There was no opposition Tuesday to a Powers Ferry Road corridor rezoning request for a major mixed-use development. But the Cobb Planning Commission put the application on hold for a month to sort out some issues some members had with the project.
The request by Chance Powers Ferry LLC would redevelop the aging Powers Ferry Woods office complex on Shadowood Parkway, near Powers Ferry Road and Windy Ridge Parkway, for an office building and 300 luxury apartment units (here’s the agenda item packet) totalling more than 578,000 square feet.
The 3.6-acre tract is currently zoned O & I; Chance Powers Ferry is seeking RRC (regional retail commercial) designation for the high-density project. The land is surrounded by multi-family housing, and Kevin Moore, an attorney for Chance Powers Ferry, calls the proposal suitable for “a true urban context. . . This is what it’s intended for.”
The site plan calls for the 30,000-square-foot office building to be in the front of the property (in orange below), with the apartment building (in pink) wrapped around a parking deck.
The office building would be three stories high, and the apartment building six stories high.
Among the concerns expressed by planning board members were about some of the variances, including a proposed reduction in front, side and rear setbacks from 50 to 15, 10 and 18 feet, respectively.
Another variance would reduce the number of proposed parking spaces from a required minimum of 631 to 515. Chance Powers Ferry also wants to reduce the landscaping buffer next to another apartment community from the minimum of 50 feet to 10 feet.
“I do like the project, I like the concept,” Planning Commission chairwoman Judy Williams said before suggesting that the request be delayed until August. A motion to hold passed 4-0, with commission member Thea Powell absent.
Not far away, another proposed RRC development was placed on hold by Cobb Zoning Office, which has recommended denial, and it’s been held up before. A request by Elevation Development Group LLC would rezone 12.7 acres on Water Place at Terrell Mill Road and across from Water Village Drive from its current O & I status.
The developer wants to build retail and office space and the Terrell Mill Park Apartments, and is seeking a reduction in required parking spaces from 579 to 468.
The project is in close proximity to the Dobbins Air Reserve Base, which is in opposition due to what it calls an “aviation hazard.” Zoning staff has said it’s concerned about noise and buffer requirements on adjacent properties.
A long-delayed Northeast Cobb zoning case was delayed again on Tuesday. The Cobb Zoning Office has continued a rezoning request for a 92-unit single-family subdivision on 96 acres on Wigley Road until August.
It had been held since May, when the Planning Commission heard a number of concerns about density, traffic, stormwater runoff and the land’s hilly topography.
Also continued was a request for a senior living facility on 35 acres on Bells Ferry Road and North Booth Road near I-575, to September. It’s currently undeveloped single-family residential land. The developer, Jim Chapman Communities, wants to build 178 units.
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