East Cobb News

In 65 years of existence, Eastside Church has undergone a variety of changes—including its own name.

Founded as Eastside Baptist Church in 1961 as a mission of Marietta’s Roswell Street Baptist Church, Eastside grew into one of the biggest faith communities in East Cobb in the following decades.

It expanded its campus on Lower Roswell Road near the Marietta Parkway to include a school and a community recreation center. Banners hung high around the parking lot proclaiming “Exciting Eastside!”

In more recent years, as its attendance fell, Eastside began outreach to local Brazilian and Spanish-speaking communities, which have regular services at the church. The church also started Eastside Kids Academy, a preschool program.

In the period after COVID-19, church leaders developed a 20-year plan to chart Eastside’s future, drawing from a similar roadmap from the 1980s. One particular recommendation stood out, according to executive pastor Darrell Whipple.

That was caring for senior members of the community.

Whipple said a task force was created to conduct a feasibility study “to see how the Lord would lead us,” and the results were encouraging.

What Eastside discovered was there was an acute need to accommodate elderly people who can live somewhat independently but don’t need nursing home-type care.

They conducted market research to further develop the concept, looking at new commercial senior complexes in East Cobb, and convinced church elders to make it part of Eastside’s mission.

In a recent interview with East Cobb News, Darrell Whipple, Eastside’s executive pastor, and Ray Farmer, who led Eastside’s 20-year plan, explained the senior living concept, called The Haven.

The 20-year Eastside plan includes a variety of initiatives, but the senior living proposal is a markedly different step for a faith community.

Whipple said it’s part of Eastside’s continuing mission to serve its immediate community.

“This is something that will remain with Eastside,” Whipple said, explaining that the plans call for the church to set up a 501 (c)(3) non-profit to operate The Haven.

On Tuesday, Eastside’s application to rezone some of its property from residential (what faith communities are zoned) to RSL, or residential senior living, will be heard by the Cobb Planning Commission.

The church has hired noted zoning attorney Kevin Moore to make its case (you can read the filing here).

But it’s being opposed by an influential civic group that says The Haven would set a high-density precedent in a residential neighborhood.

‘We want to be good neighbors’

Eastside is proposing 125 senior-living units to be constructed on its property, using 8.65 acres of parking areas that are no longer in use.

The plans call for a 109,000-square-foot, three-story building next to the former community rec center, now used by Eastside Christian School and the church’s day care center, and that is accessible via Lower Roswell.

The building would have 95 supportive living units, 10 non-supportive living units and amenities on the main floor, and would have a garden/courtyard area in the middle.

“This is not skilled nursing-home care,” Whipple said.

Eight more independent living cottages would be built in another parking area near the main church building accessible on Little Road. Those units would have one-car garages and would be a story and a half.

A retention pond between the main senior building and Freydale Road would be developed into a recreational pond encircled by a walking trail and stocked with fish.

Whipple and Farmer said they’ve met with nearby residents of the Red Oak Park subdivision. Out of 180 invitations sent to residents for a community meeting, they said around 40 people attended.

“We want to be good neighbors, and they had some questions,” Whipple said. “People seemed pleased with our efforts” to explain their plans.

The Cobb Zoning Division staff is recommending approval with some conditions. The density comes out to more than 13 units an acre, but a civic leader said that’s incompatible with smaller, older homes nearby.

Richard Grome, president of the East Cobb Civic Association, who met with Eastside officials, said his organization is opposed to The Haven proposal.

“This would introduce a high‑density development into a long‑established low‑density residential area,” Grome said in response to a request for comment from East Cobb News about The Haven proposal.

“The proposed plan raises significant concerns about land‑use compatibility, precedent, and long‑term community impact.”

Grome said what Eastside is proposing effectively shows “two disconnected projects” that “are not contiguous, do not function as a unified senior community, and appear forced onto a constrained site already occupied by a school, church, athletic field, and extensive parking.”

Zoning staff recommends approval

In its analysis, the Cobb zoning staff concluded that “the proposal will not adversely affect the existing use or usability of adjacent or nearby properties. The property is surrounded by residential with the Princess Square Community allowing up to 8 units per acre nearby.”

The analysis also said the request “is in conformity with the policies and intent of the Cobb County Comprehensive Plan. . . . The current rezoning proposal would remain consistent with the PI and LDR future land use categories while providing buffers from existing single‐family neighborhoods except the existing homes that will be renovated along Little Road and Lucky Court.”

That’s a reference to four homes Eastside owns that would conform to the architectural style of the senior-living structures.

Whipple said the needs for senior-living in the East Cobb area are serious, citing feasibility study estimates that the area needs nearly 1,500 more units of senior care.

Eastside submitted a statement with its zoning application that “this initiative aligns with the church’s long-standing mission to serve and uplift individuals across all stages of life, offering compassionate care rooted in faith-based values.”

Farmer said the proposal comes from a genuine desire that “we want to reflect our neighborhood.”

Whipple said that Eastside will continue to be responsive to the community as the rezoning proposal goes through the public process.

“We’re not trying to hide anything,” he said. “This is not a secret.”

The Cobb Planning Commission meeting Tuesday starts at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the county office building at 100 Cherokee Street, Marietta. You can view the full agenda by clicking here.

You also can watch the hearing on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.

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