East Cobb Government Archives

Cobb commissioners revoke Tokyo Valentino business license

October 28, 2020 2:40 PMOctober 28, 2020 7:20 AM by Wendy Parker

Tokyo Valentino East Cobb

By a unanimous 5-0 vote Tuesday, the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted to revoke the business license of Tokyo Valentino, a sex shop that opened in East Cobb in June.

The store had its license suspended in September, pending an appeal, and had been allowed to remain open. The hearing was delayed by a month at the request of Tokyo Valentino.

After a due-cause hearing that lasted more than two hours, commissioners rejected appeals by the store’s attorney that the county’s action to suspend the license was based on arguments that were “not material,” and posed constitutional issues.

The county’s business license division in September alleged that Tokyo Valentino’s owner, Michael Morrison, misrepresented the intent of his business with the application of a license under the name of 1290 Clothing LLC as a general retail clothing store.

That license was granted in March, but when the business opened on June 9 at the former Mattress Firm store at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road it was as Tokyo Valentino.

Morrison owns five other adult retail stores under the Tokyo Valentino name in metro Atlanta and a similar store in Brookhaven called Stardust.

Scott Bergthold, a private attorney from Chattanooga hired by the county and who specializes in defending local adult retail ordinances, said the change from 1290 Clothing to Tokyo Valentino “was a clear bait and switch.”

He presented exhibits during the hearing showing that adult retail items not listed on the business license application—lotions and lubes, sex toys and smoke products—comprised 70 percent of what was on display at the East Cobb Tokyo Valentino store.

Clothing—specifically lingerie—accounted for only 14 percent of the inventory, according to a listing introduced as an exhibit.

Cary Wiggins, the attorney for Tokyo Valentino, pointed to several businesses in Cobb that ended up doing something different than what they indicated in their business licenses, but they were not shut down.

He said the county had no proof that Morrison, listed on state business formation documents for 1290 Clothing as the manager but not on the county business license application, was the head of the East Cobb business.

The person listed on the latter, Tomika Hugley, left that job, and in an August e-mail presented by Bergthold, said she “wanted to cut all ties.”

According to an e-mail Bergthold presented, Hugley contacted Ellisia Webb, the county’s business license division manager, that she wanted the 1290 Clothing business license to be cancelled.

“I was not involved in the ordering of any inventory or products,” Hugley wrote in the e-mail. “I have pleaded for my previous partners to make changes and they have refused to do so. . . . The store that currently exists should apply for a proper business license.”

Wiggins said comments by Morrison made in news media accounts, including East Cobb News, and cited in the allegations were not relevant to the county’s case.

“Mr. Morrison has the right to not give the papers a straight answer,” Wiggins said. “You are allowed to lie.”

Wiggins also said his client “did not intend to break the law. It’s a good business. It’s a clean business. To hold those newspaper quotes against him are improper.

“Who did he mislead? The reporter for the East Cobb News? Well good.”

In late May, East Cobb News first reported that a business named 1290 Clothing had received a business license amid concerns that it would become a Tokyo Valentino store instead.

When East Cobb News reached Morrison for contact, he said that “I have no idea what you are referring to.”

Morrison told other outlets he wasn’t sure what might go into that space, and at one point said it would sell “electric dance music” and “festival clothing.”

That was before the store opened on June 9, and it didn’t need needing any rezoning due to the general commercial rezoning for the property that’s been in effect since the 1970s.

A number of local residents signed an online petition, and in September commissioners overhauled the county code—with provisions drafted by Bergthold that place more restrictions on sexually oriented businesses.

East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott told Wiggins that other businesses that misrepresented themselves have been shut down, especially restaurants that don’t sell enough food to meet requirements to hold an alcohol license.

“You did not make your case,” Ott said shortly after midnight, near the end of a contentious hearing.

Tokyo Valentino has been embroiled in legal disputes in other metro Atlanta jurisdictions, but this was its first store in unincorporated Cobb.

In June, the Marietta City Council revoked the business license of a Tokyo Valentino store on Cobb Parkway for 180 days, saying the store inventory didn’t match what was on its application.

Tokyo Valentino is appealing that decision in Cobb Superior Court. The East Cobb store is likely to remain open with an expected appeal of the commission’s decision.

Wiggins hinted at possible legal action Tuesday, citing the Equal Protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the First Amendment.

Lisa Cupid, the only attorney among the commissioners, told Wiggins that she wondered if “there was an intent to mislead when you don’t list the core of the business. It makes me perceive that there is some desire to mislead.”

Wiggins said later that he “would hate to see a county revoke a business license because some people—a small majority—don’t like it.”

He said his client “did its best within the bounds of the law to complete the application.”

Before the vote, however, chairman Mike Boyce said “I can’t get over an application by somebody who bowed out,” a reference to Hugley.

“I have a lot of questions about that.”

Selling the Cobb SPLOST renewal with a back-to-basics theme

October 20, 2020 10:39 AM by Wendy Parker

Tritt property, Cobb 2022 SPLOST list

Officially, those in Cobb County government can’t openly push for the renewal of the county’s Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax that’s on the ballot this year.

What’s being called the 2022 Cobb SPLOST—for the year when a new sales tax collection period would begin—doesn’t have much in the way of big-ticket items, such as new facilities, upgrades or acquisitions.

Instead, the vast majority of the $750 million in spending over six years (down from an original estimate of $810 million) would go to transportation projects, public safety improvements and community amenities, including more park space and development.

Those major items include 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 the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved for the 2022 project list in May.

Another project on the list is $4 million for the repurposing of Shaw Park in Northeast Cobb and a replacement for the nearby Cobb Fire Station No. 12.

(Here’s a summary of the proposed projects; and a more detailed look at what’s in the 2022 package.)

Nearly half of funding on that list 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

While commissioners and official county communications to the public are noting that the SPLOST extension is on the ballot, the information is objective, for the most part.

“We can’t advocate for it,” Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said in an August interview with East Cobb News.

Before the SPLOST officially was approved for referendum, the county held several town halls that became virtual due to COVID-19 closures.

As Cobb voters are turning out heavily in early and absentee voting, county messages on its social media platforms, e-mails and website have been regularly reminding voter of what current SPLOSTs and the current one have yielded.

A video summary opens with the reminder that “this is not a new tax!” and that the current collection period doesn’t end this year, on Dec. 31, 2020.

In recent days the county has been posting on its Facebook page a “countdown” of its “Top 10” list of SPLOST projects over time, including the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center that opened at the end of 2017.

SPLOST critics like to point out the project list has become a “slush fund” that defies the term “special use.”

We heard from such a reader over the weekend, who wrote in to say that “SPLOST funds cannot be used for maintenance and repair.”

It’s been estimated that nearly 90 percent of Cobb DOT’s budget comes in SPLOST funds for just those purposes, which form the backbone of the items on the 2022 wish list.

Boyce was mindful of how the Atlanta Transportation SPLOST went down to heavy defeat in 2012, saying that those pushing for that tax disregarded what they were hearing from voters.

Even in spite of the disconnected nature of virtual town halls and indirect feedback in recent months, he said he feels confident that “we’ve done our homework.”

Cobb Animal Shelter closes temporarily for ‘unknown illness’

October 16, 2020 6:39 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb animal shelter closes

Cobb County government said Friday afternoon that the county animal shelter has closed temporarily because “an unknown illness has affected dogs and cats in the shelter.”

The county said in the announcement that the University of Georgia is conducting tests with the results coming early next week.

Until then, adoption appointments with the public are being cancelled.

The shelter, located in the Cobb government services complex on County Services Road west of Marietta, closed for two weeks last October due to a strep zoo outbreak.

Two dogs at the shelter died from the contagious virus and the facility was thoroughly cleaned.

The Cobb Department of Animal Services was to have launched an online appointment booking option starting Tuesday.

The shelter has been open to the public for adoption and animal surrender only by appointment since COVID-19 closures in the spring.

Commissioner: Cobb ‘should do better’ with early voting lines

October 13, 2020 6:42 PMOctober 13, 2020 2:01 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb early voting lines — *Early voting lines at the East Cobb Government Service Center on Monday were as long as four hours, and even longer at The Art Place. (ECN photo)*

The day after citizens waited for hours to start the early voting period, the two Cobb commissioners facing one another in the chairman’s election sounded off on the subject.

At the end of Tuesday’s Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting Lisa Cupid, who represents South Cobb, showed national television news footage of long lines that snaked around one of the county’s 11 early voting locations.

The number of those locations and early voting dates have been expanded ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. But more than 7,000 Cobb voters stood in lines lasting several hours in some places, the result of increased turnout and social-distancing protocols.

Cupid, the lone Democrat on the board, said that “I know we can do better, I know we should do better . . . so people don’t have to wait for eight to 10 hours to vote in Cobb County, in the year 2020.”

She said while the strong voting numbers reflect voter energy and excitement, “it’s another thing to question whether or not our voters should have to experience something like that.”

Cupid was critical of her colleagues for nixing a $200,000 request by the Cobb Board of Elections and Registration in July to mail absentee ballots to all registered voters in the county.

Cobb Elections has set up an expedited process to mail absentee ballots to voters who request them online, but Cupid asked “how much did it cost to have our poll workers to have to stay late” processing the votes of those who stood in line well after closing time.

“This is not a condition that we should ignore,” Cupid said. “When people talk about voter suppression, it’s these types of events that they’re referring to.”

Early voting continues Monday-Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through Oct. 30 and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the next two Saturdays, Oct. 17 and 24.

The Cobb government GIS office is providing wait-time updates for each of the early voting locations. On Monday the longest estimate at the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) was four hours; at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), it was as long as five hours.

County spokesman Ross Cavitt said there have been some complaints about how timely the wait-time maps are, and that poll managers are updating that information.

Janine Eveler, the director of Cobb Elections, said in an e-mailed statement that “each poll manager at the voting sites has a login and updates the wait times periodically when they have the opportunity. The wait time is an estimate for that particular moment in time, but voter experiences may vary.”

Commissioner Keli Gambrill said of the 7,062 people who voted early on Monday, 1,386 of them had to cancel absentee ballots, which she said also adds to the waiting time at the polls.

That has to be done before a voter can cast a vote in person.

Mike Boyce, the Republican chairman, spoke last, as is the custom at the end of meetings, and pulled down his mask to respond to Cupid’s comments.

Although not addressing her directly, Boyce said it’s “unfortunate that in this day and age that we’ve politicized the voting process.”

He said the partisan actions of both Democratic and Republican parties are to blame for creating a “narrative” of mistrust, regardless of how someone may vote.

Boyce noted that the commission approved spending $300,000 for security cameras to monitor 16 absentee drop boxes that have been placed around the county, “yet there are people who don’t believe those drop boxes are trustworthy.”

A retired U.S. Marine Corps colonel, Boyce admitted that while lines are inconvenient, “what is it worth to you to stand in line for one of the greatest freedoms we have have, called voting? And for those who fought for you to be able to stand in line today?

“Here’s what standing in line means for me: When you show that photo of lines to people living in China, or North Korea, or Belorussia, that shows that people will stand in line to do what it takes to show that the people are in charge.

“Everyone who stands in line stands for those who went before us and gave us this freedom to do what I believe is the most important thing our government responds to, and that is to hear the will and the voice of the people through the ballot box.”

Regardless of the method of voting, Boyce added, “those who go and do it are the true heroes right now. Those who don’t, you have to ask yourself, what is it about this country that you don’t like? That you don’t go and do your duty and don’t vote?”

The county also said Tuesday that voters concerned about their absentee ballot status can use a tracking website from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office that can be found here.

The absentee ballot drop boxes in Cobb include the East Cobb government center, Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road), Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive) and Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road).

A full list of drop boxes can be found here. They will be open 24/7 until 7 p.m. on election day, Nov. 3.

Gritters Library opens for weekday curbside service

October 5, 2020 1:39 PMOctober 5, 2020 9:28 AM by Wendy Parker

The last library branch in East Cobb that had been fully closed since March opened on Monday for curbside service only. East Cobb Library

The inside of Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Road) remains closed to the public, but patrons can order checkout materials as follows:

Monday: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Tuesday-Friday: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Mountain View Regional Library, East Cobb Library and the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center are open for limited purposes Monday-Friday and also have curbside pickup.

Per the Cobb County Public Library System, patrons seeking to pick up curbside should schedule an appointment at least an hour in advance.

The form for scheduling the curbside appointments and more details are available at www.cobbcat.org/libraryexpress.

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!

Census deadline extended; Cobb response rate 70%

September 30, 2020 2:26 PMSeptember 30, 2020 9:48 AM by Wendy Parker

Cobb census response rate

Sept. 30 had been the deadline for returning U.S. Census forms, but that’s been extended to Oct. 31 by a federal judge for COVID-19 reasons.

The Secretary of Commerce had asked the deadline be pushed only to next Monday, Oct. 5, and collection operations still could be halted before the end of the month.

We posted a couple weeks back that the self-response rate in Cobb County was 66 percent; it’s now risen to 70 percent, both via traditional mail and online.

You can check response rates via Census tracts, Congressional districts and more by clicking here; the darker colors indicate higher response rates, as some in East Cobb are in the high 80s.

Federal funding for hospitals, schools, transportation and other services is based on Census data that’s done once in a decade.

Cobb GIS has more Census information here, including a link to complete a form; you can also visit the Census website here to fill out a form.

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!

Blackjack Mountain water main replacement getting underway

September 28, 2020 1:20 PM by Wendy Parker

Blackjack Mountain Water Project

On Monday construction crews began the Blackjack Mountain water main replacement, which stretches from I-75 and Barnes Mill Road to the Quarles treatment plant on Lower Roswell Road.

A new 36-inch main will replace the 30-inch piping that’s there now. There are some traffic closures that also started Monday as well, as explained below by the Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority:

Garney Construction is the contractor for the project and is already in progress of mobilizing and performing clearing operations for the replacement that will occur from Holt Road working westbound towards Barnes Mill Road inside of CCMWA’s utility easement. We are expecting to start replacement of the water main near the intersection of Barnes Mill Rd. and Hwy 41 on Monday 9/28, and continue working east along Barnes Mill towards the dead end at I-75. We have lane closures that will also occur in this reach inside the City of Marietta limits, within the 9AM to 4PM timeframe.

We also expect to start jack and boring operations under Roswell Road (GA-120), just south of Wood Trail Lane, within the next two weeks. Any clearing/above ground disturbance work related to the jack and bore should be outside of the existing GDOT Right-of-Way, and have no impact to traffic on Roswell Road.

Tim D. Lee Senior Center reopening delayed due to renovations

September 23, 2020 10:48 AMSeptember 23, 2020 10:07 AM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb Senior Center
Three Cobb County senior centers will be reopening Oct. 5 after being closed since March due to COVID-19 restrictions.

But the Tim D. Lee Senior Center in East Cobb will remain closed for an unspecified time because of ongoing renovations.

County spokesman Ross Cavitt said the renovations are extensive, and are related to roofing issues caused by water leaks, and that “COVID has made the progress slower than we had hoped.”

He said Cobb Senior Services has retained an engineering firm to work on a redesign to direct water away from the north side of the building, which has had water retention issues after rain. Cavitt said a reopening date hasn’t been determined.

The senior centers are the last county facilities to reopen from COVID-19 closures. Those reopening on a limited basis Oct. 5 are the Freeman Poole Senior Center in Smyrna, the Cobb Senior Wellness Center in Marietta and the West Cobb Senior Center. The North Cobb Senior Center will reopen on Nov. 5.

Those centers will be subject to additional safety protocols and and other measures which can be found here:

“Everyone must be registered in advance before coming to a center, temperature screenings will be conducted at the door, and rooms will be setup to allow social distancing. While there will be some in-person activities, we will continue to offer virtual programs on our Facebook pages and via online links. We have given much thought and care in preparing for seniors to return and are eagerly looking forward to seeing them.”

Kathy Lathem, strategic partnership manager for Cobb Senior Services, said the department continued to provide transportation for seniors for medical appointments, shopping and banking, and also continued Meals on Wheels. Here’s more about what’s been happening over the last seven months:

“We began partnering with local organizations and the community for donations of shelf stable items and toiletries; WOW, did they ever respond!! From April thru mid-July, we were able to hold weekly food giveaways for Cobb residents age 60+, resulting in:

2,677 people served

1,260 produce/dairy boxes given

2,335 restaurant meals provided

“After a break to secure more donations, the food giveaway resumed on September 3rd. The next one takes place this Thursday, September 24 at our office, 1150 Powder Springs St, Marietta, 30064 from 11am until Noon, or while supplies last. An ID showing birth date and Cobb County home address is required upon arrival for each senior being served. Visit www.CobbSeniors.org for upcoming dates and locations.”

There’s a continuing food drive with needed items listed below.

Cobb commissioners narrowly approve new diversity council

September 22, 2020 8:37 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb diversity council approved

By a 3-2 vote the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved the creation of what will be called the Council for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation, a citizens’ body that will report to the county manager.

The objective of the appointed body will be to “develop proactive solutions embracing diversity by collaborating with government and community stakeholders to make Cobb County a more inclusive and enjoyable place for all citizens to live, learn, work and visit.”

(See previous ECN post here.)

The council was proposed by Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce, who was one of the votes in favor, along with commissioners Bob Ott and JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb.

But Lisa Cupid, the commission’s only black member, and its only Democrat, was one of the votes against the measure, saying it “was difficult to digest this with any seriousness.”

Not only was there not a work session, she said the resolution expressing the board’s sentiment in reaching out to the diverse communities of the county isn’t backed up by recent votes.

Among them was the board rejecting her proposal earlier this month for three county non-profits to provide rental assistance with federal CARES Act funding. That program will instead be administered by an out-of-county non-profit that’s also working with Cobb homeowners affected financially by COVID-related closures to make mortgage payments.

“This board doesn’t foster that kind of collaboration,” she said in reference to the Cobb non-profits, further objecting to the resolution initially being put on Tuesday’s consent agenda.

Cupid, who is challenging Boyce in the chairman’s race in November, said that while she supported the resolution in spirit, she understood how it might look if she voted against it. She said she first heard about the proposed council on Aug. 27, and at one point said she “just got tired of playing along.

“What’s the detriment to me if I say no right before an election?”

Republican commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb opposed the resolution for other reasons, saying she thought it would be a “quasi-shadow government in the name of diversity.”

She also didn’t like that there wasn’t a work session and thought the council “would have a direct bearing on county policy.”

Birrell said she had some initial reservations but thought there had been ample time for commissioners to express their concerns about the resolution.

Ott, who is retiring at the end of the year, said he has been involved in three previous attempts to re-form what had been the Cobb Community Relations Council.

That body, formed in the early 1990s, has dissolved, and he said it’s important for there to be continuing dialogue in Cobb across racial, religious and cultural lines.

“We can’t just sit back while Rome burns,” Ott said. “Is this perfect? No.”

But he said “it’s more healthy when there is disagreement because it opens discussions and dialogue. It allows things to change.”

Ott said he was pleased that Ben Williams of the Cobb chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an occasional critic of the county on racial issues, endorsed the resolution.

During a public comment before the vote Tuesday, Williams said the language is “clear, strong and resolute, reflecting where this board is.”

Cupid said in reference to Williams’ remark that “I’m not convinced of that.”

Boyce was the only commissioner who did not take part in the discussion.

Cobb proposes Council for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation

September 19, 2020 10:29 AM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb anti-Semitic incidents — *Faith leaders in East Cobb attended an event at Temple Kol Emeth in August following the discovery of anti-Semitic graffiti scrawlings in nearby neighborhoods. (ECN file)*

An effort to reconstitute a dormant human relations commission in Cobb County will come before county commissioners on Tuesday.

Chairman Mike Boyce is proposing the creation of the Cobb Council for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation, with the intent to “develop proactive solutions embracing diversity by collaborating with government and community stakeholders to make Cobb County a more inclusive and enjoyable place for all citizens to live, learn, work and visit.”

Council members would be appointed by commissioners, and several organizations also would have appointed members, including the Cobb Chamber of Commerce, the Cobb chapter of the NAACP, the Cobb chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Cobb County Bar Association and Kennesaw State University.

Additional members who “represent the diversity within Cobb County” would be chosen by council members, and those in county government leadership positions “will serve as subject matter experts as issues/opportunities arise.”

The proposal to create the council comes after commissioners approved an anti-racism resolution in June, following protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man, at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Last month, faith and community leaders gathered to offer a message of hope and love after anti-Semitic graffiti was found spray-painted in neighborhoods in East Cobb.

It was at that event, at the Temple Kol Emeth synagogue in East Cobb, that commissioner Bob Ott said a new appointed body was in the works.

The former human relations commission dissolved due to what he said was veering away from its mission.

That panel was formed after Cobb commissioners approved a resolution condemning “the gay lifestyle” in 1993. That came about when then-commissioner Gordon Wysong of East Cobb objected to county arts funding that included the Theater in the Square, which had been showing a play about a gay relationship.

The anti-gay resolution caused a national media frenzy and prompted Atlanta Olympic organizers to pull volleyball matches slated for the Cobb Galleria Centre and a torch relay route in the county before the 1996 Olympics.

The issue dogged Bill Byrne, the county chairman at the time, as he ran for his old seat in 2012 and he had to answer to it when he ran for commissioner in 2014.

Among those involved with the human relations commission was Rabbi Steven Lebow, recently retired from Kol Emeth, who organized a protest against the anti-gay resolution on the Marietta Square.

The proposed Council for Justice, Peace and Reconciliation would serve under the direction of Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris and included in its mission is the following:

” . . . identify opportunities across a broad spectrum to assist in the education and mitigation of systemic, institutional, and structural racism. It shall provide opportunities for members of the community to participate in small group discussion, anti-racism training, and access resources to foster and improve open and honest communication among governmental entities, Cobb County residents and employees. It shall inform the community about the goals of CJPR and encourage organizational and community partnerships through conferences, workshops, and special events.”

You can read the agenda item here and the proposed resolution here.

The Cobb commissioners meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

You can watch online on the county’s website, as well as its Facebook and YouTube pages and on Cobb TV23 on Comcast Cable.

Cobb requests revocation of Tokyo Valentino business license

September 22, 2020 11:35 AMSeptember 18, 2020 3:23 PM by Wendy Parker

Tokyo Valentino East Cobb

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will consider a request to revoke the business license of the newly opened Tokyo Valentino adult retail store on Johnson Ferry Road in East Cobb.

UPDATED: The hearing has been postponed until Oct. 27.

At the end of Tuesday’s meeting is an agenda item from the Cobb Community Development Agency that would revoke the business license on the grounds that the applicant provided false and incomplete information.

Technically, what will be conducted is a “due cause hearing,” similar to attempts to revoke alcohol licenses, with the licensing agency making its case and allowing the license holder to present a defense.

Tokyo Valentino opened in a vacant Mattress Firm store space in June without needing rezoning or any action from the county, other than a business license that was granted in March.

Considerable opposition came from nearby residents before the store opened, as first reported in May by East Cobb News.

Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb said at the time there wasn’t anything the county could to stop the store from opening.

Last month, he proposed an overhaul of the county’s sex shop ordinance that would further restrict such businesses, and those measures passed unanimously without much public discussion.

In June, the Marietta City Council revoked the business license of a Tokyo Valentino store on Cobb Parkway, saying the store inventory didn’t match what was on its application.

A Sept. 8 letter from Ellisia Webb, the Cobb Community Development Agency’s business license division manager, to Tomika Hugley, the Johnson Ferry Road store’s applicant, charges that she applied for the license under the business name of 1290 Clothing Co. LLC.

“That is false information because the business at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road has never done business or held itself out to the public as ‘1290 Clothing,’ ” the letter states. “It is instead doing business as ‘Tokyo Valentino.’ ”

(You can real the full letter here.)

Webb also charges that Hugley did not fully state what the inventory in the store would contain, as required in the business license application, listing only retail clothing merchandise, including undergarments, shoes and games.

The top three items in the store, Webb said, citing an Aug. 28 listing from Hugley, are “lotions & lubes,” “toys” and “smoke products.”

Webb said those products constitute 70 percent of the store’s inventory, but the application didn’t mention them at all. The only product mentioned in the application that was later included on the inventory list was lingerie, which Webb said constituted only 14 percent of what’s in the store.

Webb also charges that Hugley is improperly listed on the business license application as the president and manager of the store, when state incorporation papers list Scott Morrison, the owner of several Tokyo Valentino and other adult stores in Atlanta, as the store’s organizer.

The other grounds for business license revocation in Webb’s letter include Hugley claiming the applicant had no delinquent taxes due. According to Webb, Morrison owes back business occupation taxes in several jurisdictions, including Gwinnett County.

Webb further details what she said are numerous misrepresentations made by Morrison to news media outlets and even to Hugley about his intentions for an East Cobb store.

Until his Marietta store was closed, Morrison had six adult retail stores in metro Atlanta, and has had legal battles in various jurisdictions.

His main store, on Cheshire Bridge Road in Atlanta, has been the subject of a legal dispute lasting two decades and that includes a civil rights lawsuit he has filed.

In late May, a DeKalb County judge ordered Morrison jailed in a longstanding matter involving his Stardust adult store in Brookhaven.

Morrison has vowed to appeal that ruling and the business license revocation in Marietta.

The Cobb commissioners meeting starts at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

You can watch online on the county’s website, as well as its Facebook and YouTube pages and on Cobb TV23 on Comcast Cable.

Cobb to live-stream Monday information event on rental assistance

September 18, 2020 12:31 PMSeptember 18, 2020 9:25 AM by Wendy Parker

Submitted information:

The Cobb Board of Commissioners approved $6 million in emergency funding to provide rent and mortgage relief grants for county residents affected by COVID-19. These programs are administered by Star-C and HomeFree-USA.

To help you understand the programs and application process, we will host a virtual open house 6-8 p.m., Monday, Sept. 21.

You can watch at any of the following CobbTV outlets:

YOUTUBE

FACEBOOK

WEBSITE
CABLE: Government access channel on Cobb systems

Margaret Stagmeier of Star-C and Earnest Davis of HomeFree-USA will be on hand to share all the information you need about these relief programs. You can also submit your questions to CARES@CobbCommunications.org.

Watch the open house online or at the following locations:

North Cobb Regional Library – Community Room, 3535 Old 41 Highway, Kennesaw

Sewell Mill Cultural Center – Black Box Theater, 2051 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta

The Earl and Rachel Smith Strand Theatre, 117 N Park Square, Marietta

South Cobb Recreation Center – Gym, 875 Riverside Parkway, Austell

IMPORTANT NOTE: We are NOT completing applications on-site at the open house. Limited seating available at streaming locations. Attendees must wear masks and observe social distancing guidelines.

Ott reflects on time as commissioner to East Cobb business group

September 14, 2020 12:40 PMSeptember 14, 2020 9:05 AM by Wendy Parker

Bob Ott

As he spends his last few months in office, Cobb commissioner Bob Ott is getting invited to speak about his 12-year tenure.

Ott addressed the East Cobb Area Council of the Cobb Chamber of Commerce last week, reviewing business and economic development, zoning and land use issues, infrastructure, health care, libraries, parks and more.

(You can watch his full presentation at this link).

“Indeed it has been a ride,” said Ott, who announced in January he would not be seeking a fourth term.

Ott is a former president of the East Cobb Civic Association and served on the Cobb Planning Commission. In 2008, he defeated commissioner Joe Thompson, who had appointed him to that board.

The Republican who lives in the Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill area has represented District 2, which includes most of East Cobb as well as the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area.

Ott said the biggest economic driver was the construction of the Atlanta Braves stadium, now called Truist Park, that he said has generated 22,000 jobs in the district.

“We didn’t just get a stadium” he said, referencing the adjacent The Battery Atlanta development and the 22-story Thyssen-Krupp tower that’s opening soon.

Another major development that he steered is the MarketPlace Terrell mixed-use project that’s underway at Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill.

It’s the centerpiece of the Powers Ferry corridor that was the subject of the first of four master plans that have been developed in District 2.

“If we get certain things to go, everything else will follow,” he said, referring to nearby businesses that have upgraded, including a BP station across the road.

A Wendy’s restaurant has opened at the MarketPlace Terrell Mill, with other restaurants and eateries coming on line soon, as well as an apartment complex. The anchor will be a Kroger superstore.

Ott said that in his time in office, 5,000 apartments have been built in District 2, with around 3,500 of them in the Cumberland/Battery area, “where they should be.”

The other master plans included Vinings, design guidelines for the Johnson Ferry corridor and last week, when commissioners approved one for the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford area.

He said those plans include 60 percent of land in District 2, and give developers a solid guideline for developers.

For the most part, Ott said, “if they develop according to the master plan, the community is going to support it.”

In November, District 2 voters will choose his successor. Republican Fitz Johnson, a Vinings resident who serves on the board of the WellStar Health System, will face Democrat Jerica Richardson, a first-time candidate who lives in the Delk Road area.

As Census deadline nears, East Cobb response rate is high

September 10, 2020 1:48 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb Census reponse rate

With just a couple weeks remaining until the deadline for completing 2020 U.S. Census forms, the response rate in East Cobb is among the highest in Cobb County.

According to a Cobb County government GIS map seen above, all but one Census tract in East Cobb are reporting response rates of 75 percent or higher.

That’s of Sept. 2, and that’s just the self-response rate. The Census Bureau has listings for all states in that category, and follow-up response rates that it adds to its cumulative total, that you can find here.

The Census bureau also has interactive maps that show the most recent updates for every Census tract (a screen grab is shown below), and some East Cobb census tracts have total response rates of higher than 80 percent and in some cases as high as 88 percent.

You can click this hover map to get more details by Census tract.

Georgia’s self-response rate is 60.8 percent as of Wednesday, and combined with the follow-up response rate now stands at 80.2 percent.

The states with the highest overall rates for the moment are Idaho (98.5 percent), West Virginia (97.7 percent), Washington (96.5 percent), Hawaii (96.1 percent) and Kansas (95.6 percent).

Cobb GIS has more Census information here, including a link to complete a form; you can also visit the Census website here to fill out a form.

East Cobb Census response rate — *To view details by Census tract, **click here**.*

Cobb commissioners adopt major changes to sex shop ordinance

September 8, 2020 5:23 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb sex shop changes — *A mobile sign in front of the new Tokyo Valentino store on Johnson Ferry Road has been removed.*

The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved major changes to the county code governing the operation of sexually oriented businesses.

Commissioners adopted the new ordinance provisions on its consent agenda, and after a second required public hearing attracted no speakers.

The code amendments would limit sex shops and other adult businesses to two industrial zoning categories. All such businesses would be required to obtain a special license and employees would have to be issued a special permit.

(You can read through the code amendments here. Reader discretion is advised, since there are some explicit descriptions of sexual acts, body parts and devices.)

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 changes come after Tokyo Valentino, an Atlanta-based adult retail chain, opened a store on Johnson Ferry Road in the former Mattress Firm location across from Merchant’s Walk.

The store was granted a business license as a general retail operation under the name 1290 Clothing Co., but opened as Tokyo Valentino.

Another Tokyo Valentino store opened in Sandy Springs last year under similar circumstances.

The ordinance changes also prohibit sexually oriented businesses from operating within 750 feet of residentially zoned land, within 1,500 feet of a school, religious facility, government-owned or run building, 1,000 feet of another sexually oriented business and 500 feet of another business licensed to sell alcohol, either on premises or a package store.

While nobody spoke in favor of or against the code amendments during the public hearings, Daniel White, who began an online petition against Tokyo Valentino, told East Cobb News he was sending a written statement in support of the measures.

Here’s what he submitted for the record:

“Based on the short notice and change to live public comments vs. online comments, I am submitting this on behalf of the 2,906 people who have signed the change.org petition to reject the sex shop on Johnson Ferry. I believe good can come from this for all Cobb County residents and not just the residents of East Cobb. The well researched common sense changes to the ordinance have our support to—as well outlined—establish reasonable and uniform regulations that prevent the secondary deleterious effects of these businesses in residential areas.

“These regulations are limiting and not prohibitive. They allow for the rights to operate these businesses and take into consideration common sense conditions for operating. Since the shop has opened it has installed outdoor color changing strobe like dance lights on the front and parked a large explicit mobile sign in front as well. We are certain that these ‘near legal tactics’ will continue. The sexually oriented permanent sign is tragedy to the progress we have made in the awareness of sexualizing and exploiting women. It’s tasteless and taunting. If the owner wanted to work with the community he would not continue to lie and hide.

“In thIs meeting of Cobb County commissioners, we support the affirmative vote on the sweeping changes to the Cobb County sexually oriented business ordinances effectively putting these businesses where they belong—not out of business as it is their right—but out of our neighborhoods by effectively banning their operations near schools, residences, and churches.

“This means that the 2,906 people who have signed this that represent nearly 9,000 east cobb residents will have had a positive voice in government. In today’s day, you should not have to show up to a specific meeting to have your voices heard. There are so many listening avenues and I’m glad you have heard us, worked hard and found ways to balance business and resident input. The well researched 30 page document outlines the blight these businesses cause and the trouble they bring. It is naive and insulting to say that opponents of this ordinance are ‘just a bunch of moms.’ Because it is not a bunch of ‘moms’ that keep these places open and frequent them enough to stay open. It is people who go often. It’s the rule of any business and if you’re in a sex shop often you don’t need to be 3/10’s of a mile from a school or within a few hundred yards of kids walking to school, a Chick-fil-A or a Starbucks or for that matter directly across the street from an Old Navy.

“The changes make good sense.”

Cobb commissioners argue over COVID rental relief programs

September 12, 2020 11:33 AMSeptember 8, 2020 1:05 PM by Wendy Parker

Lisa Cupid, Cobb Board of Commissioners — *Cobb commissioner Lisa Cupid*

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.”

Cobb sex shop ordinance, JOSH adoption on commission agenda

September 7, 2020 1:03 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb sex shop changes

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 full meeting agenda can be found here.

Two of the mandated three public hearings for the proposed sex shop changes have been conducted, but no verbal comments have been submitted.

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.

(You can read through the proposed code amendments here. Reader discretion is advised, since there are some explicit descriptions of sexual acts, body parts and devices.)

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.

After multiple public meetings and written feedback, Cobb government staff released a draft of the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan proposal last summer.

The process has been similar to the Johnson Ferry Design Guidelines and the Powers Ferry Master Plan in East Cobb in recent years.

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.

Appointment system for Cobb weapons carry permit requests to continue

September 1, 2020 2:04 PMSeptember 1, 2020 10:56 AM by Wendy Parker

Submitted information:

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

Cobb Medical Examiner’s office moves into new $11M facility

August 31, 2020 9:08 AM by Wendy Parker

Cobb County Medical Examiner facility

The Cobb County Medical Examiner’s office has moved into a new $11 million building that’s a dramatic expansion of a 42-year-old facility that had been long outdated.

The new place is 19,000 square feet on County Services Parkway, among a cluster of Cobb government facilities.

Some of the funding came from the 2016 Cobb government SPLOST, but in 2018 Cobb commissioners voted to provide the lion’s share of the money––$8 million in general fund reserves––for what Medical Examiner Dr. Christopher Gulledge said would be needed to serve a county of more than 750,000 people.

In 2014 a critical audit of the medical examiner’s office suggested sweeping changes that prompted the resignation of the chief medical examiner. The audit was brought about by complaints by citizen Tom Cheek about the way his son’s autopsy was handled, and revealed wider organizational problems.

“The original Medical Examiner’s office was built in 1978 when Cobb County only had 200,000 people, and it has not significantly been expanded since then,” said Gulledge, who was appointed in 2015.

His office helps investigates criminal cases and works with law enforcement and the judicial system, but is an independent agency of county government.

Gulledge also has been ramping up efforts to grapple with the county’s growing opioid crisis.

The Medical Examiner’s office also is providing real-time data to the Cobb and Douglas Public Health Department related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public hearing on Cobb sex shop changes attracts no comments

August 26, 2020 1:15 PM by Wendy Parker

Cobb sex shop changes

There was plenty of interest from readers to our story on Monday on a proposed ordinance that would make sweeping changes to how sexually oriented businesses can operate.

But on Tuesday, nobody showed up to speak at a public hearing, either in favor of, or against, those proposed code amendments.

Although no businesses were mentioned by name, these proposals brought by Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb follow the recent opening of a Tokyo Valentino store on Johnson Ferry Road, where a more forthright sign advertising its wares has gone up, as seen above.

The City of Marietta recently closed the only other Tokyo Valentino store in the county, on Cobb Parkway across from the Marietta Diner, for violating its ordinances.

The Cobb code amendments would apply only to businesses in unincorporated areas. The primary rationale being given for replacing an entire section of the code pertaining to adult businesses is what’s called “adverse secondary effects,” including crime and loitering, to nearby areas.

County commissioners revise the code several times a year, and before doing so must conduct public hearings.

The new ordinance would limit sexually oriented business to two industrial zoning categories. Tokyo Valentino opened in East Cobb in former Mattress Firm space that is zoned general commercial, and received a business license for a retail clothing store that was to have been called 1290 Clothing Co.

There was vocal opposition before Tokyo Valentino signs appeared, but Ott said the county couldn’t do anything.

You can read through what’s being proposed in the code amendments by clicking here.

There are two more public hearings, on Sept. 1 before the Cobb Planning Commission, and on Sept. 8, the date Cobb commissioners are expected to vote on the code amendments.

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