Fort Oglethorpe denies auto shop rezoning amid resident complaints
A rezoning request for a planned auto shop development was recently denied by the Fort Oglethorpe City Council after citizens expressed concerns about how the new business would impact a residential area.
During the Feb. 10 City Council meeting, a third reading of the request took place in a public hearing, at which time Alex Ostendorf, assistant project manager for Franklin Street Commercial Real Estate Services, explained the request on behalf of the developer purchasing the property.
Ostendorf explained that the request was for a C-2 (commercial) special exception zoning for an auto service development at 1599 Battlefield Parkway.
“My company is actually representing the purchaser of the property. We are representing as the construction project manager,” Ostendorf said. “The current site plan we have proposed will have one car-servicing station about 1,400-squarefeet, and additional development of a drive-thru (restaurant) to just make sure our economic impact is as large as possible.”
Ostendorf said his client fully intends to build according to all the local codes and has spoken with the city’s building department in order to determine what type of landscaping would need to accompany the development.
From the development side, Ostendorf couldn’t name what specific companies would occupy the building, but did say the plan was for a known auto servicer to move in, as well as a popular fast-food chain for the drive-thru part of the development.
“The franchise is potentially a national company in the oil and lube servicing,” Ostendorf said. “I’m not familiar with the specific franchise and am not able to speak to that at the time. And (as for) the fast food, the potential drive-thru is not determined at this time either.”
“So, you’re looking at a fast food and an automobile service both going in there,” council member Paula Stinnett clarified.
“Yes ma’am, the parcel currently has one building on it, so we would be using the same area where that building is, and that would be where the auto servicing would be,” Ostendorf explained. “To the left of that would be where this new drive-thru would be.”
According to council member Derek Rogers, some residents living near the site have expressed concerns about noise and other potential issues. That, mixed with the uncertainty of exactly what businesses were planned for the site, created some trepidation about the rezoning.
“We’ve got citizens that are concerned, obviously, with it being auto over there,” Rogers said. “So we’re going to have to decide on this without knowing what it is.”
Council member Jim Childs said he was reluctant to grant a rezoning without more information.
“I would like to see a color drawing of exactly what it is because we do have citizens that are concerned about it, and it would make our job a lot either to make these types of decisions,” Childs said. “We’re supposed to make a decision here in five minutes or ten minutes and that’s hard for me to do.”
In addition to potential noise, Stinnett said lighting concerns would also need to be addressed with the residential area being nearby.
One resident sent in a letter opposing the rezoning because she was out of town and couldn’t attend the hearing. City attorney Robert Stultz read the letter aloud so it could be included in the minutes.
Per the letter from Marla and Marvin Brack of General Johnson Road, which is directly behind the proposed location, the couple feared the development would cramp their property line and devalue their home.
“We do not want to have an automotive repair shop in our backyard,” the letter read. “Please do not relocate this type of business on top of us.”
When it came time to vote on the matter, Mayor Earl Gray’s call for a motion to approve was answered with silence, which means the rezoning request failed for lack of a motion.
Adam Cook is a general assignment reporter and covers the Walker-catoosa County area. He has been a reporter since 2009.