A $2.5 million stormwater detention pond planned for two church properties on Hardscrabble Road goes before Roswell's Design Review Board on Tuesday, Oct. 6. The hearing begins at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers.
The project, proposed by World Harvest Church at 320 Hardscrabble Road, would span 9.6 acres across that property and the neighboring Gethsemane Garden Missionary Baptist Church at 398 Hardscrabble Road. Both parcels are zoned Civic and Institutional and surrounded on all sides by single-family residential neighborhoods.
The Mayor and City Council already approved the site plan and two variances for the project at their July 27 meeting. Those variances eliminated side-yard building setbacks on both properties. The setback at World Harvest Church dropped from 50 feet to zero, and the setback at Gethsemane Garden dropped from 10 feet to zero, so the stormwater structure can cross the shared property line.
The council's July approval also removed five of eight original conditions from a 2006 zoning case tied to the site.
What the DRB will decide
The board's role is narrow.
It can approve or reject the design of the retaining walls, fencing and landscaping but cannot change the council-approved site plan.
The proposed retaining walls use Taupestone modular block construction and reach approximately 14 feet high. According to the city staff report, the walls sit below the surrounding grade and would not be visible to neighboring properties.
A 5-foot black aluminum fence would ring the pond's perimeter. Staff noted the fence would be slightly visible through landscape buffers: a 40-foot planted buffer along Gethsemane Garden's rear and side property lines, and a 15-foot buffer at World Harvest Church.
Stormwater relief for neighbors
Engineer Michael P. Lynch of Foresite Group, the applicant of record, wrote in an Aug. 11 letter of intent that the pond would manage stormwater for both church properties. Lynch also wrote that it would relieve runoff problems affecting some adjacent homes. The staff report does not specify how many residential properties would benefit or detail the drainage history that prompted the project.
The site is not in a floodplain, per the FEMA flood insurance map cited in the staff report.
What comes next
Tuesday's hearing is classified as an initial review. The board could choose to issue a final decision at the same meeting. If not, the DRB's next scheduled meeting is Nov. 6.
Even with DRB approval, construction cannot begin until the city issues a building permit. The stormwater department also requires a full hydrology study, a civil plan set, a stormwater maintenance agreement and an infiltration report before granting a land-disturbance permit.
DRB Chair Ian Atkinson will preside. The case is assigned to Planner II Kristen Thomasberger in the Roswell Community Development Department. Residents can attend the Oct. 6 meeting or contact the department for more information.
