The petitioner, Harold Yellin for 480 Mall Boulevard, LLC, is requesting to rezone property located at 144 Drayton Street from an RIP-A (Residential – Medium Density) classification to a BC-1 (Central Business) classification (File No. 17-005220-ZA). The subject property is an existing 0.12-acre lot located at the northeast corner of Drayton Street and Oglethorpe Avenue. The property is currently developed with a two-story commercial building undergoing renovation.  

Zoning in the immediate area has remained stable and unchanged for many years.  The nearest zoning action took place in 2010 when property at the northwest corner of Abercorn Street and Oglethorpe Avenue was rezoned from RIP-A to RIP-B. The surrounding development pattern includes a mix of office, commercial and residential uses as typically found in the downtown area.

In requesting the BC-1 zoning classification, the petitioner’s intent is to establish a restaurant on the subject property. In consideration of the more residential nature of the RIP-A zoning classification, the restaurant use was removed from the list of permitted uses in that district in 2001. It is, however permitted in other downtown districts including the RIP-B district. The BC-1 district is essentially the BC (Community - Business) district without a requirement for off-street parking. Although there are a few examples in the Montgomery Street corridor, BC-1 zoning exists primarily north of York Lane. South of Oglethorpe, the predominant zoning districts are RIP-A, B and C.    

On September 26, 2017, the Planning Commission voted to recommend denial of the request to rezone property at 144 Drayton Street from RIP-A to BC-1 and alternatively recommends approval of the property being rezoned to the RIP-B zoning classification.

Approval of the MPC's Alternative Recommendation of RIP-B.