new church
with a 400 permanent seats capacity will be build. Also, a new 14,600 sq. ft.
fellowship hall will be built as indicated in the concept plan. Modular
buildings are planned to be used for the new fellowship hall which shall be
reviewed and approved by the Inspection and Codes Department before
construction.
They are planning to provide 101 parking spaces, including 4 handicapped spaces.
The Planning Advisory Commission recommended Approval at the July 16, 2014
meeting.
The Planning Department recommends that the Council Conditionally Approve the
use because the application for a Special Exception use meets the criteria for
approval. The recommended condition is: Smoke and noise disclosure statements
shall be included in any real estate documents.