This story has been updated.

Decatur, GA — The Decatur City Commission, at its April 15 regular meeting, denied a request from Smarties Academy to modify the zoning conditions and conditional use permit to increase the enrollment to 178 students, an increase from the current 148 students.

The motions to deny the requests passed with a 4-0 vote. Commissioner George Dusenbury was not in attendance.

Since Smarties has a conditional use permit and zoning conditions that include the enrollment cap, the owners must come before the city to increase the enrollment or make other changes to the property. The planning commission recommended denial of the modification of zoning conditions and the conditional use permit with votes of 6-1.

In March 2022, the daycare requested a zoning change from low-density residential and single-family residential to institutional. The daycare has also requested a conditional use permit to operate the daycare, as it became the primary use of that facility. The Decatur City Commission approved the conditional use permit on March 21, 2022, with the condition that the enrollment was capped at 148 students.

Last year, Smarties sought to increase its enrollment to 255 and construct an additional building on its property. Smarties Academy appeared before the planning commission in May 2023, and commissioners unanimously rejected the proposed changes to Smarties Academy’s conditional use permit and comprehensive site development plan. The plan faced significant opposition from residents.

Due to residents’ pushback, Smarties withdrew its application, which the city commission accepted at the May 25, 2023, meeting. Smarties Academy was not proposing any new building construction as part of this request.

This new request is only to increase the enrollment to 178 students.

“This modest increase in student enrollment will allow Smarties to offer more flexible programming year-round and will have little to no impact on surrounding properties,” the application from Smarties says. “Importantly, no building additions are proposed in connection with this requested student enrollment increase.”

Mayor Patti Garrett said the increase of 30 students is more than the neighborhood feels like it can absorb. The commissioners also noted that the same concerns that were brought up in 2022 when Smarties requested the zoning conditions and CUP are also still at play in this request.

Jenna Lee, an attorney representing Smarties Academy, said the request is to give Smarties some flexibility to grow and to allow students of the Smarties staff and current families to attend the summer program. She also reiterated that no plans exist to expand or renovate the property.

Smarties Academy has a license from Bright from the Start, and the license cap is 190 students. The daycare has a waitlist of over 500 potential students.

Residents raised concerns about the traffic and congestion in the area during school drop-off and pick-up.

Lee said an additional 30 students will not substantially or materially impact the traffic in the area. The traffic engineer who conducted a traffic study for Smarties agreed. But residents said the traffic is already an issue and worried that there could be more congestion in the area and in the neighborhood if the enrollment is expanded.

Residents were also concerned about being more of a commercial use and expanding the capacity when the daycare is in a residential area.

In other business:

– The city commission approved an alcoholic beverage license for consumption on premises of beer and wine at Bench Warmers Sports Grill, located at 240 West Ponce de Leon Ave.

– The city commission approved an agreement with Dianna Hunt & Associates, Inc. for up to $34,200 for easement acquisition services for the Derrydown Way stormwater improvements, which requires 18 temporary construction easements and one permanent easement.

“This project is located in the area of Derrydown Way, Hilldale Drive and South Columbia Drive that drain west to Shoal Creek as identified in the Storm Water Master Plan,” Project Civil Engineer Jennings Bell wrote in a memo. “The drainage improvements will include new piping, inlets, bioswales, curb, gutter, and asphalt.”

Assistant City Manager Cara Scharer said acquiring the easements may take about four months.

“Once the easements are acquired, the project’s first phase will be bid and construction will be able to begin,” Scharer said.

– The city commission awarded a contract for $194,920 to Big Apple Services. It established a project budget of $220,000 for pavement striping and marking on Coventry Road and East and West Ponce de Leon Avenue.

“The locations are Coventry Road from Scott Boulevard to the city limit, West Ponce de Leon Avenue from the city limit to West Trinity, and part of East Ponce de Leon Avenue near Church Street to North Candler Street,” Scharer said. “Pavement striping and markings on these local streets have deteriorated significantly over time and need to be replaced, and that’s specific to West Ponce and East Ponce.”

Part of the striping plan will be to add some lines to separate the bike lane on West Ponce from the travel lane.

“There’s an opportunity to take the space between the lane and the bike lane and put a 12-inch solid white line throughout the corridor to help maintain that separation,” Scharer said. “It’s not what we love to see, which is four feet of space in between, but we’re working to maintain what’s there and maintain the same pattern that you see today relative to on-street parking, bike lane location and the route.”

– The city commission also approved temporary alcoholic beverage licenses for beer and wine to be sold at some upcoming special events, which are:

– The Decatur Arts Festival will be held on May 3-5 on the Square.

– The Pollinator Festival will be held on June 22 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the Square. The license for this event is just for wine.

– The Pan African Festival will be held on August 17 from 3-10 p.m. on the Square.

– Placita Latina Salsa on the Square will be held on Sept. 21 from 4-10 p.m.

– The Decatur BBQ and Bands Festival will be held on Oct. 26 at Harmony Park from 12-10 p.m.

– The Decatur Wine Festival will be held on Nov. 9 from 12:30-4:40 p.m. on the Square.

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