Cobb Police said a woman died Tuesday morning when her car collided with a dump truck near the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection.
Police said Janet Muse, 62 of Roswell, was pronounced dead at the scene.
She was driving a 2010 Lincoln around 10:40 a.m. and was attempting to turn left from Chimney Lake Drive on to Shallowford Road eastbound when her car was hit by a dump truck heading west on Shallowford, according to police.
Police said the truck, driven by Keith Rosado, 50, of Cartersville, had a green light, and struck the driver’s side of the Lincoln in the intersection.
Police said Rosado was unhurt. The crash investigation is continuing and anyone with information is asked to call Cobb Police at 770-499-3987.
The Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection and surrounding areas were closed for a time after the accident but traffic reopened by mid-afternoon.
ORIGINAL REPORT, 1:30 P.M.
The busy intersection of Johnson Ferry Road and Shallowford Road is closed due to a fatal crash Tuesday.
According to a Cobb government message posted around 1:20 p.m., the accident vehicles have been cleared, but Cobb police and fire units are conducting an investigation into the crash. The closure is expected to last for several hours.
No other information about the incident is immediately available. Officer Shenise McDonald, a Cobb Police public information officer, said more details will be coming.
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday rejected a proposal to spend $2 million in federal CARES Act funding for renters facing eviction because of what some said was a lack of accountability.
But the board did pass a substitute motion to provide the same amount of rental assistance through a previously approved program that helps homeowners adversely affected by COVID-19 in making mortgage payments.
The measure turned down by a 3-2 vote was proposed by South Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid, and would have designated three non-profit organizations—MUST Ministries, the Center for Family Resources and Sweetwater Mission—to screen applicants who could receive up to $4,800 in funding.
Those eligible for the help can earn no more than 80 percent of the area media income, and they can include renters in apartments and single-family homes.
Cupid said later in the meeting that commissioners who voted against her proposal supported the substitute that was proposed on Friday, before a long holiday weekend, without being vetted.
The proposals were considered after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a moratorium on COVID-related evictions nationwide through the end of the year.
The mortgage assistance program, called the Cobb Home Saver Program, earmarks $4.8 million. A $1.5 million rental relief program sponsored by East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott was approved in May, but it’s restricted to apartment dwellers.
“We are trying to keep people off the streets,” Cupid said. “We are trying to keep people in homes. . . All of these programs are about keeping people in housing during this pandemic.”
During a lengthy discussion, commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb said she preferred only one service provider to be designated to approve applications under Cupid’s proposal.
“I know there’s a need and time is of the essence,” she said. “I still have reservations. We just can’t give away money without accountability.”
Ott said that Cupid improved the proposals but he still objects to what he he sees as tenants not having “some skin in the game.” His rental relief program requires renters to pay at least 20 percent of whatever amount they can negotiate with a landlord.
Cupid’s plan includes no such mandates, but applicants must have pursued assistance elsewhere first.
Commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb claimed the memoranda of understanding (MUST, CFR, Sweetwater) lacked safeguards to prevent applicants who’ve received CARES Act funding in Ott’s rental assistance program from getting additional funds.
Cupid replied that each of the organizations would have spreadsheets indicating who’s come to them for assistance, but Ott said that’s not a guarantee.
She also said that when commissioners voted in July to approve an $8.1 million request by the Cobb County School District for online instructional content, “you said it was hands off.”
The three non-profits chosen for Cupid’s program, she said, all have strong reputations in the community.
Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce was the only other vote in favor of Cupid’s proposal, saying it’s “trying to cover a gap that’s complex and layered. I’m going to support it because the need is there.”
Ott’s substitute motion to provide $2 million in rental assistance through the Cobb Home Saver program was approved 4-1, with Cupid voting against.
Cupid, who is challenging Boyce in the November general election, said near the end of the meeting that “this is not the first time there has been a double standard” in her eight years as a commissioner.
She accused her colleagues of “underhanded” tactics, said she will continue to work with them and treat them the way she’d want to be treated, “despite today’s disappointment.”
Cobb was allotted $132 million in CARES Act funding, and has spent the largest portion—$50 million—on small business relief grants that are in a second round of applications.
After the meeting, Shari Martin, head of the Cobb Community Foundation, another leading county non-profit, said it “was a very disheartening morning for organizations that have long served this community.”
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
Thanks to Marsha Brenner for the photos and the note below about Jane Agati, a longtime resident of Chattahoochee Plantation known to many there as the “Ole Soft Shoe Lady” and who got an incredible surprise for her 99th birthday on Aug. 31:
“Over 70 friends stopped by at staggered times, masked and socially distanced, to wish one of our communities sharpest and happiest senior citizens a ‘Happy Birthday.’
Jane served in WW2 as a Navy Wave, is known for her ‘Ole Soft Shoe’ Tap Dancing and her GORGEOUS flower gardens.
Jane and her now deceased husband Nick proudly made home made Italian sausages and served a special annual, Atlanta Country Club members gourmet Spaghetti dinner, for 54 years! Sadly COVID-19 prevented her this year from continuing this tradition—but she was ready, willing and amazingly able . . . had the pandemic not happened.
Jane’s ‘Stop by’ Birthday celebration also included a surprised visit by both Cobb County Police and Firefighters. At first she thought she was being arrested! But soon realized the wonderful men and women of our local Police and Fire departments were there to congratulate her. And, in truest form—she tap danced to say thank you for their kind well wishes!
Jane is truly an icon in East Cobb. She is blessed with amazingly good health and LOTS of great FRIENDS!
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners will hold a final public hearing and is scheduled to vote Tuesday morning on proposed sweeping changes to the county’s ordinance pertaining to sexually oriented businesses.
Commissioners also will are slated to adopt the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan that’s been two years in the making.
The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
Socially-distanced seating will be followed for those attending in person. The meeting also will be streamed on the county’s Facebook page,YouTube Channel and public access channel CobbTV, which also can be seen on Comcast Cable 23.
The code amendments were proposed by East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott after a Tokyo Valentino store opened on Johnson Ferry Road in June in a former Mattress Firm location, without needing rezoning or any special permitting.
The new ordinance would restrict where sex shops could be located, both in terms of zoning categories and locations, limiting them to industrial areas.
The changes also would require sexually oriented businesses to get a special business license and employees would also have to get individual permits to work in them.
The aim is to combat what a lawyer consulting with the Cobb County Attorney’s office calls the “adverse secondary effects” of sexually oriented businesses, including crime and loitering, to nearby areas.
The recommended JOSH master plan, proposed after more than two years of public meetings and input, would keep the highly residential area as it is, in terms of the balance of development.
Other parts of the plan pertain to traffic improvements, community facilities, recreation and stormwater management in an area with many streams and lakes.
The proposal also includes options for the redevelopment of the southwest corner of Johnson Ferry and Shallowford and around Maddox Lake.
That’s a 30-acre assemblage for rezoning that went before the Cobb Board of Commissioners as a proposed townhome and single-family residential development before the request was withdrawn in early 2017.
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To view details by ZIP code, click here. Source: Cobb and Douglas Public Health
Although the rate of positive COVID-19 cases in Cobb County has been falling since its mid-July peak, the county crossed an unwelcome threshold on Friday, with more than 400 reported deaths due to the virus.
The Georgia Department of Public Health on Friday reported that 401 people have died in Cobb, the second-highest county total in the state, following Fulton County, which has 535 deaths.
Cobb County also has 17,476 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 104 more reported on Friday.
Those figures are according to the date of report and not the date of “onset,” or the date which an individual learns of a positive test for the virus.
That latter distinction is of importance regarding the reopening of the Cobb County School District. Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced Thursday that the phased return to classroom instruction will start on Oct. 5, given the dropping average of cases per 100,000 people.
At one point that 14-day average was nearly 400 cases per 100,000 (100 cases per 100,000 is considered high community spread). Now, according to Georgia DPH, Cobb’s average of cases per 100,000 over the last two weeks is 219.
Cobb COVID deaths by the date of death, per Georgia DPH. Click here for details.
The number of cases and deaths in East Cobb is about one-fifth of the county total, according to the latest figures from Cobb and Douglas Public Health.
According to the ZIP Code map seen at the top (click here to view more information), 78 deaths have been reported in East Cobb, which has 3,866 positive COVID-19 cases.
That comes to 19.4 percent of the deaths and 22 percent of the cases in Cobb County.
On July 3, there were 1,034 cases and 41 deaths in East Cobb. Here’s how those numbers look today, with the July figures in parenthesis:
30062: 1,143 cases, 21 deaths (297, 12)
30066: 1,007 cases, 18 deaths (241, 9)
30067: 1,043 cases, 11 deaths (317, 8)
30068: 590 cases, 28 deaths (155, 16)
30075: 83 cases, 0 deaths (24, 0)
According to the latest figures from the Georgia Department of Community Health, 29 of those 78 deaths have taken place in long-term care homes.
In August we reported that for the most part, case and death numbers in those facilities have held relatively steady since the COVID-19 outbreak began in March. An exception is the Manor Care Rehab Center on Johnson Ferry Place, which in June and July reported three deaths and more than 30 staff cases.
As of this week, three more deaths have been reported at Manor Care, and a total of 38 employees have tested positive.
Hospitalization numbers that concerned public health officials also have gone down in recent weeks.
To view a larger map and more data, click here. Source: GEMA
Cobb is in Region N with Douglas, Paulding and Cherokee counties, as shown above in the latest situation report by the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
GEMA is no longer updating that information, but Georgia DPH instead is moving some of that data into its expanded public Georgia COVID-19 status dashboard.
As of Friday, a total of 5,931 people in Georgia have died from COVID-19, and 279,354 have tested positive.
Cobb County Government also has its own COVID hub with data, maps and other details of deaths, cases, hospitalization and demographic information relating to the virus.
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Cobb schools have put out a 16-page PDF with safety protocols and other measures that probably won’t answer all questions parents may have, but starting on Page 5 you’ll find more about the following:
Maintenance and daily cleaning
Transportation
Food service, virtual and in school
K-12 sample schedules
The tentative breakdowns for those returns are as follows: K-5 and special ed Oct. 5; middle school Oct. 19 and high school Nov. 5.
Starting Monday at 8 a.m., and continuing through Sept. 20, parents can choose which option—remote or in-person—they want for their children.
That option will continue through the end of the fall semester, and the Cobb County School District has said remote learning will be available for the rest of the 2020-21 academic year.
Teachers will be teaching students in their classrooms and remote at the same time.
Masks are required for all teachers and employees and students returning to campus, as well as support staff like bus drivers.
The district said that anyone testing positive for COVID-19 will self-isolate for 10 consecutive days from the date of a positive test and is asymptomatic.
Students and staff also will have to go into quarantine if they have a suspected case and symptoms of the virus or were within close contact with someone who’s positive.
The district said it will inform those affected to stay home and will notify school officials if they have tested positive, have symptoms, are waiting for test results or are exposed to someone.
All schools will have designated isolation areas for anyone with COVID-19 symptoms.
Cleaning and sanitizing
The district said it’s in the process of having a fogging system put in place before students return, and each school will have fogging equipment and disinfectant.
All areas of school buildings—classrooms, administrative offices, break rooms, cafeterias, gymnasiums, etc.—will be disinfected and cleaned daily, especially “high touch points,” including countertops, desk tops, door handles and chairs.
Hand sanitizers will be provided at every school, and at numerous locations, including school entrances, and “good hygiene measures” including frequent handwashing will be practiced.
Students will be encouraged to bring their own water bottles and to avoid sharing food or snacks.
Masks, meals and buses
Social distancing measures and mask-wearing will be mandatory, although the district’s protocols indicate it will be “sensitive to needs of students/staff with medical issues that make wearing a face covering inadvisable.”
Mandatory mask use also applies to students riding a school bus. Drivers will be required to wear masks, and buses will be disinfected after every route.
As for food service, students who remain at home will be able to continue to receive prepaid weekly breakfasts and lunches. “Individual schools will determine where meals are served” for students who return to school.
Classroom schedules
As for classroom instruction, the current four-day schedule for all-remote learning will continue, both for virtual and on school campuses.
Wednesday will continue to be a day for independent study and individual and small group teacher-student meetings.
We’ll be contacting school district officials to get more information about these and other reopening issues in the coming weeks. If you have any questions you’d like us to ask, please e-mail: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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For the first tine since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Friends for the East Cobb Park and WellStar Health System are putting on a “Sunday Funday” event this Sunday.
It’s from 4-6 p.m. at East Cobb Park (3322 Roswell Road), and the format is the same: Bring your own food/picnic fare, lawn chairs/blankets and enjoy the sounds of The Loose Shoes Band.
But you’re also asked to observe the following health protocols, as per what the Friends group, a volunteer organization, posted earlier Friday:
Attendees will be responsible for themselves to ensure they have a temperature of less than 100.4°, and/or other symptoms of COVID-19 before attending Sunday Funday.
Spacing between persons in the park should be at least six feet at all times.
Circles, placed 6 feet apart, will be painted on the lawn. This will indicate social distant sitting.
Attendees/Spectators are encouraged to bring their own chairs
Members of the same household will be allowed to sit within 6ft of each other, and inside the circles.
Face masks will be encouraged for attendees and performers, but aren’t mandatory
There will be no concessions.
Here’s an additional disclaimer to keep in mind:
“An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. When you visit or use the park and facilities at East Cobb Park, you voluntarily assume all risk related to exposure to COVID-19. If you have a fever or COVID-19 you are not allowed in the park.”
Typically there have been several Sunday Funday events in the spring and late summer/early fall, but nothing took place this spring.
Like other Cobb Parks, East Cobb Park was closed—literally locked down—from late March to early May following public health guidance. Pavilions reopened to the public on July 1.
Last month, Cobb Parks replaced the original roof on the concert stage with one based upon a similar design.
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The following East Cobb food scores from Aug. 12-Sept. 4 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for details of the inspection:
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The Cobb County School District on Thursday announced the dates for students returning to classroom instruction, starting with K-5 and special education students on Oct. 5.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said in an announcement posted on the district’s website and social media channels that the tentative starting date for middle school students will be Oct. 19, and high school school students will return on Nov. 5.
Those are all tentative dates, based on any COVID-19 conditions in Cobb County. More details on the reopening plan can be found here.
Here’s more that was released by the district right before 11 a.m., and this story will be updated:
Today, we are pleased to announce that the three parameters of community spread, effective contact tracing protocol, and efficient testing timeliness impacting our decision to offer face-to-face instruction have all been trending in a positive direction. This news allows us to announce the start date for our phased plan to provide both face-to-face and remote learning environments. On the Monday following Fall break, October 5th, 2020, we plan to begin Phase One of our return to face-to-face instruction. We trust that everyone will continue to do everything we can to keep the numbers moving in the right direction.
As we previously indicated, you will be able to submit your choice for face-to-face or remote beginning at 8:00 AM on September 7th through the ParentVue portal. The choice portal will close at midnight on September 20th.
In a video portion of that presentation, Ragsdale also said the following:
“One critical aspect of our plan is that as parents choose either face-to-face or remote-learning classrooms, students will continue to be taught by their current teachers. Face-to-face and remote-learning students in the same class will receive the same instruction from the same teacher. This will prevent disruptions to existing relationships students have made with teachers and will protect teachers from being asked to do two jobs at the same time.”
Unlike Ragsdale’s original face-to-face learning plans that recommended but did not require mask-wearing, the district said today that masks will be mandatory for staff and students, in school buildings as well as on school buses.
Masks also will be required, “whenever possible, when teachers are teaching.”
Other safety protocols include social distancing when possible, hand sanitizing stations at multiple locations through school facilities, daily cleaning and limiting volunteers and visitors.
As for how breakfasts and lunches will be provided, the district is saying only for now that its food service staff “will will continue making sure our students have nutritious meals.”
The district said more details will be provided about reopening plans on Friday.
The Cobb school district was to have started the school year Aug. 1, but Ragsdale announced in June a delay to Aug. 17 as COVID-19 cases began spiking in the county and across Georgia.
The initial plan was to give parents a choice between classroom and virtual learning.
But in July, he told the Cobb Board of Education that the year would be starting online-only, due to continued high community spread of the virus.
Guidance from public health officials indicated that anything more than an average of 100 cases per 100,000 people is considered high community spread.
During mid-summer, that figure was well over 500 cases per 100,000. As of Wednesday, Cobb was averaging 235 cases per 100,000 over the last two weeks, within the range of what Ragsdale said he was targeting for a classroom return.
Those figures come from the Georgia Department of Public Health, which reported that Cobb County has 17,210 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 395 deaths, both among the highest figures in the state.
Ragsdale’s decision to switch to all-online learning angered some parents who staged rallies before the start of classes.
During the first two weeks of virtual learning, the district’s expanded online learning portal experienced several outages that further frustrated parents.
This week no seriously technology issues have been reported.
Parents will be able to select an online or classroom option starting Monday through Sept. 20.
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High school football season is starting two weeks later than first scheduled, but that’s not the only thing that’s different for the five East Cobb teams that will kick off their seasons Friday.
The Georgia High School Association instituted the delay this summer when a rash of COVID-19 cases broke out across the state.
Since then, some teams have cancelled games, and in a few cases, their entire seasons, while others are on hold because their school districts called off games.
The fluid, rapidly changing environment included a last-minute schedule change on Tuesday, when Wheeler announced it would be starting its season Friday at old rival Marietta.
That’s because the opening week opponents for the Wildcats and Marietta cancelled, due to COVID-19 issues.
Wheeler was to have played at home against North Atlanta. The school said in a message Tuesday that all tickets will be fully refunded.
Instead, Wheeler will play at Marietta, the defending state champion in Class 7A, at Northcutt Stadium at 7:30 p.m. You can purchase tickets for that game by clicking here.
In fact, online ticket-purchasing is the only way to go for most high school football teams in Georgia.
Due to physical distancing guidelines, a limited number of fans will be permitted inside stadiums. Fans will not be able to buy tickets on site, and at most places, everyone must wear masks.
That was mandated by the organizers of the Corky Kell Classic, which on Friday will include a slate of games that includes an all-East Cobb rivalry.
Kell will be playing at Walton at 5:30 p.m.—kickoff time was to have been at 8 p.m. but has been moved up.
The football seasons for Lassiter and Sprayberry varsity teams also start at home Friday, with the Trojans entertaining River Ridge and Yellow Jackets playing host to North Cobb.
Both games start at 7:30 p.m., and online ticketing and masks are also required.
Pope’s football season starts next Friday at Walton, and the Greyhounds play host to Kell Sept. 18 in their first home game.
Pope has announced that concessions will be limited and face masks also will be required. Pope is among the schools that also is selling masks with school logos.
The GHSA and the Cobb County School District is giving host schools the latitude to make such arrangements.
Cobb schools also have a mask requirement for entry to any of its facilities, including the classroom return starting in October. Those mandates also include other sports that have already gotten underway, volleyball and softball.
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After being closed for more than six months due to COVID-19, the Stem Wine Bar dining room is reopening on Friday and reservations are being “strongly recommended.”
Reservations are a new feature for the last of Doug Turbush’s three East Cobb restaurants to reopen, following Seed Kitchen and Bar next door at Merchant’s Walk and Drift Fish House and Oyster Bar at The Avenue East Cobb.
Dine-in options will be available on Friday and Saturday and ticketed tasting events Tuesday-Thursday.
The delivery and curbside pickup service also starts on Friday and will be available Tuesday-Saturday.
A temporary tastings and wine menus will be offered inside, and the hours and services are as follows:
Tuesday-Thursday takeout and delivery, 5-9 p.m.
Tuesday-Thursday dine-in Ticketed Tasting Events Only
Friday-Saturday takout, delivery and dine-in, 5-10 p.m.
One of the reasons Stem opened later was due to its small seating area, and a message announcing the reopening says that “we are adhering to social distancing guidelines and have implemented additional safety protocols.”
That includes reservations. Info: 678-214-6888. Address: 1311 Johnson Ferry Road.
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The brother of a Kell High School student who was killed last week in a bicycle crash has begun a college scholarship fund for an autistic student, and to fund autism research.
Robbie Schulz, 15, was a sophomore at Kell when he died last Wednesday after he was hit by a car while riding his bicycle on North Marietta Parkway near Interstate 75.
The boy, who also attended pre-kindergarten at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, Timber Ridge Elementary School and Hightower Trail Middle School in East Cobb, was autistic.
Nicholas Schulz, in forming what he calls “Team Robby,” said his brother “was the smartest person I’ve ever known” and “was incredibly outgoing, sweet, and kind-hearted.” The fundraising campaign has raised nearly $25,000.
In his obituary, Robby Schulz was praised by his teachers. “He taught me compassion and that it was okay to be different,” said Andrea Cilluffo, his science and social studies teacher at Hightower Trail. “He taught me to teach from the heart because words were just words and sometimes words just didn’t explain what the heart could. Robby made me a better teacher and a better human.”
At Kell, he was a member of a Dungeon & Dragons club. “Robby was a kind soul and I will fondly remember his eruptions of delight when he cast just the right spell to save the day,” said Douglas LaVigne, the club’s faculty leader.
Robby belonged to Cub Scout Pack 795 at Mt. Zion UMC and Boy Scout Troop 713 at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church.
In addition to Nicholas Schulz, Robby’s survivors include his parents, Jim and Alex Schulz, brother Derek Schulz and twin sister Lizzy Schulz.
A visitation is scheduled for family and friends Wednesday from 5-7 p.m. at Mayes-Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home in Marietta, and a memorial service will be held there Thursday at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be made to Team Robby, Hillside or to a charity of the donor’s choice.
Marietta Police said the accident took place around 4:20 p.m. Wednesday when a 2010 Nissan Maxima driven by Desmond Sipplin, 25, of Marietta, and heading eastbound on North Marietta Parkway, struck the bicycle near the intersection of the I-75 northbound ramp.
Police are continuing to investigate the crash, and anyone with information is asked to call 770-794-5384.
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That’s also where Carolyn Meadows, a longtime conservative and Republican Party activist and the current president of the National Rifle Association, lives.
She’s supporting Republican Karen Handel in her bid to win back her 6th Congressional District seat. Brian Robinson, who’s working on Handel’s campaign, passed along these photos from Meadows’ property, including a sign in her yard.
At a Monday event at the Temple Kol Emeth synagogue in East Cobb, Commissioner Bob Ott said that what’s transpired is “not who we are.”
Robinson also sent the following statement from Handel:
“I join with Commissioner Ott and the entire East Cobb community in taking a zero-tolerance approach to this hate. Sadly, my campaign has been a victim of these bigoted vandals as well. These criminals recently defaced campaign signs with disgusting anti-Semitic symbols. Our community will not tolerate this kind of hate.”
The fence and signs on Meadows’ property are spray-painted with swastikas and “MAGA,” the “Make America Great Again” slogan of President Donald Trump and his supporters.
Robinson said the graffiti was spotted on Aug. 17. It’s similar to what was seen along fences and common areas of the Kings Farm neighborhood, just around the corner from the Meadows home, during the weekend of Aug. 22-23.
Cobb Police said similar graffiti was seen on road signs in the same area, and was quickly removed by Cobb DOT crews.
Spray-paint graffiti in the Kings Farm neighborhood. Source: Atlanta Anti-Defamation League
Police also said they think the half-dozen incidents they’re investigating began on Aug. 16, but they’re not sure when all the others took place, nor do they have any leads.
Cobb Police Chief Tim Cox said at the same event on Monday that anyone who has any information about these incidents should contact Detective Abbott of the Precinct 4 Criminal Investigations Unit at 770-499-4184.
Also speaking at the Kol Emeth event was U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Democrat who defeated Handel in 2018. She told an interfaith audience at the synagogue:
“I am so grateful to leaders throughout our community who are standing tall in the face of violence and hatred. Together, we will continue to build a stronger, more inclusive community, and send a strong message to those who spread hate: there is no room for prejudice in our neighborhoods.”
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By a vote of 4-1 the planning board endorsed an R-15 rezoning request by Brooks Chadwick Capital, LLC for 49.5 acres on either side of Wesley Chapel between Garrison Mill Elementary School and Mabry Park.
A number of nearby residents and a representative of the Cobb County School District spoke against the application during a public hearing Tuesday.
The land is among the last undeveloped tracts in a fast-growing part of Northeast Cobb. North of that property, land formerly owned by the Mabry farming family and across from Mabry Park is being developed for upscale single-family homes.
Brooks Chadwick’s plans for what it’s calling Willis Woods include 81 homes of at least 3,000 square feet, with prices starting at $800,000 and surpassing $1 million, according to Kevin Moore, the developer’s attorney.
He said the R-15 category not only is consistent with surrounding subdivisions, but the density of the development, at 1.65 acres, “is on the low end” of both.
But those who spoke in opposition to the rezoning weren’t as concerned about density as they were other matters.
Residents in the nearby Highland at Wesley Chapel, Loch Highland and Beacon Hill subdivisions were concerned about traffic, school capacity and stormwater runoff issues.
A rendering of a home style planned for Willis Woods.
David Fortenberry, who also lives nearby on Wesley Chapel Road, said “at minimum,” the developer should provide impact assessments for traffic, flooding and stormwater, especially since the development contains Sweat Creek Run, which flows downstream into nearly Loch Highland.
Residents of that neighborhood said they have spent $1.5 million of their own money over the last decade fighting back runoff from streams in the area that are affected by development.
“It’s time we stop asking downstream homeowners to keep paying for upstream development,” said former planning commission member Andy Smith, who was speaking on behalf of Loch Highland and other residents.
Charles Sprayberry of the Cobb school district estimated that Garrison Mill, which is near capacity, would have an overflow of 40 students with the new development.
The two planning board members representing East Cobb spoke at length in favor of the rezoning.
Judy Williams of District 3, which includes the Willis land on the western side of Wesley Chapel, said Glennis Fricks Willis, the property owner, opposed the Highlands at Wesley Chapel rezoning when that took place in 2007.
She then placed her land in a conservation easement, but Williams pointed out the undeveloped land “was not their buffer.”
Tony Waybright of District 2, which includes the Willis land east of Wesley Chapel, said school projections for a decrease in Garrison Mill “look solid.”
He made the motion to recommend approval and Williams seconded it, subject to stipulation letters more sent on Aug. 26 and on Monday (you can read them hereand here.)
The Brooks Chadwick application also was supported with the stipulations by the Cobb zoning office and the East Cobb Civic Association.
The changes mostly pertain to setbacks, buffers and architectural styles. A revised site plan includes amenity and retention areas near the creek areas.
Voting against the board’s recommendation was Fred Beloin of North Cobb.
The planning commission’s board is non-binding and advisory. The Cobb Board of Commissioners will make a final decision on Sept. 15.
In another Northeast Cobb rezoning case, the owner of the Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center has withdrawn a rezoning request to convert part of the retail center into 41 townhomes and other retail.
Cobb Zoning Division manager John Pedersen said at the start of Tuesday’s meeting that Site Centers Corp. has withdrawn the application without prejudice, after two delays due to community and staff opposition.
The Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment plans were to have also been heard in September, but Atlantic Residential asked for its application to be heard in October.
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Cobb residents seeking weapons carry licenses will need to make appointments with the Probate Court at least through the end of September. Chief Judge Kelli Wolk said the decision came after consulting with public health officials who said continuing the appointments process would help slow the spread of the coronavirus. “The demand for these licenses is at an all-time high,” Judge Wolk said. “People tend to line up by the dozens to get into the office, and the space to do that is relatively small. The proximity of people in the courthouse put them, my staff and others who do business here in danger of spreading COVID-19.” Even with the appointment process, Judge Wolk says her office is processing weapons carry licenses at a record rate, completing more than 100 applications a day. Those who simply need to renew their licenses can do so by mail. Judge Wolk said using appointments also helps staff track visitors to their office in case an outbreak is reported. She will decide later this month whether they will continue taking appointments into October. To apply for an appointment and to get the latest information on the status of the Probate Court’s office, please visit cobbcounty.org/courts/probate-court/weapons-carry-permits
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