Henry S. Miller and their consultant Masterplan have released an updated proposal regarding their application to rezone Pepper Square from Community Retail to Mixed Use 2. This appears to be the final version that will be presented to the City Plan Commission at the upcoming hearing on Thursday, August 8th. In summary, they are seeking to build 752 residential units over 3 phases, in buildings that range from 5 stories to 12 stories. They would have the option to add an additional 116 units if they are designated as retirement housing and another additional 116 units if they are made available to households earning less than the area median family income. (It’s likely they would opt to pay a fee in lieu of offering the mixed-income housing units. There is no fee in lieu option for the retirement units). The total maximum number of dwelling units would be 984. Their most recent prior proposal had included a maximum number of dwelling units of 1,550.

The first phase of their proposal would include a 5 story building with 300 units and two park spaces – one along Belt Line Rd and one interior to the site. The exact unit counts for subsequent phases has not been determined yet, but they are limited to a max of 984 units total across all phases. The second phase would include a 12 story building situated closer to Preston Rd and the third phase would include another 5 story building.  The building heights have not changed from their most recent prior proposal.

A new light signal at Berry Trail would be warranted as part of the first phase, but no other guaranteed traffic-related changes would take place as part of this proposal. The landowner’s consultant has uploaded various documents to their site that you can review. To see more details surrounding the Planned Development conditions that would be placed on top of this MU-2 zoning, and to see the latest renderings and answers to questions posed by neighborhood leaders, navigate here.

If you have an opinion on this rezoning application, you are encouraged to make it known by showing up and speaking at City Hall (1500 Marilla St, 6th floor) on Thursday, August 8th. You can register to speak when you arrive that day. If you can’t be there in person, please sign up to speak online by the deadline of August 7th at 3pm. The link to register as a remote speaker is here.

Note – you do not have to register in advance to speak IF YOU ARE THERE IN PERSON. The hearing will begin at 12:30pm, and this application appears to be Item 6 on the agenda. Parking is limited at City Hall, so carpooling is encouraged. Be prepared to pay for public parking. Please let us know if you’ll be attending by submitting an RSVP here. This will be the best way for us to get you last minute information, if needed.