Greater Decatur, GA — Express Oil Change is proposing to build a minor automobile repair service facility at 2240 Lawrenceville Highway near Shamrock Plaza in Greater Decatur.
The applicant is also requesting variances from DeKalb County to reduce the required pedestrian and landscape improvements with a C-1 (Local Commercial) zoning district. The property owner is seeking to reduce the streetscape frontage from a 10-foot path to an eight-foot path and reduce a six-foot landscape strip to a two-foot landscape strip where the deceleration lane is located, according to the application.
“There is an existing deceleration lane in the right-of-way that reduces the available streetscape space in the parcel frontage,” Project Manager Brett Buckland wrote in a letter to the county. “The proposed use is an allowed use in the zoning district, but there are architectural restrictions that require the bays in the building to face away from the street frontage.”
Buckland is with Bohler Engineering, who is representing Express Oil Change.
“The parcel owner is proposing to dedicate three feet of right-of-way along the frontage where the deceleration lane is located in order to provide a two-foot landscape strip and eight-foot path in the most limited location,” Buckland wrote. “The proposed streetscape outside of the deceleration lane is proposed to be the full width required by the code.”
He added that the property has limited depth and the project is required to keep the current deceleration lane and 50-foot transitional buffer in the rear of the location. According to the county staff findings, the transitional buffer is required because the property abuts a residential subdivision.
The project also includes a drive through, which will require a special land use permit, according to the county staff report. The county staff has recommended denial of the variances.
“However, staff reviewed the proposed site plan and the staff noted that both the ten…
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