The City Council voted 5-4 on Tuesday night to deny a rezoning request for townhouses at 7712 and 7716 Shallowford Road after opposition from neighbors.
Voting to deny were Carol Berz, Russell Gilbert, Larry Grohn, Yusuf Hakeem and Ken Smith.
Council members Chris Anderson, Moses Freeman, Chip Henderson and Jerry Mitchell wanted to defer the project for 90 days to see if the developer could come to agreement with the neighbors.
However, Greg Vital, whose Morning Pointe assisted living is across the street, said ill will had been engendered by the brother of the applicant earlier when he clear cut his part of the land. As a result, that section cannot be developed for three years.
Sergey Lyashevskiy said he has bought out his brother and he is no longer involved.
He said he was willing to accept recommendations of the Planning Commission and have just six townhomes instead of eight. They would be in two separate buildings.
He said parking would be in the rear and there would be only one curb cut as called for by the planners.
Mr. Lyashevskiy said the units would have 1,560 square feet and sell for $189,000.
Mr. Vital said neighbors from nearby subdivisions also had concerns about the quality of the project.
Attorney Ben McGowan said Mr. Lyasheyskiy is willing to sit down with the neighbors to try to win their support.
Councilman Grohn said the project had been in the works for two years and no community meeting had yet been held.