Atlanta zoning board opposes replacing nine-house plan with 24 Austin Road townhomes

Atlanta’s Zoning Review Board recommends rejecting a plan for 24 townhomes at 1956 Austin Road SW, where an approved site plan already allows nine detached homes. The board’s Oct. 8 denial recommendation agrees with planning staff and Neighborhood Planning Unit P; it is not a final rejection of the amendment.

Applicant Abdulrafiu Kokumo seeks to change the layout and housing type on the undeveloped 5.06-acre site in Kings Forest while retaining its planned-development housing zoning. The latest staff report describes four townhome buildings, with each home listed at 2,900 square feet.

Planning staff says water, sewer and other public services are available, and the proposal does not require a change to the city’s comprehensive-plan designation. Its objection is to the buildings themselves: attached homes along Austin Road and Hill Acres Road, which the report describes as streets of detached houses with front porches.

The proposal lists 85.2% of the site as total open space, above the 73% requirement. Even so, staff considers the four townhome buildings incompatible with the size and form of neighboring development.

Rejecting the amendment would not leave the land without a housing plan: staff says nine detached homes can be built under the site plan approved Feb. 4.