Daycare plan withdrawn amid noise, traffic concerns from Brookhaven neighbors

Elevation of the proposed day care Courtesy of City of Brookhaven An application to build out a national daycare franchise on Apple Valley Road was withdrawn at the Brookhaven City Council meeting on Tuesday Aug after neighbors spoke out about variances they announced would remove trees increase noise and invite traffic to the dead end street A total of eight variances were requested by Harsh Goyal the owner of Kiddie Academy in Midtown to allow exceptions for land progress in the overlay district City staff recommended approval of seven of the eight variances Mark Robinson of All Day Retail explained he d been working with Launch Properties to develop the property at Apple Valley Rd for a year I feel like we ve worked cohesively with everyone in the comments and we are kind of feeling like we ve met everything we need to meet Robinson commented Isabel Moultrie a -year resident of the street spoke on behalf of the Apple Valley Homeowners group She commented neighbors had been meeting with the developer city staff and Council Member Jennifer Owens for months to point out the complexities of this interior street that are not visible are right now apparent unless you live here Moultrie noted the developer reached out to the neighborhood group to hear concerns and were very forthcoming and transparent However she claimed the proximity of the daycare building light spillage tree removal and noise levels from two proposed playgrounds would negatively impact neighbors The land formerly housed a pesticide company and neighbors requested a yearly compliance assessment to be filed with the city and the Environmental Protection Agency Otherwise Moultrie disclosed they wouldn t have any idea if there s been damage to the remediated area Regarding the circumstances we don t feel that our concerns and the conditions we submitted have been incorporated into the storm water variance Moultrie explained We ask for a higher level of oversight between city inspectors and the developer during construction post construction and for all future landowners Brie Murray a -year Apple Valley Road resident reported the trees buffer noise from the train and construction I don t think I need to lecture you all on the environmental benefits of retaining trees in the area Murray disclosed Harsh Goyal Kiddie Academy s Midtown owner explained the evolution association has been in touch with the EPA regarding environmental disturbances Owens acknowledged that access to quality childcare is a huge need in our state and commended Kiddie Academy but ultimately could not vote in favor of the progress The number of variances that are being requested in particular asking us to exempt out of the citizens open space which is supposed to be a constituents benefit for the Apple Valley corridor I just don t feel good about the current site design explained Owens adding that she s open to collaborating on a different plan The Peachtree overlay district was the culmination of society hearings and locality input Council Member John Funny declared adding several variances to the property detracts from the special character area and overlay I commend you for offering the childcare to this public but when you look at a lot like this it s a tough fit Funny disclosed Goyal withdrew the application The post Daycare plan withdrawn amid noise traffic concerns from Brookhaven neighbors appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta