Citizens lined up on either side of the Sprayberry Crossing rezoning case haven’t completely put last week’s decision behind them, but they are moving on to some other community and political projects.
Some of those who were against the Cobb Board of Commissioners’ 4-1 vote to approve the mixed-use redevelopment have vowed to work to defeat District 3 commissioner JoAnn, who made a long presentation last Tuesday in favor of approving the project.
A Facebook Group called ROD-1 Residents Against Apartments (named after the rezoning case number) has more than 500 members, and group leader Tim Carini indicated after the vote last week a desire to change it to the Sandy Plains Community Coalition.
“She needs to be voted out,” Carini said, echoing other opponents, including Wendi Cliett May, who said, “the next thing on our list is to get her out of office. She does not care about the people in our district. It’s sad. She’ll never have the luxury of another uncontested election.”
Birrell, a Republican who has represented the Northeast Cobb area since 2010, is up for re-election in 2022. In 2018, she defeated Democrat Caroline Holko with 52 percent of the vote.
The Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook group has nearly 6,000 members, with many in support of the redevelopment, and some leaders said they will monitoring the plan review process to come.
One of the group’s leaders, Shane Spink, also is reviving another civic effort that he began last year.
It’s called SPARC COBB, and unlike the Sprayberry Crossing group, this one’s a private group that stands for Sprayberry Area Residents Council. It invites those “who advocate for the well-being of all residents. This council offers a forum for residents to be part of decision making within their own community.”
Among the initial posts asked over the weekend were to ask citizens what kinds of new businesses they want to see in the area, and urged nearby residents to vote for the Sprayberry Bottle Shop in a “Best Of” poll in a business publication.
“So many times when people form these groups they are always against something, it’s always better to be for something and that’s what I want us to do,” Spink said in one of his initial messages.
However, more rezoning issues figure to galvanize the community soon.
Another major nearby proposal seeks to convert nearly 50 arcres of currently undeveloped land on Ebenezer Road into a 112-home residential development. That request by Pulte Home Company was continued until July.
Spink also is part of a group pushing for a rebuild of Sprayberry High School, which has been included on a list of projects for a proposed Cobb Education SPLOST renewal that would begin in 2024.
Related stories
- Sprayberry Crossing rezoning approved by Cobb commissioners
- Residents divided as Sprayberry Crossing rezoning looms
- Cobb Planning Commission punts on Sprayberry Crossing
- East Cobb Church rezoning delayed until July
- More Sprayberry Crossing changes made after community meeting
- Storage facility proposed for closed East Cobb movie theater
- Sprayberry Crossing proposal drops apartments for townhomes
- East Cobb Church launches “Revitalize JOSH” campaign
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Shane was the one who strongly pushed for the 350 apartments. Tim’s group fought that and got it scaled down to 100 seniors only units. Shane caved at the first offer which would have had radical impact on our community with Apartments lining Sandy Plains. He also censored comments which opposed apartments on the Facebook page. So unfortunately we can’t trust him to do what is best for East Cobb.