The project list for a six-year renewal of Cobb County government’s Special Local-Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) is heavy on transportation projects, public safety improvements and community amenities, including more park space and development.
Among the latter is an $8 million earmark to complete acquisition of 24 acres of land owned by Wylene Tritt next to East Cobb Park.
It’s the most expensive item on a lengthy list of “community impact projects” that are part of a $810 million SPLOST list approved by the Cobb Board of Commissioners in a unanimous 5-0 vote Tuesday.
That list will be included in a referendum on the Nov. 4 general election ballot. If voters approve, the county will continue to collect one percent in sales tax from Jan. 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2022 to fund the projects, which include technology and security upgrades, equipment and facilities and other capital improvements within county government.
(You can read through the full project list here.)
The current 2016 SPLOST expires on Dec. 31, 2021, but Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce asked for a renewal referendum this year. Boyce scheduled town halls this spring to solicit feedback on the 2022 project list, but they were cancelled due to COVID-19.
Nearly half of funding on that list—an estimated $329.8 million—would go for transportation and road improvement projects. The rest of the projects would be funded accordingly:
- $82 million for public safety
- $46 million in countywide projects
- $32 million for community impact projects
- $27.8 million for public services (parks, libraries)
- $18 million combined for projects in Cobb’s six cities
- $4 million for Cobb Sheriff’s Office improvements
In 2018, Cobb commissioners approved spending $8.3 million for 22 of the 53 acres of the Tritt property, and Wylene Tritt donated another 7.7 acres.
At the time, the aspirations were that the county would seek to acquire the remainder of former farm property that had once been eyed for a massive senior-living development.
That project generated strong community opposition and commissioners rejected a rezoning request.
Wylene Tritt had planned to sell her land for $20 million and sued the county in 2016. That case was later dropped, and the county entered into lengthy negotiations with her about a sale for park land.
The Tritt property acquired by the county two years ago has been designated for greenspace, with eventual (but for now unapproved) aspirations of turning it into an extension of East Cobb Park.
Those ideas fall along the lines of what a citizens group that opposed the senior-living project touted in 2014.
Before Tuesday’s vote, Concerned Citizens of East Cobb urged its supporters to contact commissioners to include the Tritt property on the project list.
Another park project on the list is $4 million for the repurposing of Shaw Park in Northeast Cobb. During a commissioners work session on Tuesday, District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell cited the need to change the nature of the park, since the ball fields aren’t used much any more, and to have it tie in with upcoming renovations at nearby Gritters Library.
Also in the vicinity is Cobb Fire Station No. 12, which is on the project list for a replacement. It’s among public safety construction projects that include a new Cobb public safety headquarters building on Fairground Street in Marietta.
A new Cobb animal shelter costing $15 million also is on the list.
Of the transportation projects, the bulk of the funding—pegged at $213 million—would go for road resurfacing, with another $13 million for bridge repairs and $10 million to maintain drainage systems. A total of $25 million would be spent for traffic management, including signal timing and planning, and another $11 million would be devoted to sidewalk construction and maintenance.
Of those new road projects, the big-ticket item is East Cobb is $3.9 million for intersection improvements at Post Oak Tritt Road and Holly Springs Road. Another $2.4 million would be used for Canton Road corridor improvements.
Public park land the county purchased in 2017 on Ebenezer Road would be fully developed with 2022 SPLOST funding, around $3 million, after a master plan for Ebenezer Downs was approved by commissioners last year.
Also on the project lists are renovations and improvements at Fullers Park, Sewell Park, Terrell Mill Park, the Mountain View Aquatic Center. additional amenities at East Cobb Park and video surveillance cameras at the Mountain View Regional Library.
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$8 million for 22 acres of undeveloped land that is appraised at $1.7 million on County tax rolls?
Please leave no green space, no undeveloped land, or areas, where we have trees, protected wild life, or any natural areas, that have been in East Cobb, since before we moved here in 1980. Cut down all the trees, and build on every square inch of available space.
It is all about the mighty dollar, and who can make the most, off of selling property, to the developers, in our area. Shame on you all! What a legacy you are leaving to the next generation, who have no knowledge, of a world, without Cell phones and instant gratification! Thank God, we have the protection of the Sope Creek area, and hopefully we will maintain the small green space area that is there.