Two residential properties in Dunwoody that have been delayed for years because of zoning controversies appear to be moving forward – one with an about-face for its use, and the other still unknown.
The site of a proposed personal care home at 1822 Mount Vernon, which the Dunwoody City Council nixed in 2023, seems to be in the early construction stages for a single-family home. Another site at 5283 Tilly Mill Road, which also saw opposition to a proposed exemption, went back on the market in early September and is now listed as “pending.”
Roman and Anna Khokhlan, whose Special Land Use Permit application to build a personal care home servicing seven residents was denied last April, are still listed on DeKalb County tax records as the owners of the property.
However, documents filed with the city identify the homeowner as Alan Mick. Public records indicate that the land sold for $440,000 and that the owner intends to build a two-story, six-bedroom, 4,000-square foot home on the property.
Already, massive amounts of fill dirt have been delivered to the site.
The council last April, after hearing from Dunwoody Community Development Senior Planner Madalyn Smith, voted without discussion 6-0 to deny the personal home application, despite several concessions made by the applicants.
Residents near the facility have opposed the construction of the facility since it was proposed, citing concerns about traffic congestion, parking inadequacies, and the location of a 6,800 square-foot care facility in a residential area.
The Khokhlans had threatened to file a lawsuit, claiming that the denial “would be unconstitutional and discriminate an arbitrary and capricious act by the Mayor and City Council without any rational basis therefore, constituting an abuse of discretion in violation of Article I, Section I, Paragraphs I and II of the Constitution of the State of Georgia of 1983 and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.”
It is not known if legal action was ever formally initiated.
In the case of the property at 5383 Tilly Mill Road, known colloquially as the Renfroe home after its longtime owners, has been a source of contention, not because of its proposed use, but because of the existence of a large tree on the property and a tentative plan to have the developers install a multi-use path in front of it.
At a Dunwoody Board of Zoning Appeals meeting earlier this year, Michael Phelps, a developer who wanted to build three 4,000-square-foot homes on the 2.38-acre parcel, had asked for an exception to allow for street frontages that are less than 150 feet.
One of the proposed homes would conform to the 150-feet requirement, but the others would be less – one at 107 and the other at 147 feet. At the meeting, Dunwoody City Senior Planner Madalyn Smith explained that the lots would conform otherwise and would be twice as deep as the minimum footprint for R-100 homes (Residential Medium Lot Districts).
However, more than a dozen people at the hearing objected to the exemption because they want a large tree on the property to be preserved if a proposed multi-use path is built on Tilly Mill.
In addition, residents Tom Simon and Bob Hickey, longtime opponents of installing 12-foot-wide multi-use paths along Tilly Mill Road’s east side, argued that the exception opened the door for the city to use stealth tactics to install a multi-use 12-foot path, starting with the Tilly Mill property.
Simon accused the city of employing “deception, falsehoods, contradictions and possible ethics violations” to circumvent the process for public approval of the trail system.
“The city is trying to make the developer pay to build this path, so the city can get the path built on the east side,” Simon said. “They’ve been trying to do this for 2 ½ years.”
At the meeting, the board voted to approve the exception with language that specifically called for the tree’s preservation only. However, there are no city documents that indicate that the development moved forward.
Recently, listing agent RealtyOne Group added a placard that said, “Back on the market.” Zillow listed the property “for sale” for $975,000 on Sept. 4, and “pending” on Sept. 27.
Dunwoody’s website listing permit applications does not have an entry for the Tilly Mill property. The owner of the property, on DeKalb County property tax records, is listed as TM5383.
Rough Draft has contacted agent Robin Liang regarding the potential sale and will update the story as more information is received.
