Alpharetta's Planning Commission has scheduled a work session tonight, March 26, for the sole purpose of discussing the Avalon development proposal. The meeting will be held at Alpharetta City Hall immediately after a short City Council public hearing.

The commission had tabled North American Properties' application for a master plan amendment during its March 1 meeting.

Planning Commissioner Francis Kung'u made the motion, saying there was too much information to digest at the time. His motion included a proposal for two Planning Commission workshops before the April 5 meeting, though this was the only one scheduled. He said they particularly needed to consider the following:

• The city's 85/15 ratio of single family residential to apartments;
• Transportation;
• The 51 conditions proposed on the development.

The city already exceeds the ratio of apartments its policy says is desirable, and Avalon would increase the disparity.

North American Properties says it wants MARTA to serve Avalon on Old Milton Parkway, but it doesn't currently have a route on that road. The company doesn't want to have to build a MARTA bus stop when it doesn't know if it wil be used. Thomas Enterprises agreed to this condition for its Prospect Park development that went into bankruptcy before construction. The master plan for Prospect Park is what Avalon is seeking to amend.

While this is a public meeting, at workshops the public does not get the chance to offer opinions on the record. But it does get insight into what concerns the Planning Commission has, and what its members are considering.

City residents have been asked to post comments and answer a survey on Avalon on the city's Open City Hall public forum online. As of late this morning, 98 comments have been posted, in addition to comments posted on Patch and other media outlets.

Avalon will next be on the agenda before the Planning Commission at its April 5 meeting. Like tonight, the agenda item will have to be put back on the table for consideration.

While the Planning Commission and staff prepared for this meeting, North American Properties made another presentation on Avalon, this time with the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce's Progress Partners initiative, asking business people to get behind the project.