OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Johns Creek Planning Commission Meeting – July 8, 2025: Text Amendment on Accessory Cemeteries

City CouncilTuesday, July 8, 2025
BodyJohns Creek, Georgia
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, July 8, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 23:36

Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

All right, good evening.

0:07

I'd like to call the July 8th meeting of the City of John's Creek Planning Commission to order.

0:11

This time I'd like to ask everyone everyone to please silence or turn off your cell phone.

0:16

The planning commission is a recommending body to the plan to the mayor and the city council and follows guidelines in conjunction with the public hearing to assist in formulating a recommendation.

0:26

Copies of the planning commission procedures and staff reports are available at the entrance to the chamber.

0:31

The presiding officer will call cases on the agenda for public hearing.

0:35

First, the presiding officer shall recognize the planning staff to make a presentation of the case with the recommendation.

0:43

This time I'd like to ask everyone everyone.

0:46

Does he want me to stop?

0:48

We're good.

0:48

Okay.

0:49

And then we will open the public hearing.

0:51

The applicant should receive a time period time period of 10 minutes to present their case.

0:55

If there is any concurrent variance, each shall grant the applicant an additional ten minutes.

1:00

This time is kept by the planning staff.

1:02

The applicant may choose to use their entire allotment or reserve a portion of your time for rebuttal.

1:07

Any member of the hearing body upon recognition by the presiding officer may ask questions of the applicant or agent of the application.

1:14

The period of questions from the planning commission is not deducted from the applicant's time period.

1:20

The opposition is granted an equal time period per the application to present data, evidence, and their opinions.

1:25

If a large number of people wish to speak in opposition, it is advisable to designate spokespersons to make that presentation.

1:33

The city is not obligated to provide the full time period to opponents if they elect not to use their time, and the opposition is not granted a rebuttal period.

1:42

Any member of the hearing body upon recognition by the presiding officer may ask questions of any person giving public comment.

1:49

After completing this process, the presiding officer will indicate that the public hearing is closed.

1:55

Upon closing the public hearing, the planning commission can no longer be addressed by the applicant or opposition.

2:00

The planning commission may ask questions of city staff at that time.

2:04

Once all questions have been asked and addressed, the presiding officer will call for motion and appropriated will call for a vote on the matter.

2:12

The presiding officer will then state the vote and recommendation for the record.

2:16

I'd like to ask that everybody present acts courteously and to refrain from outbursts or comments from the audience.

2:22

Would like to recognize the commissioners in attendance this evening.

2:26

Um Commissioner Ross, uh, Commissioner Anand, Commissioner Jackson, Commissioner Carnwall, and Commissioner Horton.

2:34

And we are ready to go to the next item on the agenda.

2:39

Um, first of all, the the last meeting we had was May 6th, so I believe everybody's had time to review the meeting minutes and the addendum for the case for that evening.

2:50

Um can I get a motion for to approve those motion to approve the minutes as presented?

2:55

I'll second that.

2:56

Okay, all those in favor.

2:58

Great.

2:58

Motion passes 6-0.

3:01

Thank you very much.

3:02

The next item on the agenda is new business, a zoning ordinance text amendment.

3:08

Presented by Director Song, I believe.

3:11

Sir evening, Planning Commissioners.

3:16

As mentioned, this case or this item is specifically related to Text Amendment A-25-004.

3:24

It's related to uh an accessory cemetery use.

3:28

And I'll quickly go over uh the specifics of that.

3:32

But in terms of background, the zoning ordinance currently does not allow a church, temple, or place of worship to establish a cemetery on their property without obtaining a special use permit.

3:42

Typically, let's say on an AG1 for church use, they would have to get a special use permit separate from another special use permit for a cemetery.

3:52

Nonetheless, council uh after hearing some uh gathering some information, they decided to initiate this text amendment to allow for a cemetery, but as an accessory use to an existing church, temple or place of worship in the AG1 zoning district uh that already has a special use permit in place.

4:11

And the purpose of this is to uh give them the ability to honor those who have made a significant community contribution to their established congregation.

4:22

So the proposed ex amendment would require an existing church temple or place of worship in the AG1 zoning district to hear adhere to all seven required standards to establish an accessory cemetery on its property.

4:34

And then as part of that, there are other modifications that we would have to make to the zoning ordinance, particularly Article 3, which is definition.

4:42

We are proposing a new definition for cemetery.

4:45

Article 4, which is the agricultural zoning district.

4:48

We're incorporating that as an accessory use.

4:51

You will see that shortly.

4:52

And then lastly, Article 19 is our administrative and special use permit section, and we would have to make modifications to that as well.

4:59

And I'll go over that also.

5:01

So in terms of definition, what we decided, or what staff is recommending is to delete definition for cemetery, human and cemetery pet.

5:08

We, for whatever reason, we had two different definitions.

5:11

Essentially it was the same thing, uh, but divided between humans and pets.

5:15

Um so the proposal is to come up with a new definition which reads cemetery is a land used or dedicated to the burial or interment of human or animal remains, including mausoleums, necessary sales and maintenance facilities.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Zoning Regulations█████████████████████████████████████████████83%
Procedural█████████17%
Summary of Proceedings

Johns Creek Planning Commission Meeting – July 8, 2025

The City of John's Creek Planning Commission met on July 8, 2025, at 12:15 PM (the transcript indicates an evening session, but the provided timestamp is used). The commission unanimously approved the May 6, 2025 meeting minutes, discussed and voted on a zoning text amendment to allow accessory cemeteries for churches in the AG1 district, and received departmental updates. No public comments were made during the hearing.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the May 6, 2025, meeting and an addendum were approved by a vote of 6-0.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public spoke for or against the text amendment during the public hearing.

Discussion Items

  • Text Amendment A-25-004 – Accessory Cemetery Use: Director Song presented the staff recommendation to amend the zoning ordinance to allow a church, temple, or place of worship in the AG1 zoning district with an existing special use permit to establish an accessory cemetery of up to four burial plots or a single mausoleum (for up to four interments) without a separate special use permit. Key standards include: property must be 20 acres or larger; access from a principal or minor arterial road; maximum 1,000 square feet for the cemetery area; 200-foot setback from property lines; screening with 80% evergreen species; maximum mausoleum height of 9 feet. The amendment also consolidates definitions for human and pet cemeteries and clarifies special use permit language. Staff recommended approval. Commissioners asked clarifying questions about the 20-acre minimum, the four-plot limit, grandfathering of existing cemeteries, and the relationship between accessory and special use permit processes. There was no opposition.

Key Outcomes

  • Vote on Text Amendment A-25-004: The commission voted 6-0 to recommend approval of the ordinance as presented. The recommendation will go to the Mayor and City Council.
  • Next Steps: The commission will not meet in August. The next meeting in September will include a special use permit for a church on Jones Bridge Road. Additionally, the Embry Farms rezoning will go to City Council on August 25, and the Dutch Brothers case on Holcomb Bridge will go to Council on September 22.

Meeting Transcript

All right, good evening. I'd like to call the July 8th meeting of the City of John's Creek Planning Commission to order. This time I'd like to ask everyone everyone to please silence or turn off your cell phone. The planning commission is a recommending body to the plan to the mayor and the city council and follows guidelines in conjunction with the public hearing to assist in formulating a recommendation. Copies of the planning commission procedures and staff reports are available at the entrance to the chamber. The presiding officer will call cases on the agenda for public hearing. First, the presiding officer shall recognize the planning staff to make a presentation of the case with the recommendation. This time I'd like to ask everyone everyone. Does he want me to stop? We're good. Okay. And then we will open the public hearing. The applicant should receive a time period time period of 10 minutes to present their case. If there is any concurrent variance, each shall grant the applicant an additional ten minutes. This time is kept by the planning staff. The applicant may choose to use their entire allotment or reserve a portion of your time for rebuttal. Any member of the hearing body upon recognition by the presiding officer may ask questions of the applicant or agent of the application. The period of questions from the planning commission is not deducted from the applicant's time period. The opposition is granted an equal time period per the application to present data, evidence, and their opinions. If a large number of people wish to speak in opposition, it is advisable to designate spokespersons to make that presentation. The city is not obligated to provide the full time period to opponents if they elect not to use their time, and the opposition is not granted a rebuttal period. Any member of the hearing body upon recognition by the presiding officer may ask questions of any person giving public comment. After completing this process, the presiding officer will indicate that the public hearing is closed. Upon closing the public hearing, the planning commission can no longer be addressed by the applicant or opposition. The planning commission may ask questions of city staff at that time. Once all questions have been asked and addressed, the presiding officer will call for motion and appropriated will call for a vote on the matter. The presiding officer will then state the vote and recommendation for the record. I'd like to ask that everybody present acts courteously and to refrain from outbursts or comments from the audience. Would like to recognize the commissioners in attendance this evening. Um Commissioner Ross, uh, Commissioner Anand, Commissioner Jackson, Commissioner Carnwall, and Commissioner Horton. And we are ready to go to the next item on the agenda. Um, first of all, the the last meeting we had was May 6th, so I believe everybody's had time to review the meeting minutes and the addendum for the case for that evening. Um can I get a motion for to approve those motion to approve the minutes as presented? I'll second that. Okay, all those in favor. Great. Motion passes 6-0. Thank you very much. The next item on the agenda is new business, a zoning ordinance text amendment. Presented by Director Song, I believe. Sir evening, Planning Commissioners. As mentioned, this case or this item is specifically related to Text Amendment A-25-004. It's related to uh an accessory cemetery use. And I'll quickly go over uh the specifics of that. But in terms of background, the zoning ordinance currently does not allow a church, temple, or place of worship to establish a cemetery on their property without obtaining a special use permit. Typically, let's say on an AG1 for church use, they would have to get a special use permit separate from another special use permit for a cemetery. Nonetheless, council uh after hearing some uh gathering some information, they decided to initiate this text amendment to allow for a cemetery, but as an accessory use to an existing church, temple or place of worship in the AG1 zoning district uh that already has a special use permit in place. And the purpose of this is to uh give them the ability to honor those who have made a significant community contribution to their established congregation. So the proposed ex amendment would require an existing church temple or place of worship in the AG1 zoning district to hear adhere to all seven required standards to establish an accessory cemetery on its property. And then as part of that, there are other modifications that we would have to make to the zoning ordinance, particularly Article 3, which is definition.

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