Developers Will Ask for Further Delay on Cumming Kroger Plan

The development group behind plans to build a Kroger near Cumming will again delay their presentation to Forsyth County authorities due to continued difficulties with local residents.

The two sides have reached an impasse on the size of the proposed project, the number of parking spaces in the front of the store, and developers’ seeming deviance from the area’s equestrian theme.

Forsyth County planning staff have taken issue with a few variances requested by Kroger in its plans to convert 26.958 acres of land into a 141,000 sq. ft. grocery store, according to county records.

Kroger first applied for a zoning review on June 5, seeking to re-zone the target land from restricted industrial district and agricultural district to commercial business district.

County staff generally support Kroger’s proposal for the southern corner of Bethelview and Castleberry roads, but advise against three variances sought by Kroger; namely, staff does not support variances to eliminate the planting requirement for trees, putting all of the proposed 658 parking spaces in the front parking lot, and removing the required distance between the building facade and sidewalks.

In a Sept. 2 staff report, the county arborist advocates for the implementation of “undisturbed tree save areas into the planning and development of the site” to allow the developers to meet the required tree density set forth by the county. Additionally, the arborist cautions that “[a]pproving the variance to eliminate the required evergreen screening will significantly open the view of the parking lot up as observer from the road frontages.”

County water and sewer staff caution that the proposed development would tax the sewer capacity in the area and any improvements needed to a nearby pump station to serve the new store would need to be built at Kroger’s expense.

With the postponement of the Sept. 22 on the horizon, it is not clear when the next public hearing or Forsyth County Board of Commissioners action will take place on the proposal.