Church’s request to build bigger meeting house clears first hurdle

The Sandy Springs Planning Commission voted Aug 21 to recommend approval for a conditional use permit allowing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to build a new meeting house and add more parking to its Barfield Road site.

The 13.16-acre site at 6449 and 6450 Barfield Road has a temple, meeting housing, and distribution services buildings.

The church wants to demolish and replace the existing meeting house, originally built in 1988, and add another parking lot, Sandy Springs Senior Planner Matthew Anspach told the planning commissioners. The proposed one-story meeting house would have a 25,311-square-foot footprint – an increase of 10,322 square feet.

The church also wants to add 64 parking spaces to its parcels, bringing the total to 311. Spaces for electric vehicles and ADA-accessible vans will be added.

A conditional use permit was required because of potential impacts such as traffic. Studies showed no new traffic capacity measures are needed. Anspach said staff determined the plan would not adversely affect the community and would comply with all previous conditions and the development code with a few tweaks.

Chris Cornell from the Glenridge Close Homeowners Association said the organization supports approval of the conditional use permit for the church to replace its meeting house. He said the church and the HOA have worked collaboratively on issues such as security cameras, landscaping, and construction hours.

TheSandy Springs City Council will hold a public hearing on the rezoning on Sept. 17.

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