Approved Rezoning Allows for More Families at Ronald McDonald House

Several neighbors showed support for the Ronald McDonald House expansion at last night’s Sandy Springs City Council meeting.

Council members approved rezoning to allow for the building of a new facility with 31 units for families.  

“It’s just a wonderful program,” said Tom Umstead, who has volunteered with his wife at the Ronald McDonald House and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for 12 years. 

He told Council members, “You see families come in who really don’t have much and the children are really sick. We need a place for at least three times more families than we have now so their children can get cured and rehabilitated.”

The current building on Peachtree Dunwoody Road has 11 units to accommodate families with children, who are patients at nearby hospitals.

Neighbors concerned about stormwater runoff had previously fought the rezoning, but now say their needs have been addressed.

Separately, the Sandy Springs Council of Neighborhoods fully supports the expansion, said Trisha Thompson, its zoning chairman. However, they would like the new facility to have a residential appearance.

The current facility will be demolished. The new building, on the adjacent property, will be larger than even a mcmansion, said the charity’s zoning attorney Ellen Smith. “We are going to attempt to ensure the view, particularly as you come up Peachtree Dunwoody toward Glenridge Connector, looks as residential as possible."