After extensive back-and-forth involving neighbors and Ebenezer Methodist Church, the City Council on Monday approved a compromise agreement granting a Use Permit for a “rural event facility” in and around a new 23,000-square foot building on the church’s Arnold Mill Road campus.

The Pardue Family Center – which features a large hall, stage, kitchens, and meeting rooms – as well as outdoor space next to it sits on 6.61 acres near the original “little white church.” Ebenezer Methodist needed to obtain a Use Permit after deciding to pursue having consistent events outside the scope of regular church activities at that location. (These might include weddings, family reunions, corporate retreats, and the like.) 

The Use Permit request was first considered at the Council’s May 5 meeting. At that time, citizens opposed the commercial event venture so close to their homes, primarily citing noise concerns. The Council deferred the item that night to allow for behind-the-scenes discussions trying to find common ground between the two sides.

Several of those involved in this process, including neighbors and Senior Pastor Glenn Hannigan, spoke about these exchanges during the general public comment portion of Monday’s meeting. Those talks were facilitated by elected officials, with Councilmember Phil Cranmer singled out for productively steering the discussions to the resolution the Council voted for on Monday.

Under the terms of the approved Use Permit, conditions for non-church related functions include:

• Limiting hours of operations in the indoor portion from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sundays
• Limiting hours of operation for the adjacent outdoor space to between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. all days
• Restricting deliveries to between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Restricting amplified and other sounds (at property lines) to no louder than 45 dba
• Requiring that the City be notified within 5 days of the property’s sale, after which the Use Permit would be removed (and a new owner, if so desired, would have to apply separately)
• Requiring at least one police officer at any event with over 100 attendees (with a total cap of 300 attendees per event)

After thanking those engaged in this process, Cranmer said, “I know it’s not perfect for both parties, but hopefully we’re at a happy medium.” He added that the City reserves “the right to revisit” the Use Permit matter in the future.

PROCLAMATIONS FOR PUBLIC WORKS, EMS WEEKS

Earlier in the meeting, Mayor Peyton Jamison read the first of three proclamations – recognizing May 26 as Memorial Day and, in so doing, paying tribute to late heroes in the U.S. military who sacrificed for our nation from the Revolutionary War to the present-day. 

Jamison noted “silent but powerful symbols” installed this past weekend around the City – including along Heritage Walk outside City Hall – by Milton Veterans Memorial Markers volunteers to honor deceased military members with Milton connections. Those will be visible, too, during the City’s Memorial Day ceremony, which will start at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 26, on the Green at Crabapple Market. (The event will move inside City Hall in the case of inclement weather.)

The next proclamation marked May 18 through 24 as Public Works Week and, with it, celebrated those in the City’s Public Works Department for helping keep Milton “safe, connected, and thriving,” according to the Mayor. In Milton, this department plans, designs, acquires, inspects, builds, operates, maintains, and manages key services and infrastructure – including 16 traffic signals, 13 miles of gravel roads, 170 miles of paved City-owned roads, 98 miles of sidewalks and trails, and 14 roundabouts, not to several buildings and hundreds of acres of greenspace.

The third and final proclamation recognized EMS Week for the same dates but a different purpose – hailing those who promptly, compassionately, and effectively respond to medical crises and, in so doing, help save lives. In addition to ambulance workers, paramedics and EMTs on the internationally accredited Milton Fire-Rescue Department provide such emergency care. as well as proactive preventive health care, to people in our community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

NO-COST AGREEMENT FOR MORE PARKING BY FUTURE PARK

This was followed by a general public comment period in which over a dozen people weighed in on the Ebenezer Methodist Church Use Permit proposal. The Council then unanimously approved the meeting’s Consent Agenda, which included agreements with:

• Bridgeport Carpets to repair tile floors – including cracks and missing grout – in both bathrooms at Milton City Park and Preserve’s Community Center, with the contractor involved in the original remodeling agreeing to reimburse the City for associated expenses
• Fulton County Schools for City-affiliated Parks and Recreation programs to use the outdoor fields as well as the gymnasium at Northwestern Middle School over the next five years
• TerraMark to conduct a property survey and provide platting services in Birmingham Park as the City explores putting this roughly 200-acre property under a conservation easement to preserve natural habitats and greenspace
• Info-Tech Research Group to give the City’s Information Services Department access to a comprehensive suite of resources to help it make better informed decisions, optimize costs, and enhance effectiveness
• Greenleaf Investment Partners, the owners of 13000 Deerfield Parkway, to allow for use of 150 additional public parking spaces on that property for those using a future, adjacent active park at no cost to the City
• Wishart Walk LLC for City event staff to use a portion of Lecoma Trace (which is part of the Crabapple Market development) during Crabapple Fest, also at no cost to the City

2 KEY VOTES HELP CHART DEERFIELD’S FUTURE

Monday night’s meeting culminated the far-reaching, detailed, community-driven process charting a vibrant, dynamic, uniquely Milton future for Deerfield, which encompasses what’s in and around Highway 9, Windward Parkway, Deerfield Parkway, Webb Road, and Morris Road.

Over many months, Milton’s project team engaged extensively with citizens, pivotal stakeholders, pertinent committee members, as well as City Council to determine what they believed Deerfield should be like in the years and decades to come. That led to two pivotal votes Monday that work hand-in-hand.

The first are text amendments to the Deerfield Form-Based Code that align with this comprehensive vision. As he has done before, Director of Special Projects Bob Buscemi went through the changes in detail Monday. They touch on a wide range of topics such as residential-to-commercial ratios depending on a property’s zoning, incentives to encourage amenities people want (like parking and “trails”), and maximum building heights. He also noted a few more recent adjustments, like limiting the number of “loft apartments” (which are apartments above commercial spaces).

“I know it’s been a long road,” said Mayor Jamison, thanking those who carried this project across the finish line. “A lot of community input has come into this over the past year.”

Councilmember Cranmer, who with fellow Councilmember Jan Jacobus represents the Deerfield area, added,” People are excited. People are anxious to see this come to bear.”

A short time later, the City Council approved a resolution adopting the Destination Deerfield Urban Design Manual. This will serve as a visual, hands-on guide to developers, City staff, and pertinent committees like the Design Review Board to communicate what the community wants to see (and not see) in Deerfield, such as architectural styles and desired public spaces.

“This is the opportunity … to make Deerfield distinctly Milton,” said Allison Bickers, from the City’s partners at Cooper Carry, who presented on the Design Manual.

Jamison called the Design Manual “probably the most important thing. We want to have the right look and feel.”

For more about this project, visit www.miltonga.gov/Deerfield.

VOTE SETS STAGE TO MAKE HOPEWELL ROAD PROPERTY A GREENSPACE

Also on Monday, the Council voted for Milton Fire to accept a Medical Response Unit – essentially an ambulance, explained Fire Chief Gabe Benmoussa – from American Medical Response (AMR). This City won’t pay anything for this fully stocked vehicle beyond insurance and maintenance costs.

The meeting ended with an item related to the City-owned 38.921-acre property off Hopewell Road, which had been put up for sale to qualified bidders. On Monday, the Council voted unanimously to remove this property from the sealed bid process and authorized staff to initiate its permanent protection through the City’s voter-approved Greenspace Bond program.

By securing this site as protected greenspace, the City would not only prevent overdevelopment but also create a critical link to Providence Park (which the property borders). Doing so would roughly double Providence Park’s size and, in so doing, significantly expand citizens’ access to nature in the heart of Milton.

Video of Monday's meeting (which was interrupted very briefly by a power situation) can be found here: https://youtu.be/x53bacSGaxU. the City Council is next scheduled to convene for a Regular Meeting on June 2.