Impact
WARD: Citywide
COMMITTEE: Community Development
$ IMPACT: N/A
Title
Public Hearing - Approval of Ordinance 2019-20 for code amendments to the City of Smyrna Zoning Ordinance, Appendix A, Article IV, Sec 402 and Article VII Sections 712, 714, 716 and 720 to include wineries as permitted uses in the General Commercial, Light Industrial, Central Business District and Mixed Use zoning districts.
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ISSUE: Over the past year, the Community Development Department has met with a winery looking to locate their business within the City of Smyrna. Community Development staff has worked with the winery to identify potential business locations, as well as assist with the permitting and licensing process. The City’s Zoning Ordinance is silent on wineries and does not list the use as a permitted use under any zoning district in the city. The City recently updated the Zoning Ordinance to include breweries and distilleries with in the General Commercial (GC), Light Industrial (LI), Central Business District (CBD) and Mixed Used (MU) zoning districts. Wineries fall under a separate classification under the State Code of Georgia and are permitted separately from breweries and distilleries. Community Development is proposing a code amendment to the Zoning Ordinance to identify the zoning districts where wineries can be permitted.
BACKGROUND: The Planning and Zoning Board heard the proposed text amendments at the October 14, 2019 meeting and recommended approval of the proposed amendment by a vote of 5-0.
RECOMMENDATION/REQUESTED ACTION: Community Development has researched the state law and surrounding municipalities to review how these governing authorities address wineries within their jurisdictions. These municipalities included Cobb County and Marietta. The proposed code amendments are consistent with state law and ordinances of surrounding municipalities. With these proposed code amendments, the City of Smyrna will be competitive with other municipalities in attracting wineries into the City. Therefore, Community Development recommends approval of the proposed code amendments to address wineries within the City’s Zoning Ordinance.