Thanks to Dana Wright, manager of the 11- and 12-year-old East Side Chargers, for letting us know about how his kids are are getting ready for a big summer tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y. in a special way.
Instead of holding a fundraising drive for their trip, Wright says, the boys have decided to use the occasion to raise money and awareness for childhood cancer during the season.
That’s the Atlanta non-profit that is devoted to childhood cancer research and awareness with some connections to youth athletes in East Cobb who’ve passed away: Grace Bunke, a Walton swimmer, and Matt Hobby, a Pope football player.
The East Side Chargers began their fundraising drive on Feb. 1, but is continuing until July 1, when they’re getting ready to head to Cooperstown. Wright says they’ve raised about $2,500 thus far, and here’s how the pledging works, and all donations are tax-deductible:
The program is very simple. . . . People can pledge a flat amount OR to help motivate for the boys on the field by pledging $ for EVERY TEAM HIT during the season.
We will play 30+ games and estimate 4-5 hits per game—bringing the total to 120-150 hits. We ring a cowbell at every game for every hit. . . This really motivates the kids and has generated new pledges.
We are also looking for other teams to join and set up their own program. . . . Rally will do all the work and make it turn key for any other coach or team families to participate.
More viral we can make this – the more money is raised to fight childhood cancer.
It has really motivated these young men on the field to work harder, given them a sense of pride knowing that they are helping other kids and giving them a better understanding of the disease.
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!
For the next few days I will be in Florida for my mother’s funeral and to be with my family. While I am gone, East Cobb News will be updated for urgent, breaking or very timely news.
I hope to resume normal publishing by the first of next week. Please feel free to send your non-breaking news, calendar items and other inquiries, but I may not be able to respond until I return.
The Sunday e-mail newsletter will go out as scheduled, although it will be abbrieviated this week.
I will write about my mother when I return. She was a warm, generous woman who raised her children in East Cobb, got involved in church and volunteer activities here and always loved visiting after retiring to Florida. She would especially miss the dogwood trees that I’ve seen blooming in recent days, and they provide warm memories of her now that are very comforting.
Thanks your for your patience and understanding.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
Land that was once a former recycling business would be included in a townhome community at Lower Roswell Road and the South Marietta Parkway. (ECN photos by Wendy Parker)
If you’ve noticed the green signs near the northeastern intersection of Lower Roswell Road and the South Marietta Parkway, that’s a notice from the City of Marietta about a rezoning and annexation request that’s being opposed by Cobb County officials.
On Tuesday’s Marietta Planning Commission agenda is a request by Traton Homes, LLC, to annex six parcels of unincorporated single-family residential land on Indian Trail and assemble them with with three commercial parcels already in city limits that front Lower Roswell.
The planning commission meeting begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Marietta City Hall, 205 Lawrence St., in the city council chambers.
Traton wants to build 63 townhomes and a single-family home on the 7.48 acres. The land, which formerly housed an auto repair shop and a recycling center and homes that have since been demolished, is across Lower Roswell from a QuickTrip and is in a transitioning commercial corridor with alternating city and county properties.
The three city parcels were annexed by Marietta in 1998.
Traton’s request is for the Planned Residential Development Single Family (PRD-SF) zoning category, and the land is adjacent to smaller, older single-family homes in unincorporated Cobb.
The parcels Traton Homes is assembling for townhomes are shown in diagonal lines. Map: Marietta Zoning Office
The proposed density would be 8.56 units an acre, and that’s where the county objects. It’s citing a 2004 state law that limits newly annexed land to a density of no more than four units an acre. On Feb. 1 the county sent a letter to the city pointing out that current density is 1.75 units an acre, and that the proposal constitutes “a substantial change in the intensity of the use of the property.”
The future land use plan category for the area also calls for low-density residential, but the Traton request would include changing that to high-density residential.
The Cobb letter was signed by commission chairman Mike Boyce and commissioners Bob Ott, who represents the Lower Roswell-South Marietta Parkway area, and Keli Gambrill.
City planning data including in the zoning case file indicate that other PRD-SF projects in Marietta range from nine to 12 units an acre.
Traton’s proposal comes with a number of issues that don’t meet requirements for that zoning category, and a detailed site plan hasn’t been included.
Among the concerns is dedicated recreational space, and while Traton has indicated there will be “open space” on the development, the only amenities mentioned are a pool and a pool house. In all, the recreation area would be less than an acre, and open space would be only 12 percent, less than half of the category’s requirement of 25 percent.
Looking east along Indian Trail, where single-family homes remain in unincorporated Cobb.
City zoning staff also noted that PRD-SF requires a minimum lot size of 4,000 square feet, but Traton wants to “reduce the minimum lot size to the footprint of each unit.”
Another variance would reduce driveway length from 20 to 18 feet, and the units would have two-car garages. All of the units would be accessed by private roads and alleys, and the city zoning staff is recommending that a traffic impact study be done.
The zoning staff also says a sidewalk waiver would be needed for South Marietta Parkway, a deceleration lane needs to be built into the development and city sanitation vehicles wouldn’t be able to go down the streets or alleys.
Instead, garbage bins and dumpsters would be needed where those vehicles can make pickups.
Traton also has not submitted a landscaping plan, nor has it detailed elevations, floorplans and finishes for the townhome units.
The Marietta zoning staff is also asking Traton to enter into a development plan and donate right-of-way along Indian Trail for traffic improvements.
If the planning board makes a recommendation, the Traton request would go before the Marietta City Council on March 13.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
The former Walmart grocery at the Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center would become an indoor recreational center if the owners can get rezoning for the entire retail complex.
That’s on the Cobb Planning Commission agenda for Tuesday, but the county’s zoning staff is recommending denial, saying noise is a major factor, and that it’s activity that’s better suited for a more intense commercial area.
DDR Southeast Sandy Plains, LLC, wants to rezone the complex on Woodstock Road—between Sandy Plains Road and Mabry Road and which includes the Movie Tavern—from neighborhood retail (NRC) and neighborhood shopping (NS) to community retail (CRC).
Ignite Adventure Park would contain nearly 67,000 square feet of space and is proposed as a family-oriented center with go-karts, bumper cars, wall and rock climbing, indoor trampolines, mini-golf and more.
Cobb zoning staff, in addition to concluding that the proposed zoning is incompatible with the surrounding community, said noise and fumes are the biggest issues:
“Staff is concerned that the proposed go-karts will increase noise and fumes for the adjoining residential properties due to the venting requirements gasoline engines may require. “
The retail center’s attorney, Garvis Sams, submitted stipulation letters here and here since the initial application.
Also on Tuesday’s agenda is a rezoning in the Canton Road corridor that has drawn community opposition.
H & I Real Estate wants to rezone part of an existing shopping center at 3920 Canton Road from neighborhood shopping to neighborhood retail at the Kingston Drive Extension for a retail center with a special events facility.
Essentially, the applicant is asking for additional use of a nearby assembly hall that’s been operating there for around five years. Zoning staff, which is recommending approval with some conditions, said the application came about because of complaints that were taken to Cobb Code Enforcement.
But the Canton Road Neighbors civic group said it objects to an event hall, which isn’t a permitted use under the proposed rezoning category.
Canton Road Neighbors said it also was concerned about the impact on the nearby Emerson Unitarian congregation and the Canterbury Glen subdivision, whose residents have complained about late-night noise.
“To date, this has not been a neighborhood-friendly business,” the civic group wrote in a letter submitted to county zoning staff
The planning commission meeting starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.
Its recommendations will be forwarded to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which will conduct a zoning hearing March 19.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
Shortly before Cobb County became the latest metro Atlanta government to oppose legislation that would strip cities and counties of local control of residential building design standards, the East Cobb Civic Association weighed in on the matter.
In response to a message from East Cobb News on Tuesday, ECCA president Linda Carver said that the organization “is firmly opposed” to companion bills in the House and the Senate, “and we will be encouraging our ECCA members to let their state representatives know of our opposition.”
The ECCA, which was formed in 1982, represents around 90 subdivisions in the East Cobb area and takes an active role in examining zoning cases, making recommendations to the Cobb Planning Commission and Cobb commissioners.
Carver said in an initial response Tuesday afternoon that her organization hadn’t had time to sort through HB 302, but indicated that “anything that would take away local control of building standards would not be looked on favorably.”
She followed up later Tuesday when learning of the Senate bill and stated the ECCA’s opposition.
The bills, HB 302 and SB 172, are being sponsored by lawmakers in smaller towns and rural parts of Georgia, and some metro Atlanta cities and counties have taken exception.
The legislation would cover design elements for one- and two-family homes, and would take away local approval for such things as exterior building color, style and materials for roofs and porches, exterior architectural ornamentation, location and styling of windows and doors, types of flooring and the interior layout of rooms.
He said he’s been getting a lot of e-mails about the matter, saying it “smacks in the face of local control. We spend a lot of time working with the community” on standards governing the look and materials of new homes.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb said it “would be a disaster for the community and surrounding neighborhoods” if local governing bodies lost the ability to set design standards.
The bills are supported by those in home building and real estate industries.
Also on Tuesday, the commissioners voted 5-0 to adopt a resolution seeking an extension for for a special transit committee in Cobb.
The resolution seeks an amendment to current state law, which call for the termination of the committee in December 2019. It’s made up of county commissioners and the Cobb legislative delegation and its duties include drawing up the boundaries for a special transit area.
Cobb is planning to hold a referendum to extend the SPLOST one-cent sales tax for county government in 2020, and Chairman Mike Boyce is eyeing 2022 for a possible transit referendum, saying the extra time is necessary to draw up a viable project list.
The commissioners also approved an alcohol license for Catfish Hox, a seafood restaurant at 2595 Sandy Plains Road, and that was recognized at the 2018 Taste of Marietta festival.
The restaurant’s initial application for beer, wine and Sunday pouring had been rejected by the Cobb License Review Board because it’s located within 600 feet of Sprayberry High School.
Owner Vivian Creasor said in her appeal that while the industry standard is to check identification of customers ordering alcohol who appear to be under 40, carding at Catfish Hox will occur “100% of the time regardless of appearance.”
She said the application for a pouring license is to compete with other restaurants in the vicinity. Kumo, a Japanese restaurant in the same shopping center, also serves alcohol.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
The following East Cobb restaurant scores from Feb. 18-March 1 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing to view details of the inspection:
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!
Season Stalcup, a Wheeler science teacher, is one of four educators from the Cobb County School District to be named to the 2019 NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors program.
Stalcup, also an assistant coach for the Wheeler softball team, is among 28 in Georgia, and Cobb is one of 14 district in eight states with teachers who were selected to participate.
Here’s what CCSD is sending out about the program:
The NASA Ambassador program is a professional development opportunity for high school science teachers designed to improve science teaching and learning and increase student engagement in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).
As ambassadors, the Cobb teachers will join fellow educators from California, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Kentucky, Texas, and two from Columbus, Georgia for training in astrophysics, planetary science content, and pedagogy. Their training will include a week-long immersion experience at NASA’s science research aircraft facility in Palmdale, California with participation in research flights onboard NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).
SOFIA is a highly modified Boeing 747SP airliner fitted with a 2.5-meter (100-inch) telescope and using a suite of seven cameras and spectrographs to study celestial objects at infrared wavelengths. SOFIA operates during 10-hour overnight science missions at altitudes between 39,000 and 45,000 feet (12-14 kilometers), above more than 99 percent of the water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere that blocks infrared light from reaching ground-based observatories.
After their training, the Cobb teachers, with the help of program staff, will implement a NASA science-oriented electromagnetic spectrum and infrared astronomy curriculum module in their classrooms. The module is developed by the SETI Institute, which has managed the Ambassador program since its inception in 2011. Cobb’s teachers are part of the first NASA Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors class open to teachers outside of California.
“We are so proud of the teachers that were selected to be a part of the Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors Program,” said Christian Cali, Cobb County School District science supervisor. “Their experiences flying into the stratosphere on NASA’s SOPHIA will provide Cobb students with a chance to make real-world connections with the concepts they are learning in the classroom.”
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
The East Side Broncos 12U baseball team is collecting gently worn, used and new shoes to raise money for a trip to Cooperstown, NY this summer. Clean out your closet and bring your shoes to East Cobb Park on Wednesday, February 27th from 8-10 a.m. We will have 2 SUVs open and ready to stuff with shoes!
Let’s get these boys to Cooperstown!!
There’s nothing to buy! All you have to do is clean out your closet of gently used shoes that you no longer wear.
For more information about this fundraiser and where the shoes go, visit funds2orgs.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb is proposing a resolution at the board’s meeting on Tuesday opposing a residential design bill in the Georgia legislature that would bar local governments from imposing certain standards in zoning cases.
His resolution, which is being co-sponsored by new commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb, is the latest proposal by a local government body in metro Atlanta in response to HB 302.
That bill, co-sponsored by some of the most powerful members of the House Republican majority, would restrict the ability of local governments to determine building design elements for one- and two-family homes.
Among other things, the provisions of the bill would cover exterior building color, style and materials for roofs and porches, exterior architectural ornamentation, location and styling of windows and doors, types of flooring and the interior layout of rooms.
Ott said the bill would subvert local control of zoning and design standards at the city and county level, where quality-of-life decisions relating to housing need to be made.
Local control of design standards “helps us keep Cobb the type of community most people move here for,” commissioner Bob Ott says.
“People move to different communities because they like the look and feel of the area,” he said in a statement issued by the county Friday afternoon. “They want to protect their neighborhoods and often work with their local elected officials to do so.”
Most of the bill’s sponsors, which also include two Democrats, are from rural and small-town areas of Georgia; none are from metro Atlanta.
HB 302 narrowly passed the House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee last week and is listed on the House floor calendar for Monday.
On Friday, a companion bill, SB 172, was introduced in the Georgia Senate and on Monday will likely receive a committee assignment.
Like the House version, SB 172 is sponsored by small-town and rural lawmakers, including President Pro Tem Sen. Butch Miller of Gainesville.
HB 302 has been drawing support from the home-building industry, those in favor of expanding affordable-housing options as well as some realtors. The Georgia Association of Realtors is claiming that the “American Dream of Home Ownership is under attack.”
HB 302, the realtors’ group claims, “brings the American dream of homeownership within reach of more citizens, not just the ones local officials think deserve to be homeowners.”
Local governments, the group said in statement, are unnecessarily adding thousands of dollars to the cost of new homes: “What used to be the purview of a Home Owners Association are now decisions made by city or county administrators with jurisdiction-wide application.”
Ott’s resolution says that “local governments can provide more affordable housing options without sacrificing unique character or threatening economic development.”
Opposition to the bill is coming from the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia and the Georgia Municipal Association.
Some local governments have already sprung into action against HB 302, including Forsyth County, which passed a resolution last week. Sandy Springs officials have expressed concern, and on Monday the Dunwoody City Council will consider a similar measure.
Ott said another concern he has over the legislation is how it might impact the ongoing development of a new master plan for the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford area.
“Commissioners consistently work with different citizens groups to ensure the quality of development in Cobb County,” he said.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
After nearly a week of rain, the sunshine will be out on Sunday, but so will some potentially damaging winds.
The National Weather Service in Atlanta has issued a wind advisory for much of north Georgia for Sunday, including Cobb County, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Temperatures will rise to the high 50s, with winds increasing to 20 mph and possibly as much as 30 mph during the day.
A cold front is coming through and by Sunday evening, temperatures will be in the mid 30s. The wind is expected to taper off to around 10-15 mph on Monday, with highs in the upper 50s and sunshine.
The winds will calm down to around 5 mph and low temperatures Monday night in the upper 30s.
Tuesday also will be sunny with highs in the low 60s. A slight chance of rain will linger into the middle of the week.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
The senior pastor at Eastside Baptist Church is upset over what he calls “very capricious leadership” by the leader of the Southern Baptist Convention after learning that the East Cobb congregation has been put on a list for possible “defellowshipping” for a 2017 sex abuse case.
Rev. John Hull, Eastside Baptist Church senior pastor
Rev. John Hull told East Cobb News Friday afternoon that he is tentatively scheduled to talk via telephone on Monday with J.D. Greear, the president of the SBC, who identified Eastside as among the churches being examined for how it handled allegations of sexual abuse by workers and volunteers.
Hull also said SBC officials will be visiting the church on Lower Roswell Road on Tuesday, not to investigate, he said, but to give Eastside leaders a chance to “express concerns” about being on the list.
In 2017, Alexander Edwards, a former youth ministry volunteer at Eastside, was convicted of two counts of sexual battery involving an 11-year-old boy and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Edwards’ arrest in 2016 came just after Hull was hired to lead the East Cobb church, which he said acted quickly and publicly to improve security, strengthen background checks and assure its members that it was protecting young people from sexual abuse.
“There are people who think this is outrageous that we’re on the list,” Hull said. “We’re not looking for a fight, but our East Cobb church has taken a body blow. We’re hurting because this came from within the family.”
That’s a reference to Greear, who earlier week this publicly identified 10 churches, including Eastside, for scrutiny following news reports in Texas that have rocked the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, which has more than 15 million members and more than 47,000 affiliated churches.
While he admires Greear for trying to address allegations of sexual abuse, Hull said he acted unilaterally to compose the list and did not notify him before the names of the churches were revealed by the news media. Hull said he learned about the list late Monday night, shortly after he had gone to bed, when he got a text message from the Eastside social media manager, who had seen news reports from Texas.
UPDATED: The day after we spoke to Rev. Hull, the Southern Baptist Convention issued a response regarding the 10 churches on the list, and its executive committee bylaws working group concluded that no further investigation at Eastside is warranted:
“Based on the information provided by the president, we have no evidence that the church, as a body, violated any of the four provisions. We also note that, based on media reports and conversations with church leaders, it appears that after the events in question the church strengthened its existing policies to prevent abuse and properly respond to charges of abuse. We believe no further inquiry is warranted based on that information.”
Hull conducted an interview with the Houston Chronicle, which along with San Antonio Express-News published a series earlier this month called “Abuse of Faith,” which estimated that more than 700 people had been victimized.
Hull said Eastside also has the support of the Georgia Baptist Convention and the Noonday Baptist Association, a consortium of more than 100 churches in Cobb, Cherokee, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, Paulding and Polk counties.
The case of Edwards is among those contained in the newspapers’ database of more than 200 workers and volunteers at Southern Baptist churches who have been charged with sexual abuse or who have been convicted or pleaded guilty since 1998. He is a registered sex offender, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Alexander Edwards (Photo: Georgia Department of Corrections)
Eastside Baptist, which opened in 1961, has more than 5,000 members. In the 1980s it started a Christian school that currently enrolls more than 400 students K-8 and built an activities center that includes fitness facilities and offers classes to the wider community.
After Edwards’ conviction and sentencing, Hull said, Eastside took immediate action to rectify the lapses that led to the abuse. The Texas newspapers reported that Edwards had been allowed to volunteer at Eastside despite a 2013 arrest for using the Internet to find a child for sex.
Not long after Edwards’ arrest in 2016, a former part-time Eastside janitor was charged with misdemeanor sexual battery involving a girl. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in jail, most of that on probation.
Those security measures include stronger background checks of prospective employees and volunteers. In addition, all visitors to the church or school are are required to have their driver’s license scanned for a background check.
“You can’t get in without it,” said Hull, who added that the background scanning technology will become available soon for those using the Eastside activities center that’s open to the larger public.
That center, which also has employed a full-time security guard for the last two years, will soon be hiring another one. Hull said there are also are 50 security cameras on the sprawling Lower Roswell Road campus, which stretches to the boundary of Eastvalley Elementary School.
Hull said Eastside has spent more than $500,000 on security, technology, staff training and other measures to address sexual abuse concerns.
“We are prepared to be the model, we are prepared to be a resource [for any congregation in a similar position] and to add value around what we have learned.”
In his comments to the SBC executive committee this week, Greear said he’s not in favor of “disfellowshipping” any church at this point, but “these churches must be called upon to give assurance to the SBC that they have taken the necessary steps to correct their policies and procedures with regards to abuse and care for survivors.”
The Southern Baptist allegations come a few months after another round of revelations of priest abuse by several Roman Catholic archdioceses, including Atlanta.
Last November, Atlanta Archbishop Rev. Wilton Gregory released a list of priests, workers and volunteers accused or convicted of sex abuse going back to the creation of the archdiocese in the late 1950s.
Two of those individuals worked at the Catholic Church of St. Ann and Transfiguration Catholic Church in East Cobb, including the latter’s founding priest. Nearly 200 bishops and other church officials are in Rome this weekend at a special sex-abuse summit called by Pope Francis.
Hull said he’s still working through what his sermon message will be to his Eastside congregation Sunday morning, but he is certain that “we will defend the body of Christ on Lower Roswell Road.”
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
In last week’s food score listings, there were two East Cobb restaurants that got failing scores. When that happens, the Cobb and Douglas Department of Public Health typically comes back within 10 days for another inspection.
Both of them got “A” scores in repeat visits this week.
One is Judy’s Country Kitchen (2745 Sandy Plains Road, Suite 106), a buffet restaurant which was first inspected on Feb. 14, and given a score of 58. It was cited for multiple violations, including improper food storage, dirty equipment and utensils and not storing wet cloths used for food-area cleanup in sanitizing solution (here’s the report).
On Wednesday, Judy’s got an “A” score of 93, but two new violations were noted: storing powder cleaner in dry storage without a label, and storing sanitizing solution near salt and sugar. The new report indicated both violations were corrected on-site.
On Feb. 12, Montana’s Bar and Grill (2995 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 330) got a score of 68 for a number of violations, including what inspectors said was “a large rodent infestation” and “the facility has a lack of managerial control.” (Report here)
This Tuesday, the restaurant got another inspection, and received a score of 100 (report here). Inspectors noted that the facility was “treated by Ecolab for pests, lights installed in dry storage areas, dishwasher repaired, facility thoroughly cleaned. No need for additional follow up at this time.”
A second bad inspection could force a restaurant to be closed until corrective action is taken.
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!
One of the first “blow dry bar” locations has opened in the East Cobb area. It’s called the Blo Blow Dry Bar, and it started up on Feb. 9 at Merchant’s Walk (1311 Johnson Ferry Road), next to the Lizard Thicket store.
What’s a blow dry bar? It’s a place to get a shampoo, a blow dry and hair styling, but no haircuts or coloring treatment.
Blo Blow Dry Bar is a national chain that’s been moving into the Atlanta area recently, and has more than 130 franchises in all. The motto is “You’re not cheating on your hairdresser,” and the concept is moving into a competitive market for hair care.
Prices for “blowout” treatments start at $45 and the East Cobb franchise partner is Grace Massih. The store will have a grand opening VIP event in early March.
Blo Blow Dry Bar is open seven days a week, and has 10 stations for blowouts, makeup and hair styling on location, as well as hair and skin care products available for sale.
The hours are from 9-7 Monday-Saturday and 11-6 on Sunday, with earlier and later availability by appointment.
Phone is 678-310-0755 and walk-ins are welcome.
Tell us about your business
Do you have business news to share? We’ll post your openings and non-sales events here, including charitable activities. E-mail us at editor@eastcobbnews.com.
If you want to promote your business (including sales and specials other than grand openings), email us at advertising@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll be glad to send you a media kit.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
The flood warning at Noonday Creek has been called off, with the flood stage at Woodstock now around 5 feet and 4 feet at Blackwells.
UPDATED, 2 P.M.:
We have not heard of any road closings in Cobb County, but you’re advised to avoid travel around Noonday Creek if you can. That’s because a flood-stage warning was issued this morning.
According to gaugings at Noonday Creek near the Cherokee County line, the creek is just now falling a little below its 10 foot flood stage.
Not too far downsteam, Noonday Creek at Blackwells has dropped to eight feet, below its flood stage of 11 feet, after rising to as high as 9.4 feet.
Sope Creek also came close to flood stage near Lower Roswell Road, going as high as 10.08 feet (flood stage is 12 feet), and it’s fallen to four feet as of 1 p.m.
Sewell Mill Creek near Roswell Road, with a flood stage of 11 feet, got as high as 7.23 feet overnight, according to the U.S. Geological Survey measurements, and is currently around three feet.
Willeo Creek near Roswell Road, with a flood stage of 12 feet, got as high as nine feet, and is now under 6 feet.
The rain is expected to increase again late this afternoon, to nearly a 90 percent chance of rain.
A flash flood watch extended to Cobb is expected to expire at 5 p.m. today, but could be further extended or a new watch issued.
Another strong thunderstorm system was crossing through into Alabama early this afternoon.
Another possible weather-related incident involved house fire on Oak Village Lane, off of Post Tritt Road.
Lt. Denell Boyd of the Cobb Fire Department said a call came in at 10:20 Wednesday night.
She said firefighters saw smoke on arrival and put the fire out at 10:48. There were no injuries, and indicated that the cause is a possible lighting strike.
ORIGINAL STORY, 9:48 A.M.:
Cobb government said shortly after 9 this morning that Sope Creek and Allatoona Creek also are near flood stage.
This post will be updated.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
It’s in the same location at Paper Mill Village (255 Village Parkway Suite 330), with the same hours and same menu, but a new name. From the Moxie Restaurant Group today comes this news:
“In honor of our loyal and supportive East Cobb customers who have called it “moxie taco” from its development, we have decided to officially rename La Novia Taqueria! Come by for some hot cheese dip and a cold margarita to brighten up this dreary weather week.”
When La Novia Taqueria opened in 2017 the building that formerly housed Valenit’s restaurant and Caffe Fortunato and had been painted yellow. It’s now a gray shade.
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!
At around noon the National Weather Service in Atlanta expanded its flash flood watch to include Cobb County and other parts of the metro area until 7 p.m. Thursday.
Wednesday morning provided a bit of a respite from the rain, if not weather-related traffic issues, but more rain is expected tonight and Thursday.
The NWS said the areas with the most saturation from yesterday’s rain are above the I-20 and along the I-85 corridors.
The road has reopened, but there may be occasional lane closures to clear debris.
Original report, 8:15 AM:
This just in from Cobb government:
Paper Mill Road is closed between Woodlawn Drive and the Atlanta Country Club due to a downed tree.
Crews are on the scene for removal.
It’s among several downed trees affecting the morning commute around the county.
There were also reports that Willeo Road was closed at the Lower Roswell Road roundabout due to debris on road just over the Chattahoochee River in Roswell., but that area has also reopened to traffic.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
Late Tuesday afternoon the National Weather Service in Atlanta extended its flood watch as heavy rains moved into the state.
Cobb isn’t in the watch area for now, although it does include Paulding and Cherokee counties for now.
But thunderstorms began moving into the county this afternoon and could deliver 2-3 inches or even more by the end of the week.
The NWS issued a flood warning for parts of Gwinnett, DeKalb and Fulton counties but Cobb was not included.
There’s a 90 percent chance of rain in Cobb tonight and a 70 percent chance during the day on Wednesday, increasing to 100 percent Wednesday night.
That’s when the NWS projects the heaviest rain of the watch period, which has been extended to Saturday.
The slick road conditions already have contributed to a serious accident in Cobb. Earlier today a male passenger and the driver of a car suffered serious injuries when their car hydroplaned and lost control. It spun into a tree near Barrett Parkway and Burnt Hickory Road, closing that intersection for several hours.
The victims were transported to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, according to Marietta Police.
Temperatures will get a little warmer Wednesday, into the low 50s during the day and into the high 40s tomorrow night, before warming up into the 60s later in the week.
The NWS said some areas of northwest Georgia could get up to six inches of rain, and there’s a chance of localized flooding in low-lying areas in the hazardous weather outlook area that includes Cobb.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a revised zoning request for a single-family senior residential subdivision on Holly Springs Road.
The 5-0 vote came after Commissioner JoAnn Birrell last month asked the developer, Loyd Development Services, to revise the application after some nearby residents objected on density grounds.
Loyd’s attorney, Garvis Sams, submitted a revised application on Jan. 22 and outlined it at Tuesday’s zoning hearing. Instead of 16 homes zoned RSL (Residential Senior Living), the 4.3 acres on Holly Springs, southeast of the Davis Road roundabout, will have 10 homes, making it 2.32 units an acre.
That’s the same density as the adjacent Ashmore subdivision.
The land is zoned R-20 (residential) with two existing homes, and is part of the Margaret A. Keheley Living Trust.
Sams also said the unit size per home of the new division will increase, from around 2,300 square feet to 3,300 square feet. The original homes had been slated for prices ranging from $550,000 to $600,000, and he said those “price points” likely will go up as well.
Earlier this month the Cobb Planning Commission recommended the Keheley land stay at R-20, but the county commissioners deleted that and approved R-15 zoning.
“I think we have a good plan for R-15,” Birrell said. “It’s very appropriate here.”
The only objection on Tuesday came from Charles Sprayberry of the Cobb County School District, which occasionally speaks in opposition to senior-specific zoning since the schools have a senior property tax exemption.
The Cobb Zoning Department staff is continuing another land use issue in that area of East Cobb for the second time.
A proposal by Mt. Bethel Christian Academy to amend an existing land use permit to allow a sports stadium on its high school campus on Post Oak Tritt Road, near Holly Springs, has been slated for the March 19 commissioners’ zoning hearing.
That request, for six homes on Paper Mill at Gateside Place, will be taken up again by the planning board on March 5.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
From the Cobb Fire & Emergency Services Department comes word that staffers at the Cobb Fire Station 15 (3892 Oak Lane) were recently recognized by Gov. Brian Kemp for coming to the scene of a cardiac arrest situation at the Northeast Cobb YMCA, along with the MetroAtlanta Ambulance Service.
Lt. Stephen French, Engineer Darrell Freeman and Firefighter Mele Miller were joined by two bystanders in rendering assistance on the scene.
Here’s what the department is sharing with the public about the recent incident:
William Vincent, 63, was running on a treadmill at the YMCA in East Cobb when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. YMCA employee Kevin Lee heard Mr. Vincent collapse and he immediately started CPR.
Another bystander, Dixie McCombs, called 911 and brought the Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) to Kevin who then shocked the patient.
Engine-15’s crew arrived on the scene along with EMT Logan Harris with MetroAtlanta Ambulance Service.
Cobb Fire is so proud of our crew, so thankful for our friends at MetroAtlanta Ambulance Service & in awe of Kevin & Dixie’s courage that day in saving a truly wonderful man’s life.
Thank you to Georgia House Rep. Matt Dollar & Michael Charles of Better Outcomes for bringing attention to this great story.
Please use this as a reminder to recognize & help a fellow person in need.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
The upcoming town hall meeting for Cobb commissioner Bob Ott comes with East Cobb cityhood efforts underway and as a new county budget season on the horizon.
Ott’s office announced Friday his town hall will be March 28 at 7 p.m. at the Catholic Church of St. Ann (4905 Roswell Road).
His town halls usually don’t have a preset agenda, but Ott has indicated recently he wants to provide the public with more information about a proposed City of East Cobb initiative that was revealed in recent months (see our East Cobb Cityhood Resource Page for more).
The map drawn up by cityhood proponents would include unincorporated parts of Ott’s District 2 east of I-75, excluding the Cumblerand Community Improvement District.
Ott said he’s not part of this drive, which was launched by Atlanta Country Club resident Joe Gavalis, his appointee to the Cobb Neighborhood Safety Commission.
Ott has said he’s sympathetic with constituents who’ve complained that District 2, which includes some of East Cobb and the Cumberland-Smyrna-Vinings area, provides 40 percent of county tax revenue but doesn’t get that percentage back in services.
That’s one of the factors cited by the Committee for the City of East Cobb, Inc., for pursuing possible cityhood, along with public safety staffing and greater local control of services, including zoning and development.
The group, which formed last September, lists commercial real estate developer G. Owen Brown as its treasurer, but others who are part of the group and who helped fund a municipal feasibility study have not been identified.
The group has hired Republican political consultant and TV pundit Phil Kent to handle public relations and John Garst, another GOP political consultant, to lobby in the legislature.
No local legislation has yet been introduced in the current session of the Georgia General Assembly to call for a referendum that would be required for an East Cobb city to be created. The earliest that vote could take place is 2020.
Some citizens groups of their own have formed Facebook groups relating to the East Cobb Cityhood issue.
One is the City of East Cobb Citizens Group, which sprang up out of a thread on the Nextdoor social platform, saying it is non-partisan and has not taken a position on the issue.
Also coming up in early March are budget and transit town hall meetings by Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce. The first of those sessions take place March 5 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center and March 6 at the East Cobb Senior Center.
After pushing for a property tax hike last year, Boyce has said he will not ask for another one for the fiscal year 2020 budget. Both Ott and Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb voted against that increase.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
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!
