Decatur, GA — The Decatur City Commission, during its regular meeting on May 15, accepted a request from Smarties Academy to withdraw their application and plans to expand the daycare at 465 Clairemont Ave.
Smarties was seeking to increase its enrollment to 255 and construct an additional building on its property. Smarties Academy appeared before the planning commission on May 9 and commissioners unanimously rejected the proposed changes to Smarties Academy’s conditional use permit and comprehensive site development plan. The plan faced significant opposition from residents.
The withdrawal allows Smarties additional time to reconsider their plans and reapply for the conditional use permit and comprehensive site development plan changes. Jenna Lee, an attorney representing Smarties, said the daycare staff understands and has received feedback from the planning commission and residents that we would like to incorporate into the plans. She said Smarties plans to prepare to reapply.
If Smarties does reapply, they will have to go through the process again and reappear before the city’s historic preservation and planning commissions before appearing before the city commission.
Smarties Academy is located at the Common Table Church at 465 Clairemont Ave. In March 2022, the daycare requested a zoning change from low-density residential and single-family residential to institutional. The daycare has also requested a conditional use permit to operate the daycare.
The property was previously developed as a church campus for The Common Table, formerly known as the Lutheran Church of The Messiah. Common Table ended its ministry at the end of 2021.
The Decatur City Commission approved the conditional use permit on March 21, 2022, with the condition that the enrollment was capped at 148 students.
In other business:
– The city commission approved a few other recommendations from the planning commission, as well as an annexation ordinance to annex 1121 and 1123…
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