Roswell's Planning Commission will rehear a controversial 62-townhome proposal on Old Roswell Road and consider rules governing whether and where data centers could operate when it meets Tuesday, July 21, at 7 p.m. in City Hall.
The five-item agenda includes a rezoning recommendation that would go to Mayor and Council, new regulations for an industry not currently permitted in the city, and three additional land-use and ordinance items.
Pope & Land townhome rezoning gets a do-over
The headline item is a fresh public hearing on the Pope & Land rezoning (case PL-20252326). A vote taken at the June 16 regular meeting was voided, and the case returns for a complete rehearing, according to the July 21 agenda packet.
Applicant Dennis J. Webb Jr. of Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP, representing P&L North Village L.P., wants to rezone 9.99 acres at 0 Old Roswell Road from CX (Commercial Mixed Use) to OR (Office Residential) for 62 townhomes. The undeveloped, heavily wooded site sits on the east side of Old Roswell Road, north of Old Ellis Road, flanked by the Harlow East and Harlow West townhome communities.
City staff recommends denial on all 10 standards of review. Planning & Zoning Director Jeannie Peyton's staff report found the proposal would encroach into the city's 100-foot stream buffer by 6,778 square feet and into the 50-foot impervious setback by 34,406 square feet. The Engineering Division said it will not support a stream buffer variance for lots 41–44. A proposed retaining wall up to 13 feet high along the eastern boundary would require separate Mayor and Council approval.
In comments included in the staff report, the city's Economic Development Department called the site a strategically important location within the Mansell corridor, adjacent to the former General Motors redevelopment area that the draft 2045 Comprehensive Plan identifies as a major employment center and northern gateway.
Data center text amendment
Commissioners will also continue work on a text amendment that would formally define data centers in Roswell's Unified Development Code and establish where they could be built. Data centers are effectively banned under current rules because the UDC does not list them as a permitted use in any zoning district, according to the city's April 2026 staff white paper.
The financial gap is stark: an 80,000-square-foot data center would generate $395,920 in annual property tax for Roswell, compared with $15,837 for a comparable warehouse, the white paper found. But such a facility would create only about 20 permanent jobs. Neighboring cities Alpharetta, Atlanta, South Fulton, and Forsyth County all require conditional or special use approval and impose buffer requirements from residential areas.
Three more items on the docket
The commission will hear a conditional use application for used vehicle sales at 200 Hembree Park Drive near GA-400 (case ZUSE-0326-000001), a preliminary plat at 38 Maple Street (PLAT-0126-000003), and a first reading of a stormwater management ordinance update to UDC Article 12, Section 12.5. The stormwater amendment would need a second reading before taking effect.
How to weigh in
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 21, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 38 Hill Street. The agenda notes a possible quorum of Mayor and City Council members may attend as observers. Commission members scheduled to hear the cases are Chair Kitty Singleton, Vice Chair Eric Schumacher, and Commissioners Pooja Gardner, Robert Mayer, and Carol Williams.
