The Alpharetta Planning Commission voted May 1 to approve a conditional-use request for VPP Bridal Hospital, a small-animal hospital proposed for a 4,525-square-foot suite at 12460 Crabapple Road, Suite 103, in the Crabapple Village Shopping Center. The commission’s approval, made by motion and a show of hands, moves the application to City Council on May 19, 2025.

Staff recommended approval with seven conditions, including limiting the use to the specific animal-hospital proposal, restricting boarding to short-term postoperative care only, requiring interior noise attenuation measures, and establishing standards for maintenance of an on-site pet-waste station. Kathy Cook, Planning Department staff, told commissioners the suite was previously occupied by Petco and that the proposal had triggered notifications to property owners within 500 feet; staff reported receiving a few questions about boarding and maintenance of a pet relief area and concluded the use would be compatible with surrounding C-2 and O-P zoning.

Christopher Kidd, the applicant’s project manager and an architect with Christopher Kidd and Associates Architects and Planners, said the applicant agreed to the seven staff conditions and is preparing sound-attenuation details to separate the suite from an adjacent Subway. Dr. Forrester Gholston, who the applicant identified as the primary veterinarian and co-owner, described the proposed practice as a general-practice animal hospital providing preventive care, wellness services and full-service surgeries. “We do not offer long-term boarding,” Dr. Gholston said, adding overnight stays would be limited to short postoperative observation “unless there’s a complication.”

The applicant proposed hours of operation of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday and estimated about eight employees. Kidd described plans for a gated, grassed pet-relief area at the front of the building that the clinic would clean daily; staff incorporated maintenance of that relief area into the conditions of approval.

Commissioners asked staff about the number of similar animal hospitals in Alpharetta; Cook said staff counted a dozen animal-hospital uses in the city and that the nearest was in Roswell. A commissioner praised the proposal’s potential positive effect on the city’s care for animals. The motion to approve the conditional use carried; the commission did not record a roll-call tally in the meeting minutes. The commission’s approval is a recommendation that will be considered by City Council on May 19, 2025.

The staff report and conditions limit the approval to the submitted plan and business description; any substantive changes to operations, boarding policy or location would require a change of condition or a new application.