Sandy Springs business owners and residents have until Friday, Aug. 14, to complete the city's online survey for "The Next Chapter," a 20-year plan that will govern zoning, density and economic development along Roswell Road, Perimeter Center and other commercial corridors.

The survey at planthenextchapter.org is one of the few ways business owners who can't attend evening meetings can weigh in. City consultants have already received hundreds of responses, according to Rough Draft Atlanta.

Two public meetings follow the survey deadline. The first is Monday, Aug. 17, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer, 5185 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, in the High Point neighborhood of southeast Sandy Springs. The second is Thursday, Aug. 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Sandy Springs Municipal Complex, 620 Morgan Falls Road, one block off Roswell Road. Both sessions will feature the same presentations and interactive activities.

The current comprehensive plan includes four small area plans focused on Roswell Road, Perimeter Center, MARTA station areas and Powers Ferry Landing. The update will reshape what gets built along those corridors, where density goes and how the city invests in infrastructure around them.

In March, elected officials approved a $1.14 million contract with consulting firms Rhodeside & Harwell, TSW Design and KB Advisory to produce the document. City staff expect to bring the finished plan to City Council for adoption in June 2027.

The stakes extend beyond land use. A citizen-led advisory committee has discussed a potential parks bond referendum that could raise property taxes, along with housing affordability and walkability. The Recreation & Parks Master Plan, updated alongside the comprehensive plan, explicitly evaluates "strategic funding mechanisms, including consideration of a Parks Bond initiative," according to a June 23 project presentation.

Council member Andrew Chinsky said at a June 26 City Council meeting on the city's transportation plan that Sandy Springs' population of roughly 105,000 has declined over the past five years because it is too expensive for people to live here. "I would love to see one of our goals for a transportation plan to enable new housing to be built so that new families can move here and buy into Sandy Springs," Chinsky said at that meeting.

Regional forecasts project the city will grow to approximately 118,000 residents by 2050. Sandy Springs is home to roughly 132,000 jobs, making the plan's land-use decisions especially consequential for the Perimeter Center employment corridor.

As we reported July 27, the August workshops are part of a broader engagement process running through January 2027, with three more public meetings planned for fall and winter. Materials from each session will be posted at planthenextchapter.org for those who cannot attend.

A separate Recreation & Parks Master Plan survey is also open through the Aug. 14 deadline.