The applicant for the rezoning request for a motel on Veterans Memorial Highway withdrew the request during a hearing at Wednesday’s Mableton City Council meeting due to community opposition.

The applicant was Margdarsh, LLC, represented at the meeting by Brijesh Patel.

The primary opposition to the project was the proximity of the proposed hotel to Lindley Middle School, but a concern was also raised by Mableton Mayor Michael Owens that while the city was open to the idea of higher-quality hotels in the city, the motel proposed by the applicant did not meet the standards the city seeks.

“I do believe that the City of Mableton is more than worthy of a hotel,” Owens said. “I would say a class three if not a class four hotel and not one of a motel.”

“I do believe scrapping your plans for a motel and looking at a higher-class hotel may be better received,” said Owens.

The rezoning application described the purpose of the request as follows:

The applicant is requesting to rezone approximately 20,000 square feet of a 2.075-acre parcel
from CRC/PSC (Community Retail Commercial and Planned Shopping Center) to CRC
(Community Retail Commercial) District for the construction of a motel. The proposed building
will feature wood framing and stucco architecture. All rooms will be accessed via an exterior
walkway. The motel will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are no conference,
meeting, or banquet halls proposed, and no restaurant is included in the plans. Additionally, a
gazebo is proposed to serve as a rest area and/or grill station.

The opposition to the request included various residents, the Mableton Improvement Coalition, the Austell Community Task Force, and state Representative Terry Cummings, who is a resident of District Two in Mableton.

When the hearing was opened for people in opposition to the application to speak, Steve Jungk of the Mableton Improvement Coalition said, “I represent Mapleton Improvement Coalition. I’m in District Four.”

“We respectfully request that you deny this application for the following reasons,” he said. “The enterprise is inconsistent with the future land use.”

“The land use for this area is indicated as a NAC (Neighborhood Activity Center), which, although it’s a commercial area, does not include hotels or motels as valid establishments.”

“Also, the activity is too intense. Being next to a school, there is a fair amount of pedestrian traffic, most of which is comprised of children,” Jungk said. “We’ve already had a traffic death in recent years, a crossing guard died, and the in-and-out traffic so close to school is only going to exacerbate this condition.”

Rep. Terry Cummings stated that while she usually avoids involvement in city politics, “I don’t think any motel or hotel needs to be next to a middle school or elementary school or a high school.”

“Our children deserve better, the parents deserve better and the city deserves better,” Cummings said. “And I just think as a matter of principle, based on everything that everybody else has always said, this would not even be discussed anywhere else, and yet here we are.”

“So I vehemently oppose it,” she said. “I respectfully ask the council to reject this application and let’s put something there that we’re all going to be proud of.”

The applicant asked to withdraw the application “without prejudice,” which means another application can be submitted, and the council approved the withdrawal.