The bitter controversy embroiling one of East Cobb’s biggest faith communities came to a quiet end in 2022, after more than a year of charged rhetoric and legal action.
Mt. Bethel Church was renamed in the summer after what had been Mt. Bethel UMC officially broke from the United Methodist Church.
The denomination’s North Georgia Conference sued Mt. Bethel in 2021 following months of public feuding over the reassignment of senior pastor Rev. Dr. Jody Ray that evolved into a dispute over church property and assets.
Mt. Bethel countersued, and in June, the two parties agreed to a settlement that would enable Mt. Bethel to go independent in exchange for a $13.1 million payment and other property restrictions.
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson told them that while the costs of litigation were increasing, settling the case “was a missional decision above all else to free them to be about the overall mission of the Church.”
As she was being reassigned as the UMC’s Bishop of Virginia, Mt. Bethel made several major changes. The court settlement precludes the church from selling some land and property on its main campus on Lower Roswell Road for several years.
But Mt. Bethel announced it would be selling some nearby land not affected by the settlement, including a day care center and a now-vacant community center on Lower Roswell near Woodlawn Drive.
“As part of responsible stewardship, our committees, our leadership council and our pastors will continue to evaluate how Mt. Bethel’s assets can best support the ministry of the church,” Mt. Bethel lay leader Ferrell Coppedge said.
Some former Mt. Bethel members have begun a new church, called Grace Resurrection Methodist Church, located at the former Lutheran Church of the Incarnation.
The clergy includes Rev. Randy Mickler, who was Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor for nearly 30 years before he retired in 2016 and was succeeded by Ray.
An unidentified Grace Resurrection church member said in a release that “rather than scatter or dropout altogether, we wanted to continue worshiping together and expand our welcome to new members. Now an excellent centralized location is available to us.”
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Cobb Fire and Emergency Rescue Services officials said Thursday that one of two boys who fell into a partially frozen lake in Kennesaw on Wednesday has died.
Cobb Fire Public Information Officer Nicolas Danz did not identify the victim, except to say that he was 16 years old and was pronounced dead at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
One of the rescue workers responding to the incident also was hospitalized for hypothermia treatment, Danz said.
Danz said the victim and another 16-year-old boy had fallen into a lake off Ellison Lakes Drive on Wednesday afternoon. Cobb Police and Fire were called to the scene at 5:15 p.m, after Kennesaw Police and Cobb Police had rescued the surviving teen from the icy waters, Danz said.
He said recorded surface water temperatures on the lake were as low as 28 degrees.
Three Cobb Fire response vehicles searched for the second boy, and Cobb Police provided drone search support, according to Danz.
He said the boy was found at 6:50 p.m. Wednesday and was pulled to an embankment and rescue workers began resuscitation efforts.
The boy was taken to the hospital by Metro Atlanta Ambulance Service and two Cobb Fire personnel, according to Cobb Fire.
Danz said four rescue personnel were treated for extensive cold exposure after being in the water for up to an hour and 20 minutes.
The hospitalized rescue worker was later released, and another was treated for abrasions suffered during the rescue, according to Danz.
Danz said no further information would be provided about the identities of the boys or medical conditions “of any of the parties involved.”
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Mark Elgart of Cognia speaks to the Cobb school board in March 2022.
Another eventful year for the Cobb County School District got rolling in March when the district’s accrediting agency abruptly reversed findings of a special review it had issued in late 2021.
Dr. Mark Elgart of Cognia went before the Cobb Board of Education in a special-called meeting to say that most of his agency’s special review findings were being overturned because they were “inconsistent with evidence” the Cobb school district brought to Cognia’s attention.
The review was conducted after the board’s three Democrats and others in the Cobb school community issued complaints in a number of areas, including school board governance and fiscal and procurement issues.
Before the reversal, the Cobb school board had been told it had until late 2022 to show improvements in areas designated by the review team.
Elgart did say that Cognia special review findings of board relations and governance remain valid.
“The evidence remains that this is a divided school board,” Elgar told the board members.
A bill was introduced in the Georgia legislature later in the 2022 session by former State Sen. Lindsey Tippins, a former Cobb school board member, to remove political concerns from academic reviews, but it did not pass.
In May, the school board approved a $1.4 billion fiscal year 2023 budget that included raises between 8.5 and 13.10 percent, in what Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said were “historic” pay increases.
The $36.7 million rebuild of Eastvalley Elementary School is taking place on the former campus of East Cobb Middle School, across the street from Wheeler High School on Holt Road.
Construction is expected to be completed for the start of the 2023-24 school year in August.
A $6.738 million athletic complex is being built for Walton High School on land the school board purchased last year along Pine Road and Providence Road.
The facility will house Walton’s varsity tennis and baseball teams, beginning with the 2023-24 school year.
School board elections in November left the party makeup unchanged, with Republicans holding a 4-3 lead.
GOP chairman David Chastain of Post 4 in Northeast Cobb was re-elected to a third term in what became a bitter campaign with Democratic newcomer Catherine Pozniak.
Democrats were elected to posts in South Cobb to succeed outgoing first-term Democrats Charisse Davis and Jaha Howard. They were at the center of a number of partisan battles on the school board but did not seek second terms.
Howard lost in the Democratic primary for Georgia School Superintendent. Davis, whose Post 6 included the Walton and Wheeler clusters, never publicly explained her decision not to run again.
Her successor will be former teacher Nichelle Davis (no relation), and Becky Sayler is succeeding Howard in Post 2.
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The following food scores for the week of Dec. 26 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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!
Most incumbents on ballots for Cobb County voters were re-elected in 2022 at all levels, including veteran East Cobb elected officials.
But behind the scenes, problems with issuing absentee ballots and disagreements over how to draw local political boundaries created controversy and intrigue.
Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell and Cobb school board chairman David Chastain were re-elected in November, as were East Cobb-area state lawmakers Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick and Reps. Sharon Cooper, John Carson and Don Parsons.
They will be joined by Sen. John Albers, also a Republican, and Democratic newcomers Jason Esteves (Senate) and Solomon Adesanya (House) in representing East Cobb when the 2023 session convenes in January.
East Cobb will also have two Republican members of Congress, incumbent Rep. Barry Loudermilk of the 11th District and newcomer Rich McCormick of the 6th District.
In both the general election and the U.S. Senate runoff, Cobb Elections was sued by voting-rights advocacy groups over issues with timely mailing of absentee ballots.
Both times, the county entered into a consent decree to give affected voters extra time to return their mail-in ballots.
Right before the general election, the three Democrats on the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted to contest commission redistricting maps under the state’s home rule provisions.
It’s a novel challenge, since legislatures are empowered to conduct reapportionment. But Commissioner Jerica Richardson of District 2 in East Cobb said that she’s the first sitting elected official to be redrawn out a seat.
Elected in 2020, Richardson said in March “I will not step down.” Under Georgia law she has until Dec. 31 to move into the new District 2, which includes much of the city of Marietta as well as the Cumberland and Kennesaw areas.
The new District 3 includes the area around Post Oak Tritt Road and Johnson Ferry Road where Richardson bought a home in 2021. But she said she’s not moving.
The resolution passed in October was opposed by Republican commissioners Keli Gambrill and Birrell, who said the county’s challenge of redistricting is outside the rule of law and was politically motivated.
The county has submitted maps keeping Richardson in similar District 2 lines to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, and it’s expected to be challenged by the state Attorney General’s office.
The first Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting of 2023 is Jan. 10.
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Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell will be sworn in for a fourth term next week.
Her swearing-in ceremony takes place Wednesday, Jan. 4 in the second floor Board of Commissioners Meeting Room, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta, starting at 3 p.m.
A reception follows in the learning center.
Birrell was re-elected in November from District 3, which includes most of East Cobb. She is one of two Republicans on the five-member board.
The other, Keli Gambrill of District 1 in North Cobb, was sworn in for a second term before Christmas.
They were the only commissioners up for election in 2022.
District 3 has included Northeast Cobb and most of the city of Marietta.
It’s unclear where the lines for the new District 3 will fall in January, however.
The Georgia legislature approved reapportioned maps to include most of East Cobb in District 3.
But Cobb County is officially challenging those lines following a vote by the board’s Democratic majority under home rule provisions.
The Democrats want to keep essentially the same lines that apply today after District 2 commissioner Jerica Richardson was redrawn out of her East Cobb home.
Those maps have been filed with the legislative reapportionment office. Cobb is expecting the state to file a legal challenge.
Birrell has said previously that while she doesn’t think what happened to Richardson was fair, she doesn’t think the county’s legal challenge will succeed.
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John Swierenga of East Cobb, head of the Trash Taxi service
A proposal to regulate private trash haulers in Cobb County prompted a heated response from citizens and garbage services alike, and was put on hold until 2023.
Cobb commissioners tabled plans to designate a single hauler for each of the four commission districts and enact related measures in September, when they updated code amendments.
The proposal came after years of complaints of lagging service in all parts of the county.
Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb was adamant that the county had no role to play in regulating private trash service, and thinks commissioners shouldn’t be wading again when code amendment updates will be presented in January.
But commission chairwoman Lisa Cupid, who organized a roundtable of county trash haulers, said it’s a public health matter when trash isn’t reliably collected.
The haulers, including East Cobb resident John Swierenga of Trash Taxi, said they were blindsided by the proposal and haven’t heard from the county in years.
“We would like to hear of complaints that we can respond to in 24-48 hours. We can fix this without disrupting what we have.”
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The Mt. Bethel Church choir sings “Joy to the World” at a Christmas Eve service Saturday.
Christians around East Cobb attended Christmas Eve services Saturday, hearing messages about hope, peace, love and eternal light as they celebrated the birth of Jesus.
Pastors at several churches cited current events, as they urged their congregations to live out the meaning of Christ’s arrival.
“We ought to look out for one another,” said Rev. Dr. Ike Reighard of Piedmont Church. “That’s what being part of family of God is all about. It’s about love.
Rev. Dr. Ike Reighard
“God reached down to the world and did something that’s an absolute mystery,” he continued. “Love is from God,” and is manifested in humans through the life of Jesus.
Reighard, who is also the CEO of Marietta-based MUST Ministries, spoke of tragedy in his own life. His first wife died in childbirth with their first child.
“A troubled faith is better than no faith at all,” he said.
Mt. Bethel Church observed its first Christmas since breaking from the United Methodist Church following a court settlement earlier this year.
Rev. Dr. Jody Ray spoke of the first Christmas—the time of Jesus’ birth—as a “dark time . . . under the iron fist of Rome.”
Rev. Dr. Jody Ray
The darkness of contemporary times—death, divorce, addiction and other maladies—continues, Ray said, but the Bible says “there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
Reading from the book of Isaiah, he said that “the light of Christmas shines in the midst of the darkness” and
“gives us the hope that we can keep going forward.”
Ray said that “the darkness never overtakes the light . . . . never ever ever . . . Light always always always always overtakes the darkness.”
At Mt. Paran Church of God North, the subject of senior pastor Dr. Kirk Walters’ sermon was about how to find peace.
“We are divided over everything—politics, religion, race, gender—everything,” he said.
Dr. Kirk Walters
But we don’t “understand what Biblical peace is.” It’s not an absence of problems, said Walters, whose wife died in August after battling cancer.
“Peace is available to those with whom God is pleased, those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord and savior.
“Jesus has to be Lord of your life to have that kind of peace.”
Several East Cobb churches will be having Christmas Day services on Sunday. For more information, click here.
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Christmas Day high temperature forecasts across Georgia.
While temperatures could get above freezing on Christmas Day, continuing wind gusts will make it feel much colder.
The National Weather Service has extended a wind chill advisory for much of north Georgia, including Cobb County, until 1 p.m. Sunday.
A wind chill warning issued Thursday expired Saturday afternoon, after two days of sub-zero wind chill temperatures, including -12 at Dobbins Air Reserve.
Lows reached into the single digits in the Atlanta for the first time in several years.
By mid-afternoon Saturday, temperatures reached the mid-20s, with winds around 15 mph, and the wind chill making it feel like 10 above zero.
Highs for Christmas Day are forecast to be in the low- to mid-30s, with winds ranging between 10-20 mph.
The deep freeze will gradually give way to warmer temperatures by New Year’s.
Monday’s high is expected to be near 40, with lows in the mid-20s.
By Tuesday, highs will reach the high 40s, followed by the low 50s on Wednesday.
Rain enters the metro Atlanta area by Friday, with highs through New Year’s Day reaching into the low- and mid-60s.
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Cobb DOT and fire crews were responding to reports of fallen trees across the county Friday as high winds continued to yield sub-zero wind chill conditions.
According to a Cobb government video (see below), fallen trees due to the high winds included Holly Springs Road, and icy patches were causing problems on Johnson Ferry near Roswell Road.
Although there was rain overnight Friday, Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt said in the video that the icy patches were largely stemming from existing moisture on the roads.
Thursday’s deep freeze sent temperatures plummeting rapidly in a short span, from roughly 50 degrees around midnight to 15 by daybreak Friday.
Friday’s high is around 18, and the lows will get colder—possibly into the single digits—Friday night.
Cobb remains under a wind chill warning through noon Saturday, as wind gusts in the area continue. As of 3 p.m., the winds were around 20 mph in the Cobb area, and wind gusts topping 40 mph were recorded at McCollum Airport.
According to the National Weather Service in Atlanta, several areas had winds in excess of 50 mph, including Gainesville and Athens.
The winds caused some power outages in Cobb County. Cobb EMC was reporting a handful of outages in East Cobb. There were no East Cobb power outages reported by Georgia Power as of 4 p.m. Friday.
Like Friday, Saturday will be sunny, and a bit warmer, with highs in mid-20s. But wind chill values could be as low as -10 in the Marietta area, due to winds ranging from 15-30 mph.
The lows on Christmas Eve will dip into the mid teens, with winds slowing.
The Christmas Day forecast is for highs near 32, and 10-20 mph winds. Sunday’s lows are expected to be in the high teens.
The weather will get gradually warmer as the last week of 2022 continues, from highs in the high 30s on Monday to rain and temperatures in the low 60s by New Year’s Eve.
For more on local weather conditions and forecasts, click here.
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Employees of the Cobb-based Credit Union of Georgia volunteered to ring the bell for The Salvation Army at Kroger in Kennesaw for an entire week.
They raised more than $2,600 through those efforts, and the Credit Union contributed an additional $4,000 generate a donation of more than $6,500.
The Salvation Army helps communities fight poverty, addiction, and homelessness.
“Credit Union of Georgia enjoys spreading cheer and giving back to our community! We encourage not only employees to give back, but also educate our members as well. Together we can make a big difference in our community,” said Tom McNutt, Vice President of IT and The Salvation Army Marietta Corps, Board Member, said in a release.
To learn more about Salvation Army services and programs in the Marietta area, click here.
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Seven students from high schools in East Cobb have been nominated by U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath for appointments to military service academies for the Class of 2023.
Luke O’Malley of Lassiter HS has been nominated for the Air Force and Merchant Marine academies
The process culminates with acceptance by the academies for formal appointments starting in the fall of 2023.
According to a release from McBath’s office, 30 students from the 6th Congressional District received nominations.
“Once again, I am impressed by the desire to serve demonstrated by these young people,” she said in the release. “These nominees and their families should be exceedingly proud of this accomplishment, and I wish each of them the best as they move on to the next step of this fiercely competitive process.”
The East Cobb students include the following:
Amit Balaji, Lassiter High School, U.S. Military Academy
Jacob Siler, Walton High School, U.S. Military Academy
Hannah Ograbisz, Walton High School, U.S. Naval Academy
Noah Senzer, Sprayberry High School, U.S. Naval Academy
Andrew Sinclair, Wheeler High School, U.S. Naval Academy
Grace Hoyte, Walton High School, U.S. Air Force Academy
Luke O’Malley, Lassiter High School, U.S. Air Force Academy and U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
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We’ve been in touch with Jenna Scearce, owner of the forthcoming Pure Barre fitness studio at Parkaire Landing, which has been promoting its opening with founding memberships and other specials.
She said this week that a soft opening will start Monday, Dec. 26, the day after Christmas. Normal hours include classes that start at 7:15 a.m. with the last at 5:30 p.m. (there’s a daily schedule at the link above).
There have been some appointment-only classes for those founding members, and those will continue through March, when a grand opening is planned. Pure Barre also has had some joint events with CycleBar, also located at Parkaire Landing (4880 Lower Roswell Road).
Pure Barre is located in the former Draisen Edwards Music space near the McCray’s Tavern, and is the latest in the barre concept to come to East Cobb, along with barre3 at The Avenue East Cobb.
Barre is a fitness concept that incorporates ballet, yoga and Pilates into a full-body, muscle endurance workout (intro info here).
Pure Barre, which has more than 600 locations in North America, also has studios in Inman Park, Chastain Park, Buckhead and Westside in Atlanta, Kennesaw, Vinings, Roswell, Alpharetta, Dunwoody and Brookhaven.
1st Anniversary Celebration
Clara Goncalves Vanilla Cafe e Gelato at The Avenue East Cobb (4475 Roswell Road) checked in this week to alert us to the first anniversary of the business (our post from last year) that’s coming on Jan. 8.
They’re giving out treats and welcoming the public from 3-6 p.m. that day.
Send Us Your Business News!
Opening a business or know someone who is? Marking an anniversary or milestone? Send your information to editor@eastcobbbnews.com and we’ll share it with the public. You can send releases and photos, and please let us know your opening days/hours and provide links to how to find you online.
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By the time you wake up on Friday morning, temperatures will be in the low teens, and the highs forecast for Friday aren’t expected to reach 20.
The forecast calls for sub-freezing temperatures through Christmas, and the Cobb County Water System has issued an alert on how to prevent your pipes from freezing or bursting during the cold snap of weather.
First, you’re advised to let faucets drip “because moving water freezes less quickly than standing water.”
You can save water by placing a container in a sink, tub or shower or wherever faucets are dripping, and use the water for plants or other purposes:
“The water does not need to be a warm temperature for this to work. The idea behind this method is not to melt already-frozen ice but to stop the water from freezing in the first place. And because the cold and hot water in your house is likely separated, it’s the cold water plumbing you need to worry about.”
Other preventative measures keeping kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors open to let warmer air circulate around the plumbing.
Also, keep your thermostat set to the same temperature during the day and at night. You may get a higher heating bill, “but you can prevent a much more costly repair job if pipes freeze and burst.”
If you’re leaving home during the cold weather, leave the heat on at home to a temperature no lower than 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Before the onset of cold weather, protect pipes that are outdoor or exposed from freezing by following these recommendations:
For outdoor pipes, drain water from swimming pool and water sprinkler supply lines.
Remove, drain, and store hoses used outdoors. Close inside valves supplying outdoor hose bibs. Open the outside hose bibs to allow water to drain.
Add insulation to attics, basements and crawl spaces. Insulation will maintain higher temperatures in these areas.
Also check around the house for other areas where water supply lines are located in unheated areas, including the garage and under kitchen and bathroom cabinets.
To thaw out frozen pipes, consider the following:
“If you turn on a faucet and only a trickle comes out, suspect a frozen pipe. Likely places for frozen pipes include against exterior walls or where your water service enters your home through the foundation. Keep the faucet open. As you treat the frozen pipe and the frozen area begins to melt, water will begin to flow through the frozen area. Running water through the pipe will help melt ice in the pipe.
“Apply heat to the section of pipe using an electric heating pad wrapped around the pipe, an electric hair dryer, a portable space heater (kept away from flammable materials), or by wrapping pipes with towels soaked in hot water. Do not use a blowtorch, kerosene or propane heater, charcoal stove, or other open flame device.
“Apply heat until full water pressure is restored. If you are unable to locate the frozen area, if the frozen area is not accessible, or if you cannot thaw the pipe, call a licensed plumber.
“Check all other faucets in your home to find out if you have additional frozen pipes. If one pipe freezes, others may freeze, too.”
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East Cobb resident Suzanne Tucker has been named the new executive director of the Georgia Symphony Orchestra.
A former public school music teacher, Tucker also has 18 years of leadership experience in church music, including as director of music at Mt. Bethel UMC.
She will assume her new role on Jan. 9, 2023, according to a GSO release.
“I am thrilled to become a part of the Georgia Symphony Orchestra family,” she said in the release. “I strongly believe in the creative vision of this organization. I am convinced that music is a powerful tool for fostering connection, and this connection is sorely missing in our world today.”
The GSO, based in Marietta, is a 71-year-old community music organization that conducts year-round musical events, including educational opportunities for youths, and more than 500 professional musicians and students currently performing in its ranks.
GSO includes a full orchestra, as well as choral and jazz ensembles. Its young musician training program, founded in 2006, includes five orchestras, a jazz ensemble, a percussion ensemble, instrumental chamber ensembles, and a youth chorus for school-age children who are chosen through competitive auditions.
Tucker holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Shorter College and master’s degree in music education from the University of Georgia. She and her husband Jeffrey have two sons, Jackson and Will.
Michael Knowles, a senior relationship manager with Fifth Third Bank, has been named the chairman of the GSO board.
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What was a wind chill watch for much of north Georgia over the Christmas weekend has turned into a warning.
The National Weather Service has upgraded its advisory to take effect from Thursday night through Saturday, Christmas Eve, as the coldest temperatures in metro Atlanta in several years will be moving in.
Wind chills as low as -5 below zero are forecast during the warning period, which expires at noon Saturday.
While highs Wednesday and Thursday will be around 50, very cold weather will arrive on Friday, with highs only in the low 20s for Friday and Saturday.
There’s a 40 percent chance of rain Thursday with lows in the mid-teens.
The NWS is urging individuals to limit their outdoor time, wear gloves/mittens and tight-fitting hats or caps and dress in layers. Outdoor pets should be brought inside.
Lows on Friday night could dip into the single digits. By Christmas Day, the rain will be clearing out with sunny skies expected but a high forecast only in the low 30s.
The cold weather moving through Georgia and the Deep South is part of a Arctic cold front sweeping across the continental United States, with wind chill factors of -40 and -50 below zero in parts of the northern Great Plains.
Snow squalls are forecast in the western U.S. and even California and Florida will be experiencing freezing weather.
Flash freezing could occur over much of the eastern U.S., including parts of Georgia and the South, before the weather system moves out across the Atlantic Ocean.
Temperatures in metro Atlanta will get gradually warmer early next week, with highs in the mid-40s on Tuesday and into the low 60s by next Friday.
For more on the local weather forecast over the next week, click here.
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The following food scores for the week of Dec. 19 have been compiled by the Cobb & Douglas Department of Public Health. Click the link under each listing for inspection details:
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!
Homes or a place for stuff that doesn’t fit homes? A proposed self-storage facility on Terrell Mill Road would look residential—on the outside.
A proposal to turn one of the older homesteads in the Powers Ferry Road corridor into a self-storage facility was put on hold Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
A rezoning request by ADP Terrell Mill on two parcels of land on Terrell Mill Road at Delk Road was opposed by some nearby residents and recommended for denial by the Cobb Zoning Staff, despite the applicant’s many changes and negotiations with the community.
They included architectural design changes to make the exterior of the proposed 40,000-square foot building look residential. The facility would be built by Shamrock Building Systems, a prominent self-storage builder in the Atlanta area.
“It looks and feels much more residential, and fits in with the neighborhood,” said zoning attorney Kevin Moore, who represents the applicant.
Kevin Nicholas, who lives in the nearby Amberley Place subdivision, wasn’t buying it.
“We don’t need another self-storage facility in this area,” said Nicholas, who ran for Cobb commissioner in 2020 and also served on the Development Authority of Cobb County. “It’s not a commercial tract. It’s a residential tract.”
There’s a self-storage building at the new MarketPlace Terrell mixed-use development and further down Powers Ferry near Windy Ridge Parkway.
The 2.55 acres at the intersection of Terrell Mill and Delk are zoned R-80, the lowest-density of single-family zoning categories in the Cobb code.
Each of the two tracts have had single-family homes dating from before the area became heavily surburbanized. Nearby residential zoning ranges from R-20 to RA-6—there’s an adjacent townhome community—but the property owned by the late Ruby Inez Fridell is designated as very low density residential (VLDR) on the Cobb future land use map.
“That just doesn’t match to me,” Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said, noting that most of the e-mails she’s received are opposed to the rezoning.
Cobb zoning division manager John Pederson told her that’s the last R-80 land in that area of East Cobb.
Nicholas and several commissioners suggested either other commercial uses—such as a coffee shop—or residential.
But Moore said residential development there is not “economically viable. It’s too small of a property.”
Commission chairwoman Lisa Cupid noted that citizens rarely speak in favor of self-storage facilities.
“Maybe there are pigs flying outside,” she said. “It’s a beautiful building” but she suggested that other commercial uses “may be more neighborhood-oriented.”
Commissioner Jerica Richardson of District 2 made a motion to hold the case to February, when zoning cases are next heard.
“There may be a way to satisfy the community on that side and honor the work that’s been done” by the applicant,” she said.
Walgreens will be leaving the location at 3033 Johnson Ferry Road at Waterfront Drive.
Richardson also moved to hold another case in her district, a site-plan change involving a Walgreens store in the Johnson Ferry Road corridor.
David Weinstein, an attorney representing Mid-Atlantic Commercial Properties, LLC, said his client is seeking a change from a single-use only designation for 1.28 acres at 3033 Johnson Ferry Road.
He said Walgreens will be vacating that facility, and his client wants to have some more flexibility within the neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) category.
In rezoning the land in 2000, Cobb commissioners limited that use to a pharmacy or drug store only. Other uses proposed by Mid-Atlantic Commercial Properties could be for a banks or medical office, as well as restaurant space.
The existing building could remain standing and be converted, or a new facility could be constructed, Weinstein said, adding that his client may purchase two adjoining parcels on Johnson Ferry to enable a deceleration lane.
He mentioned a fast-casual concept with a drive-thru as a possibility, but the East Cobb Civic Association is opposed to that use.
ECCA president Richard Grome said there are traffic, noise and compatibility issues with the request. The Walgreens sits at the intersection of Johnson Ferry and Waterfront Drive, adjacent to planned townhomes that were part of the East Cobb Church rezoning in 2021.
“There’s going to be light pollution for those townhouses,” Grome said.
Rachel Bruce, a member of the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford (JOSH) advisory committee created by Richardson, said she hadn’t heard from the applicant and worried that residents in the area would have one less place to get prescription drugs.
“Walgreens is leaving. We don’t have any control over that,” Weinstein said.
Cobb DOT said the Walgreens property doesn’t have enough right-of-way for a deceleration lane, and if a restaurant were to built there, access via Johnson Ferry should be removed.
Commissioner Keli Gambrill said she understood why her predecessors limited what could go on that land.
“Based on DOT, there’s not room for deceleration,” she said. “I agree with not having a restaurant there.”
Richardson’s motion includes provisions for JOSH committee input and the submission of a site plan and architectural plans when the case comes back before commissioners.
A proposal for a King’s Hawaiian restaurant in Northeast Cobb, which has been delayed before, also is being pushed back to February.
Birrell said she received a new stipulation letter from an attorney for Stein Investment Group on Tuesday.
The applicant wants to add the restaurant on former GTC Cobb Park 12 Cinema property on Gordy Parkway and Shallowford Road that rezoned last year for a self-storage facility.
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