A 31-unit townhome project, planned for Roswell Road just south of the Abernathy Square shopping center in Sandy Springs, got an early vetting from residents at a Jan. 11 community meeting. The developers, Pulte Group, were willing to work with neighbors on the main concern of landscape screening.

The project site is a narrow, largely wooded lot at 6555 Roswell Road, between a Zaxby’s and a Steak ’n Shake. The three- to four-bedroom townhomes, priced in the high $300,000 range, would go in five buildings. The residential use requires a rezoning approval.

Most of the trees would be removed, though Pulte’s Adam Guercio said the developer would attempt to save some of them, particularly along a Georgia Power electric line easement at the rear of the site. Georgia Power is open to allowing some landscaping on the edge of its easement, Guercio said.

A stormwater detention pond built on the rear of the site about a year to serve the Zaxby’s would be enlarged to serve the housing complex. Guercio and some of the half-dozen residents in attendance at the City Hall meeting said that pond construction had caused some local unhappiness. Guercio said Pulte’s project would offer better greenery to screen the project, and the developer is even open to discussing paying for plantings in some neighbors’ yards.

Matt LaMarsh, president of the Mount Vernon Woods Homeowners Association, requested a lower unit count for both buffer and traffic reasons. “Density is always an issue. It creates traffic,” he said, first requesting the elimination of eight units, then four.

But Guercio said the project is already at its minimum unit count to be financially viable. He said his understanding is the next bidder in line for the land is a commercial developer who likely would build a parking lot in the back.

However, before anything happens, the developers need to figure out whether a driveway can meet city and state Department of Transportation approval. There isn’t much room for an entrance, and it is complicated by an unusual looping driveway previously created for the Zaxby’s drive-through lane. Depending on how discussions go, the entry issue could alter the design or make it impractical, Guercio said.

The project is still in its early community notification stage. Pulte’s rezoning request is scheduled to go before the Sandy Springs Planning Commission on Feb. 18 and then to the City Council in March.

Pulte’s other local projects include the Terraces at Glenridge townhomes on Glenridge Drive between Hammond Road and I-285.