East Cobb Zoning & Development

Empty East Cobb retail building subject of sex shop concerns

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East Cobb sex shop
Commercially-zoned property with a building that housed a Mattress Firm store at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road was purchased in February for $1.55 million (ECN photo)

A vacant retail building located in the heart of East Cobb has a new owner and is being renovated for a new use.

What that use may end up being has been the subject of a flurry of social media chatter in recent days about whether a sex shop is on the way.

Specifically, the subject of that speculation is that a new location of Atlanta-based Tokyo Valentino—with five adult retail stores in the metro area, including the city of Marietta—is replacing the former Mattress Firm store at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road, across from Merchant’s Walk. 

Cobb County business license records and a pending building permit application indicate plans for a retail store at that address called 1290 Clothing Co.

That business also has registered as a corporation with the Georgia Secretary of State’s office as 1290 Clothing, LLC, and lists the same registered agent as Cheshire Bridge Holdings, LLC, the parent company of Tokyo Valentino.

Michael Morrison, the Tokyo Valentino owner who has battled the city of Atlanta and other local jurisdictions for years over his businesses, is named in the 1290 Clothing Co. business formation documents as organizer and authorizer.

But he denied he is opening a new store in East Cobb.

In a public statement issued Monday, Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott said he has received more than 500 messages from citizens about the subject, and said there is nothing the county can do if a sex shop is coming to that building on Johnson Ferry Road.  

The half-acre on which it sits is zoned general commercial, the broadest of the commercial zoning categories in Cobb County, and includes most kinds of retail shops.

“Unfortunately, due to the zoning already in place on the property dating back to the late 70s, it appears that the retail shop meets all county code requirements,” Ott said in his message. “The U.S. Constitution doesn’t allow a county to come in and arbitrarily change existing zoning and/or add stipulations.”

He also said that contrary to some of the citizens’ queries he’s received, the matter will not come before the Cobb Board of Commissioners during its Tuesday regular meeting.

“That is not true,” Ott said. “There is nothing on the agenda tomorrow related to this store.”

A new business license was granted by the Cobb Community Development Agency on March 11 for 1290 Clothing Co., at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road, to an applicant named Tomika Hugley.

According to Cobb building permit records, an application for a renovation at that same address was filed on May 14 by Pembroke Real Estate Partners, LLC, in Miami.

That’s the company listed in Cobb Tax Assessors Office records as the Feb. 4 buyer of 0.53 acres and a building with 5,444 square feet at 1290 Johnson Ferry Road, for $1.55 million.

Building permit records indicate the renovation project is described as a “move-in only” for the tenant “1290 Clothing Co.” but no inspection has been conducted.

1290 Johnson Ferry Road map

When contacted by East Cobb News Friday about whether he’s opening a store in East Cobb, Morrison said, “I have no idea what you are referring to.”

He said that “any applications that we submit for future stores have my name on them” and noted his store in Marietta, and that he was not involved with the 1290 Clothing Co. enterprise.

According to a Georgia Secretary of State’s business filing, 1290 Clothing Co. LLC  was registered on Jan. 21, 2020. The filing names Michael Morrison as the 1290 Clothing Co. organizer and authorizer, with an Atlanta residential address located off LaVista Road in DeKalb County.

East Cobb News has been unable to reach Hugley or Rebecca Crider, the registered agent for the new store on Johnson Ferry Road. Crider also is the registered agent for other Tokyo Valentino businesses, including the Marietta store, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

Many of the social media comments about the new Johnson Ferry Road store have come on a Facebook group, East Cobb Moms Exchange. East Cobb News has been contacted by some members of the group and other citizens, but none could provide further information. 

An online petition urging readers to contact Ott has received more than 1,000 signatures.

In 1998, the city of Atlanta first tried to shut down Morrison’s original store on Cheshire Bridge Road, which opened in 1995 and was called Inserection, because of its video booths, massage rooms and private bedrooms.

In 2014, Morrison—who served two-and-a-half years in prison for federal income tax invasion in the mid-2000s—rebranded his business Tokyo Valentino and opened new locations.

In 2019, the city of Atlanta again tried to shut down his Cheshire Bridge Road business. Last summer a federal appeals court in Atlanta ruled in favor of Morrison in his challenge to the city’s injunction against his business. 

Last year Morrison opened a store in Sandy Springs, also in an abandoned mattress store building, initially saying it would be a dancer clothing store under a different name.

The city claimed the store violated its merchandising code by having more than a quarter of its square footage space devoted to adult merchandise sales. 

Morrison, who also has had legal disputes with Brookhaven over his Stardust adult retail store, eventually complied in December by adding non-adult items at the Sandy Springs store, now called Tokyo Valentino.

There are two other Tokyo Valentino stores, on Northside Drive in Buckhead and on Pleasant Hill Road in Gwinnett County.

Ott said his staff visited the Tokyo Valentino store in Marietta, at 345 South Cobb Parkway, and said it’s strictly a retail store, unlike what’s on Cheshire Bridge Road. 

The Marietta location sells adult lingerie, sex toys, body art and jewelry, books and DVDs, smoking accessories and novelty gifts and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Tokyo Valentino Marietta
The Tokyo Valentino store in Marietta is located at Cobb Parkway and Frey’s Gin Road, across from the Marietta Diner. (ECN photo)

Pembroke Real Estate Partners, the new owner of the 1290 Johnson Ferry Road property, is a registered corporation in Florida, and whose principal is listed as Frank Koretsky. 

According to his personal website, Koretsky has added real estate investing and philanthropy to his business interests.

He has sold consumer electronics and video tapes and built up two adult video distribution companies, International Video Distribution and East Coast News, which “now exist as the largest entities in their respective industries.” 

Koretsky also is a holder in adult lingerie and sex toy businesses.

On Monday Ott reminded East Cobb residents of community opposition to a We Buy Gold store on Lower Roswell Road near Johnson Ferry Road several years ago. 

“There was a large outcry about that store coming to East Cobb,” he said. “Then, like now, there wasn’t anything the county could do because it met all the code requirements. That store is now an ice cream shop in large part because in a very short period it became obvious to the owners that the people weren’t interested in having that business in their community.”

 

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Cobb commissioners to hear zoning cases after 3-month delay

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Cobb state of emergency

For the first time since February, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will take up a batch of rezoning and land-use cases on Tuesday.

Their regularly scheduled rezoning hearing—the third Tuesday of the month—takes place at 9 a.m. in the board’s second-floor meeting room at 100 Cherokee St. near the Marietta Square.

Unlike other recent regular business meetings, this one will be conducted in person, and not just commissioners and zoning staff, but also the public.

Here’s what the county is asking if you do show up:

“Those attending the meeting are asked to observe public health guidance that includes the wearing of masks when in the presence of others and to observe social distancing. The meeting room has been configured to meet social distancing requirements and an overflow room will be available. Those interested in a specific case will be encouraged not to enter the room until that case is called.”

For those who do not feel comfortable attending in person but still wish to comment on a specific case, a WebEx link will be provided so you can participate via audio. If you believe you would like to comment on a specific case please indicate which one and send an email to CobbPublicComment@cobbcounty.org. You will be provided a link to use and further instructions.

Anyone who might have a visual presentation to show the board should send those to presentations@cobbcounty.org as soon as possible. Include the agenda item number and description along with the attachment.

If you want to watch online, the hearing will be shown on the county’s YouTube and Facebook Live channels and website, as well as CobbTV on Channel 23 on Comcast.

The agenda is substantial, as you might imagine, given the backlog, but quite a few cases will be delayed at least to June, you can read through the agenda by clicking here.

There are more special-land-use and other business cases (site plan changes, stipulation amendments, etc.) than regular zoning cases on the agenda in East Cobb.

Among them are a delayed special-land-use request to allow for a preschool at Bethany Presbyterian Church on Sandy Plains Road (previous story here) and which is on the consent agenda.

You can look through individual agenda item filings by clicking here.

One other thing that’s different: Commissioners will be voting on zoning cases without recommendations from the Cobb Planning Commission, whose May meeting was cancelled.

The planning board’s votes are advisory but that five-member panel does a lot of the groundwork on cases.

 

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Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan review period extended

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Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan

Right before the Coronavirus crisis prompted government, school and business closures, the Cobb Community Development Agency issued its Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan recommendations and made them available for public comment for a month.

That month, of course, was dominated by the Coronavirus response, and county government has been in limited operations mode.

Last week the agency sent out another notice that the master plan proposal, and related documents, would be available for public review until May 27. 

There’s also a storymap that’s been put together that runs through all the components of the two-year study, which includes land use, transportation, housing, demographics, stormwater and sense of place. 

JOSH future land use map
The future land use map of the JOSH area, which currently has nearly 27,000 residents. Light areas are low-density residential.

That information was compiled from feedback at town hall meetings and surveys. The agency uses the phrase “small area plan” in reference to this particular project, but the process has been similar to the Johnson Ferry Design Guidelines and the Powers Ferry Master Plan in East Cobb in recent years.

There’s a lot of material to cover in the “JOSH” report (the draft was released last summer), and we’ll highlight below a couple of areas that generated the most interest.

Here’s staff commentary from the land use section:

“Throughout the community engagement process, it was apparent that preservation of the low-density nature of the area was a reoccurring theme. Most of the JOSH study area is built-out, however, there are pockets of large tracts that could potentially be developed in the future. Whether they are CUVA tracts or underdeveloped properties, the community desires that the character of the existing neighborhoods does not change by virtue of what is developed around them.”

As a result, most of the related documents lay out potential future development that’s not much different from what exists now.

Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan
Low-density neighborhoods like Chimney Lakes comprise the vast majority of residential development in the “JOSH” area.

The staff also put together several scenarios for public feedback regarding the redevelopment of the area around Maddox Lake, at the southwestern corner of the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection. 

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.

The options presented in the JOSH storymap include redevelopment as a community park and stormwater management facility, with multi-family residential and some retail and restaurant space (see the map below).

The transportation recommendations call for improving intersections in a number of places, including Johnson Ferry-Shallowford, Shallowford-Wesley Chapel, Shallowford-Mabry and creating a roundabout at Hembree Road and Lassiter Road. 

The “sense of place” suggestions include design guidelines along Johnson Ferry and Shallowford that would include streetscape amenities including decorative street lights and pedestrian lights, unified landscaped medians, wider sidewalks and street furniture.

The study also suggests the creation of a “community based stakeholder association” that would consider citizen ideas and collaboration on new development and design.

Comments on the JOSH recommendations and storymap can be sent to: comdevplanning@cobbcounty.org or Cobb County Community Development, Planning Division, P.O. Box 649, Marietta, GA 30061-0649.

JOSH Lake Park Concept
 

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Sprayberry Crossing update: Revised plans, intent to purchase announced

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Sprayberry Crossing rendering

Some major news on the Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment front:

Atlantic Residential, which had proposed a site plan for its mixed-use plans last fall, then stepped back after opposition surfaced, has announced it’s on agreement to acquire the 15 acres of land at East Piedmont Road and Sandy Plains Road where the blighted shopping center has stood for many years.

Joe Glancy, a leader of group of citizens organized on Facebook announced late Monday that the redevelopment proposal is back on again, and stated that he and Shane Spink, another group leader, “are not involved with the administration of it.”

The new Atlantic Residential plans are located at a new website, sprayberrycrossing.com, which includes fresh renderings, a video presentation and a revised site plan.

Here’s what’s being proposed now:
  • Atlantic Residential would add 30,000 square feet of space for a “national grocer” and slice the amount of other retail space down from around 10,000 square feet in the original site plan to 8,200 square feet;
  • 12,000 square feet of co-working space;
  • 177 apartment rental units (down from 195);
  • 120 senior living residential units;
  • 56 townhomes (down from 62);
  • a town green and secondary courtyard;
  • a walking and biking trail connecting East Piedmont Road to Post Oak Tritt Road.

The buildings would be anywhere from two to four stories with a modern classic design.

Sprayberry Crossing site plan

The new site plan also incorporates an existing cemetery, which had been the cause of much of the opposition. Some family members of those buried there have been adamantly against moving any remains to an area near the close-by Sandy Plains Baptist Church Cemetery.

We’ll be following up this story with more details, but Atlantic Residential for now is saying it wants to have a community presentation with public feedback.

That’s probably going to be virtual for now given the Coronavirus crisis.

These plans also willl require a zoning process that would appear to be some months away.

The tentative timeline for the redevelopment calls for demolition and site work in the first quarter of 2021 and construction ending in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Glancy said in Monday’s message to the Sprayberry Crossing Action group that in his dealings with the developers, “they have been forthright, honest and open in their dealings with me. They have given me no reason to suspect that will not continue.”

 

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Cobb Planning Commission changes include new District 2 appointment

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Galt Porter, Cobb Planning Commission
Galt Porter

Tony Waybright, a civic and school activist in the Smyrna/Vinings area, is the new District 2 appointee to the Cobb Planning Commission.

District 2 Commissioner Bob Ott formalized the appointment at Tuesday’s Cobb Board of Commissioners meeting.

The vacancy occurred when Planning Commission member Andy Smith of East Cobb resigned last week. He’s running for the District 2 seat after Ott announced his retirement last month.

Planning Commission members hearing zoning cases and make advisory recommendations to county commissioners.

District 2 includes some of East Cobb and the Smyrna/Cumberland/Vinings area.

Waybright is active in the Campbell High School Community, having served as a member and chairman of the school council and being involved with other school-related organizations.

He also was the CEO of the West Vinings Civic Association and has spoken before public bodies, including the Planning Commission and county commission, on behalf of the Oakdale Alliance, a civic group in the Smyrna area.

Waybright will begin his duties in April. The Planning Commission has another new member in Alice Summerour, a former member of the Cobb SPLOST Citizens Oversight Committee and a civic leader in Marietta. She was appointed by chairman Mike Boyce and began in February.

The five-member planning board, appointed by commissioners, also will have a new chairman.

Galt Porter, who has represented District 4 from South Cobb, will be the new chairman. He succeeds Judy Williams of Northeast Cobb, who has stepped aside as chairwoman but remains the District 3 member.

 

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Cobb Planning Commission agenda includes preschool relocation

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Legacy Christian preschool site plan

There’s just one East Cobb application coming before the Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday, and it’s held over from last month.

A request to relocate the Legacy Christian Preschool from the Woodstock Church Shallowford to Bethany Presbyterian Church at 4644 Sandy Plains Road requires a special land-use permit.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted to continue the matter for traffic and parking reasons. (Here’s the initial application; and a Feb. 13 stipulation letter provided before the commissioners meeting).

Legacy Christian wants to occupy what had been preschool space at Bethany, but the special land-use permit is needed to add kindergarten.

According to the stipulation letter, Legacy would lease the preschool from Bethany and operate from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday-Friday, with an after-school period lasting until nearly 2 p.m.

Garvis Sams, an attorney for Legacy, said his client has met with residents in the adjacent Jefferson Park neighborhood to discuss the school’s plans, which do not call for any additions or renovations to the current school building.

The school plans to enroll around 65 students between the ages of 2 and 6, with a maximum anticipated for the 2021-22 school year. If enrollment goes above that, Legacy would have to seek permission from the commissioners.

The school would put up a privacy fence between the church and school and residents of Springwood Place in time for the 2020-21 school year. No playground activity will be allowed on the site after 2 p.m.

The Planning Commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second-floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.

County commissioners will take up final action on March 17.

 

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New Ebenezer Road senior-living complex to have gated entry

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Ebenezer Road senior-living complex

A proposed senior-living development at Ebenezer Road and Sandy Plains Road received final approval Tuesday from the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

The major snag—about access to the 9.45-acre tract—was resolved when commissioners voted 4-1 to include a gated entry for what will be a 31-home community.

The application by Traton Homes had been delayed from December after the developer proposed Sandy Plains Road access only, involving U-turns, that prompted objections from commissioners and members of the nearby Sandy Plains Baptist Church.

For Tuesday’s meeting, Traton revised its site plan to provide for access only on Ebenezer Road. The community would be located just below Addison Elementary School.

But Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell’s motion modified what Traton had proposed—the creation of a left-turn lane into the new development from northbound Ebenezer Road, just above its intersection at Sandy Plains Road (the red star on the right of the map).

Her motion also included right-in, right-out access from southbound Ebenezer to southbound Sandy Plains (red star at the bottom).

“Ebenezer, with school traffic, is really dangerous,” Birrell said. “Without a gate, [Ebenezer-to-Sandy Plains access] is going to be a cut-through.”

That change was acceptable to Traton as well as Cobb DOT, which was concerned about Ebenezer left-turn access so close to the Sandy Plains intersection.

Kevin Moore, an attorney for Traton, said the RSL category—single-family, detached homes for those aged 55 and up—would have less of a traffic impact than the current residential category. The property currently has a vacant home built in 1931.

Commissioner Keli Gambrill voted against the Traton application, which requires Birrell to approve the final site plan.

Another East Cobb zoning case is being delayed until March. An application by Legacy Christian School to operate a preschool and kindergarten at Bethany Presbyterian Church (4644 Sandy Plains Road) still needs some traffic and parking revisions, according to Cobb commissioner Bob Ott.

Legacy Christian currently operates a preschool at the nearby  Woodstock Church Shallowford for 68 students, and wants to move its facility.

The Bethany church previously housed a preschool facility, and there is 5,483 square feet available. But a special land-use permit is needed to add kindergarten. The proposed capacity would be 65 students, with parking for 131 cars.

The Legacy Christian School would operate from 9-1 Monday-Friday.

 

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East Cobb Biz Notes: Mellow Mushroom opening announced

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Mellow Mushroom Johnson Ferry Road

The “Coming Soon” status of the planned Mellow Mushroom on Johnson Ferry Road has changed: The newest East Cobb location is opening Feb. 24.

The Atlanta-based pizzeria franchise announced the date on social media this morning, not long after obtaining an alcohol license and beginning hiring.

Plans have been in the works for nearly a year for Mellow Mushroom to occupy the former Common Quarter/Muss & Turner’s space at Woodlawn Square.

Sandy Plains MarketPlace sold

BisNow Atlanta has reported that the new Sandy Plains MarketPlace retail center has been sold by its developer, Fuqua Development, to the Atlanta-based Orkin & Associates real investment firm for $43.8 million.

The 73,000-square-foot center on the former site of Mountain View Elementary School has only a few businesses now—Jim ‘N Nicks BBQ, and next month, a Clean Juice location opens.

Also on tap are the first Publix GreenWise store in Georgia, Bad Daddy Burger Bar and First Watch, a breakfast franchise.

Related content

 

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Top East Cobb stories for 2019: Sprayberry Crossing plans proposed

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Revised Sprayberry Crossing proposal

After years of being an eyesore, the Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center in 2019 became the target of a redevelopment proposal that energized citizens frustrated by inaction regarding the rundown retail center.

In June, those leading the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook group said they had been meeting with Atlantic Residential, an Atlanta-based multi-family developer interested in building a mixed-use complex.

It would have some retail but would be largely residential, with apartments and senior-living units taking up most of the property at the southeast corner of East Piedmont Road and Sandy Plains Road.

Read the stories

In August, some of those community representatives met with Atlantic Residential to get more details, and shared them with the public. They also were hopeful of holding a town hall meeting to go over the plans.

But that’s when some opposition began to arise, mostly due to the apartments and the density of the proposal.

By September, the Atlantic Residential revised its plans, calling for nearly 400 residential units (nearly half of them apartments, along with senior living and townhomes), 30,000 square feet of commercial space and other amenities.

Some of those critical of the apartment units started their own Facebook group and contend that kind of development isn’t suitable in an area with single-family homes.

Other opposition arose from those with family members buried in a cemetery at Sprayberry Crossing that was slated to be relocated in the Atlantic Residential proposal.

The developer said in late September the plan would be undergoing “substantial changes” that have not been detailed since then.

Related stories

 

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Sandy Plains U-turn proposal prompts delay in senior project

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Sandy Plains U-turn proposal
A revised senior-living proposal would have primary access on Sandy Plains Road (bottom right in the rendering).

Imagine that the primary means of access into your neighborhood is performing a U-turn across two lanes of traffic on Sandy Plains Road, then making a quick right turn onto your residential street just below the intersection of Ebenezer Road.

Some Cobb commissioners were aghast at a revised proposal by Traton Homes that would call such a deft (daring, even) piece of driving at a Tuesday zoning hearing, and that Cobb DOT concurred.

They voted instead to delay the case until their February zoning hearing.

“I have serious concerns about any access from Sandy Plains,” commissioner Bob Ott said. “I don’t know how you allow U-turns there.”

(More details about the proposed changes here)

After getting a favorable recommendation from the Cobb Planning Commission earlier this month for a proposed 31-home senior-living community, Traton attorney Kevin Moore presented a revised site plan that provided main access along Sandy Plains.

Under the revision, residents heading southbound on Sandy Plains would make a simple right turn into the community from a deceleration lane.

But residents traveling northbound on Sandy Plains would have complete a U-turn that Cobb DOT transportation engineer Amy Diaz said was doable.

“You’re kidding me?” Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce said. “You’re asking for trouble.”

He said the U-turn “may be difficult, but you know drivers.”

Sandy Plains U-turn proposal
The blue star is the proposed senior-living development, with U-turn access indicated in red at the Sandy Plains-Ebenezer intersection.

The initial application called for sole access on Ebenezer Road, close to the Sandy Plains intersection, which Cobb DOT indicated would be problematic, as did some residents living in the adjacent Kerry Creek subdivision.

Traton’s new submission includes right-in access southbound along Ebenezer into the development, and a right-out exit to turn northbound on Sandy Plains.

Diaz said a senior-living development typically yields less traffic than other residential subdivisions, and there had been “no safety red flags at Sandy Plains at that location” to recommend against a U-turn.

But members of the nearby Sandy Plains Baptist Church, located just below the 10-acre tract sought by Traton, said the new traffic plans would have a detrimental effect.

They’re not against the development and had no problem with Ebenezer Road access, but Sandy Plains Road access would affect more than Sunday worship traffic. The church also has a preschool during weekdays.

“It’s been said that the previous plan was dangerous,” said Edward England, a church deacon. “Sandy Plains Road is much more dangerous than Ebenezer.”

The proposal comes as major road construction along Sandy Plains between Piedmont and Ebenezer roads is due to be completed this month.

“I know DOT said that’s a good alternative,” church leader Walter Stevens said, referring to Sandy Plains access, “but I’m telling you it’s not. I think this is a bad alternative to what was originally proposed.”

Boyce said he thought the U-turn proposal was “trying to make a traffic pattern fit a development. This just doesn’t fit.”

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who represents the area, made the motion to hold the application. It won’t be heard until February, since commissioners don’t consider rezoning cases in January.

Moore said “we’ll have to take a look at” whatever would be proposed as a traffic alternative, but he reminded commissioners that other types of residential zoning on that land would result in more vehicles on Sandy Plains.

 

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Planning Commission OK’s Ebenezer Road senior living project

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Ebenezer Road senior living project

The Cobb Planning Commission is recommending approval of a senior living project on Ebenezer Road that’s drawn opposition from nearby residents as too dense and traffic-intense.

At a hearing on Tuesday, the board voted 4-0 in favor of a rezoning request by Traton Homes to build 31 detached homes on less than 10 acres on Ebenezer Road, just north of the Sandy Plains Road intersection.

The developer submitted revised plans (read it here) to reduce the development to 31 units, a new site plan, as well as a left-hand turn lane at the proposed entrance on Ebenezer and numerous other stipulations, including a landscape buffer.

Cobb DOT said it prefers left-hand turn lane access from Sandy Plains Road.

Some living in the adjacent Kerry Creek subdivision said the proposed lots are too small, and that the wooded areas they enjoy now in their backyards would be wiped out by multiple new homes.

The Cobb County School District expressed concerns over the development, since those buying homes would qualify for the Cobb senior exemption from school taxes.

After a citizen suggested that the spirit of the tax exemption wasn’t meant to apply to new developments like this one, Kevin Moore, Traton’s attorney, said “tax status should not be a zoning issue.”

Walter Stevens of the nearby Sandy Plains Baptist Church said he supports the request after seeing some of the changes.

Planning Commission chairwoman Judy Williams of Northeast Cobb recused herself “because of relatives.” She did not preside over the case and abstained from voting.

Related story

The Planning Commission also voted 3-1 to recommend approval of a single-family home proposal on Canton Road after originally proposing townhomes.

Smith Douglas Homes is now requesting RA-6 zoning for 39 detached residences, instead of 61 townhomes, on 6.6 acres on Canton Road at Kensington Drive, in the RA-12 category. (here’s a recent stipulation letter and revised site plan).

The revised request has the support of Canton Road Neighbors, a civic association. Surrounding housing is single-family detached.

Garvis Sams, attorney for the developer, said the land has been designated for office and industrial use but that “there’s just not a market” to develop it along those lines.

The only vote against was Galt Porter of South Cobb, who said the revised proposal is still too dense for him to support. Abstaining was Fred Beloin of North Cobb.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will make final zoning decisions on Dec. 17.

 

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East Cobb’s almost full, and undeveloped land map shows it

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Cobb undeveloped land map
The Crystal Korean Church purchased nearly 20 acres of undeveloped land on Old Canton Road at Blue Sky Drive in 2018.

There’s precious little empty land in East Cobb, which isn’t a surprise. But the amount that’s undeveloped due to being in a flood plain, wetlands or parkland or designated for conservation protection shrinks those totals even further.

Cobb undeveloped land map (100%)
To view a larger PDF version, click here.

Cobb County government annually updates a map of undeveloped land and recently released its 2019 estimates, broken down by the four Cobb Board of Commissioners districts.

Districts 2 and 3 have the fewest acres of undeveloped and underdeveloped lands in the county (illustrated by the green spots), a total of less than 5,000 acres combined, as seen in the chart at the bottom.

In addition, developable land in District 2 comes to just 980 acres, with only 2,599 acres available in District 3.

That’s a staggering 96.8 percent of land in District 2 that’s considered developed, and only 2.3 percent that is developable. In District 3, those figures are 93.5 percent and five percent, respectively.

The maps reflect land only in unincorporated Cobb; a good chunk of the city of Marietta is in District 3, while District 2 contains most of the city of Smyrna. District 2 also contains the Cumberland/Vinings area, which is the most urbanized portion of Cobb County.

Cobb undeveloped land map
To view a larger PDF version, click here.

The percentages are in double figures in District 1 and District 4, northwest and south Cobb, respectively.

It’s in those areas of the county where the most contentious zoning cases are taking place. East Cobb, especially that portion of District 2, has seen more sparring over proposed development on smaller tracts, as well as site plan changes and redevelopment cases.

One trend that doesn’t show up on undeveloped land maps or in county zoning files is residential redevelopment as it relates to teardowns. It’s not hard to find older ranch homes being leveled all around East Cobb, to be replaced by larger homes, sometimes in multiple numbers on a single lot.

The demand for housing has become so acute that commercially zoned land is prime for residential development.

On Tuesday, the Cobb Planning Commission recommended approval of an application to rezone 6.6 acres on Canton Road from office and industrial for 39 single-family homes. The developer, Smith Douglas Homes, had proposed 61 townhomes, but altered its plans after meeting community opposition.

In remarks before the planning board, Garvis Sams, an attorney for Smith Douglas, said there simply isn’t the demand for more commercial space like there is for residential.

Cobb undeveloped land map
A single-family home was recently demolished on Clubland Drive in Indian Hills, where teardowns of older homes are becoming common.

A similar situation is occurring regarding the proposed redevelopment of the run-down Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center. Atlantic Residential, which specializes in building upscale rental properties, wants to build apartments and a senior-living community on the Sandy Plains Road property, with a small amount of retail.

Some nearby residents have pushed back against apartments as well as the density of the project, and say they want more shopping than what’s been presented.

Atlantic Residential is going back to the drawing board for reasons that also include a cemetery. Those in favor of the plans say there isn’t as much demand for those commercial categories.

The Sprayberry Crossing land isn’t on the new undeveloped land map (it’s on a separate county inventory of properties eligible for tax incentives if redeveloped). But it illustrates concerns some East Cobb residents have over what may transpire with redevelopment in the future.

Some have pointed to redevelopment in Sandy Springs and Roswell, which have overhauled their zoning codes in recent years.

Those concerns also have been expressed in connection with an East Cobb cityhood effort whose figures include some individuals with development backgrounds.

Keep in mind that a number of green spots you see on the map in East Cobb are parkland and conservation areas or are located along flood plains or in wetlands. Other parcels on the new map may not be completely up-to-date.Wigley Farm rezoning

A collection of nearly 100 acres of former Wigley Family farm land that abutts the Cherokee County line was approved for rezoning last year for 91 single-family homes (where the blue arrow is pointing).

The property is an assemblage that includes hilly terrain, leaving only half of the land for development, and which was zoned for low-density residential in an open space community category.

Cobb undeveloped land map

 

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Ebenezer Road senior living project on planning board agenda

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Ebenezer Road senior living

A request for a 33-unit senior living community on Ebenezer Road near Sandy Plains Road is slated to be heard Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission.

Traton Homes wants to convert less than 10 acres at 2891 Ebenezer Road that’s currently zoned for single-family residential (R-15 and R-20) for senior residential living (RSL).

(Read the case file here.)

All that’s there now is a house built in 1931, and the land owned by Luther Higgins Jr. is surrounded by the single-family Kerry Creek subdivision. Below the property are two undeveloped tracts of land, totalling 6.67 acres, owned by Sandy Plains Baptist Church.

The current zoning category of the Wiggins land would allow up to 16 units. Traton is proposing to more than double that total under RSL, a density of nearly 3.5 units an acre.

The “non-supportive” RSL community would not include services like transportation, medical or food preparation, as is the case with some “supportive” senior-living facilities.

The Traton Homes proposal calls for units of at least 1,500 square feet, and the developer is asking to reduce the distance between the homes from 15 to 10 feet and remove a landscape buffer of 20 feet along the south property line.

The property has been designated for low-density residential use in the Cobb future master plan. The Cobb zoning staff is recommending approval of the Traton request, without any variances and to maintain the landscaping buffer.

Another high-density residential request in the Northeast Cobb area is on Tuesday’s agenda, after being delayed and substantially revised.

Smith Douglas Homes had proposed building 61 townhomes on 6.6 acres on Canton Road at Kensington Drive. According to a Nov. 19 stipulation letter from its attorney, the developer is now proposing 39 detached single-family homes, or 5.9 units an acre.

You can view the rest of the agenda and read case files by clicking here.

The planning commission meets Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta. Its recommendations will be considered by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Dec. 17.

 

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Canton Road townhome proposal is continued until December

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Z-66 site plan, Canton Road townhomes
For a larger view, click here.

A townhome developer who wants to build a dense project on undeveloped land on Canton Road has asked for a delay in having its rezoning case heard until December.

Garvis Sams, the attorney for Smith Douglas Homes, notified the Cobb Zoning Office on Oct. 25 that his client was seeking a continuance.

The Smith Douglas proposal was for 61 attached units on 6.6 acres at Canton Road and Kensington Drive. It was to have been heard Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission, but has been continued to Dec. 3, according to the meeting agenda (view it here).

The Cobb zoning staff had recommended denial of the proposal (read it here), which would convert land zoned for office and industrial (it’s located across Canton Road from retail and commercial properties) to RM-12, a dense multi-family residential category.

Surrounding land is zoned RA-6, for lower-density homes, and in his letter, Sams indicated Smith Douglas Homes would be reducing the density of the proposal, likely for detached homes (read the letter here).

 

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Delayed zoning case for The Avenue East Cobb won’t be heard

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Proposed The Avenue East Cobb sign

A proposal by the owner of The Avenue East Cobb to extend opening hours for a fitness center and make monument sign changes won’t be heard by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.

That’s because the case has been withdrawn without prejudice by the Cobb zoning staff, meaning it could be refiled at any time.

No reason was given for the withdrawal noted in Tuesday’s meeting agenda (read it here), but there hasn’t been anything new placed in the filings since September, when the case was initially delayed.

Poag Shopping Centers, LLC, had filed an application for site plan changes that were opposed by the nearby East Hampton neighborhood and the East Cobb Civic Association.

The proposal asked that the barre3 fitness center, which opens at 6 a.m., be allowed to open at 5 a.m. Nearby neighbors were opposed to that and suggested that instead of a larger monument sign (12 feet high by 20 feet wide) at the shopping center entrance, two smaller signs be erected instead.

The ECCA also is opposing a request by Eric and Rita Klein to convert a single-family home on Providence Road, behind the Providence Square shopping center, to community retail commercial for professional offices (case file here).

The home is next to My East Cobb Dentist, owned by the Kleins. In their application, they say their plans are to renovate the home to make it look like their current office building, and add a second story for storage for a total of 6,000 square feet.

The ECCA is recommending a low-rise office category instead, since that’s the zoning for the Merchants Walk Office Park next door, and that CRC “allows for too many intense uses.”

According to Cobb Tax Assessor’s Office records, the home was built in 1949 and purchased by the Kleins in December 2018 from the estate of Franklin Lanier McClure. He was a retired barber who died in July 2018 at the age of 96.

The commissioners’ zoning hearing begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government office building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

 

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Lower Roswell rezoning case withdrawn as Marietta deadline passes

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Lower Roswell annexation/rezoning

A contentious rezoning application on Lower Roswell Road filed by a prominent Cobb homebuilder appears to be dead for now, as well as annexation into the city of Marietta.

Rusty Roth, the city’s development director, notified residents of the Sewell Manor neighborhood on Wednesday that Traton Homes had had not filed anything new after the Marietta City Council voted in July to give the developer a 90-day “stay.”

That 90-day period ended on Wednesday, and Roth said the request was not included on Thursday’s council agenda.

In his note, Roth wrote that without the applicant “giving written notice to reactivate the stayed motions . . . the actions shall be dismissed without prejudice.”

That means that Traton could refile the request at any time.

In a note to her neighbors, Sewell Manor resident Robin Moody, who led the fight against the rezoning and annexation, thanked community leaders, media outlets, Cobb commissioner Bob Ott and “the City of Marietta for being reasonable.”

The Marietta-based Traton had proposed building 39 townhomes and 13 detached homes on less than eight acres at Lower Roswell Road and the South Marietta Parkway, after asking Marietta to annex the land.

That property includes six parcels that once were part of the Sewell Manor in unincorporated Cobb. Three other parcels that front Lower Roswell Road were annexed into Marietta several years ago.

Residents there said the project would be too dense and would add to existing traffic problems in  their community. In addition, Traton did not submit a traffic plan and included 15 variances in its request.

The density of the project allowed Cobb elected officials to lodge an official objection under a state home rule law, but the county development staff didn’t meet a January deadline for having county commissioners formalize that objection.

Robin Moody, Sewell Manor resident
Sewell Manor resident Robin Moody

The Marietta Planning Commission voted to recommend denial of the rezoning in April, then the council delayed a vote the first time the matter appeared on its agenda.

In June, Ott met with Sewell Manor neighbors at a town hall meeting and scheduled mediation between the city and the county to resolve the dispute.

But the city called off the mediation, and another zoning notice went up in Sewell Manor for the July council meeting.

At that meeting, council member Michelle Cooper-Kelly, who represents that area of the city, stipulated in her motion for a 90-day delay a provision for a withdrawal without prejudice by Traton.

“We do all hope that should this matter be taken up again, that everyone will band together again,” Moody said in her note Thursday. “Please stay positive and let’s say unified!”

She said Sewell Manor residents will have what they call a “Unity of Community” meeting Nov. 1 at the Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road).

 

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KSU economist appointed to Cobb Development Authority after delay

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After a two-week delay, the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted 3-1 Tuesday to appoint an economist to the county’s development authority whose nomination had drawn opposition.J.C. Bradbury, Cobb Development Authority appointment

J.C. Bradbury of Kennesaw State University has been a critic of how Cobb financed SunTrust Park and has been skeptical of economic benefit claims since the Atlanta Braves stadium opened in 2017.

He had been selected by new commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb on Sept. 10, but chairman Mike Boyce asked for the delay when he said he had learned two commissioners opposed the choice (previous ECN story here).

Boyce didn’t name the commissioners, but the only vote against Bradbury Tuesday was JoAnn Birrell of East Cobb. Bob Ott, also of East Cobb, was absent from the meeting and did not vote.

Previously, the other commissioner, Lisa Cupid of South Cobb, said she supported Bradbury, and reaffirmed that before the vote.

Birrell did not publicly explain why she voted against Bradbury, saying only that she expressed her concerns privately to Gambrill.

Boyce said after meeting with Bradbury and speaking again with him by phone that Bradbury is “qualified in every respect” and also that he is “now he is a public figure.”

Boyce referenced Tweets Bradbury had posted, and without citing a topic, said that “if you’re going to be on this board we have to be circumspect in our comments. Somebody may want to use it against him.

“[Bradbury] assured me he could make impartial decisions,” Boyce said.

The Development Authority consists of seven individuals appointed by county commissioners who consider economic development incentives, including tax abatements.

That an appointment was put to a vote is unusual, and so were public comments before the vote in support of Bradbury.

They included East Cobb resident Larry Savage, a former chairman candidate who unsuccessfully challenged the Development Authority’s tax abatements for a Kroger superstore that’s part of the MarketPlace Terrell Mill project.

Also speaking for Bradbury was Caroline Holko, who ran against Birrell last year, and Lance Lamberton of the Cobb Taxpayers Association.

He said Bradbury “speaks truth to power” and a board like the development authority needs to have members with an array of perspectives.

Boyce told Lamberton that “you stole my thunder.”

On Wednesday morning, Bradbury Tweeted that “I can confirm that I have been confirmed,” and apologized to his followers for a head shot of him that accompanied a media story he included in his message.

“Sorry to shove my giant melon in your face.”

 

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Sprayberry Crossing proposal to have ‘substantial changes’

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Revised Sprayberry Crossing plans

On Tuesday morning Joe Glancy of the Sprayberry Crossing Action group said the proposed redevelopment plans for the blighted retail center are expected to have what he termed “substantial changes.”

He said he spoke Monday with Richard Aaronson of Atlantic Residential, and “although I have agreed to not share what I strongly believe may be changing, what I will share is that the change to the plan will be significant, and I believe most of the surrounding community will enthusiastically support the change (if it in fact happens).”

Since Atlantic Residential unveiled details of its mixed-use proposal on Sept. 13, some residents have expressed opposition in particular to a 195-unit apartment building. Others were concerned about the fate of the Mayes Family Cemetery, located in the back of the 15-acre property on Sandy Plains Road near East Piedmont Road, and that could be slated for relocation.

According to the site plan (above) released by Atlantic Residential, 62 townhomes would go up in and near the current cemetery site.

Glancy said Aaronson “made it clear that they want to be sensitive to the concerns of those who have family members buried in the cemetery—and that they have no intention of forcing a cemetery move against the wishes of the community. They care about the reputation of their firm, and are not interested in fighting with a large contingent of angry community members. They want dialogue—they want to communicate their plans with regard to the cemetery – and they want to LISTEN to the concerns of those who object. They have already begun to have those talks with individuals connected to the cemetery.”

Glancy and Shane Spink, another leader of the Sprayberry Crossing Action group, had said they’d like to schedule a town hall with the developer, possibly in October. But today Glancy said due to the site plan changes and the cemetery issue, “I don’t think it makes sense to force a community meeting when there is so much up in the air.”

East Cobb News has been hearing from opponents to the apartments since the original site plan was released. In addition to concerns about putting so many rental units near single-family neighborhoods, they said such a development would add to traffic woes and school crowding in the area.

Some also said their concerns were being ignored by Glancy’s group and that in some cases their Facebook postings were being taken down.

Craig Blafer of the nearby Harper Woods subdivision said the Atlantic Residential proposal would create density of 26.5 units an acre, which he claimed is one of the highest figures in the county, and that the plans would change precedent in the area.

“While I laud the efforts of the guys who got us this far, communications have turned into a one-sided sales brochure,” Blafer said. “The community opposition to this project is overwhelming. Nobody wants apartments and nobody wants density.”

A Facebook group, Residents Against Apartments at Sprayberry Crossing, was recently started.

Glancy said in response that Blafer’s density claim “is not even close” to being accurate. He also said “that I have heard from many varying opinions from so many members of our community. There is not overwhelming opposition to apartments.”

Glancy also disputed charges that commenters opposed to apartments have had their comments taken down. The Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook group, Glancy said, “has hundreds of comments from the anti apartment folks.”

The only messages that have been deleted, he said, involved personal attacks or commenters starting new threads.

Glancy said while he understands that “the concern about apartments at that property is reasonable . . . the factors that the community should be considering are nuanced and require careful, informed and respectful discussion.”

 

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Powers Ferry Road redevelopment projects getting underway

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Powers Ferry Road redevelopment projects

Two Powers Ferry Road redevelopment projects that are considered major efforts to revitalize that corridor are starting to take initial shape. Over the weekend we swung by both to capture the work in progress.

Above is the parking deck for a apartment building at MarketPlace Terrell Mill, fronting Powers Ferry, where a low-slung office park once stood. When its complete, the nearly 300-unit apartment building will wrap around the deck, which won’t be visible like it is now.

Along Terrell Mill Road, the only other structure going up for now is a self-storage building, next to the Salem Ridge condominiums.

Powers Ferry Road redevelopment projects

The $120 million MarketPlace Terrell Mill project, being built by Eden Rock Real Estate Partners, will include a Kroger superstore, restaurants and other shops and retail space. Here’s the promotional brochure and a rendering Eden Rock is sending out to prospective tenants; none other than Kroger have been announced thus far.

Eden Rock partner Brandon Ashkouti told the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance this spring that the timetable for completion of MarketPlace Terrell Mill is around 24 months.

That was before the Georgia Supreme Court in June upheld the issuance of Cobb Development Authority bonds for Kroger, which had applied for a tax abatement that was challenged legally.

Kroger, which will build on the site of the former Brumby Elementary School as the last phase of the MarketPlace Terrell Mill development, qualified for the abatements since the land was on the county’s redevelopment list.

The dental office that’s gone up at the corner of Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill is not part of the MarketPlace project.

Powers Ferry Road redevelopment projects

Down the road on Powers Ferry, what has been called Restaurant Row is no more. Clearing and grading crews have flattened five free-standing buildings that housed restaurants, with only the Rose and Crown still in business.

Above is where the Rose and Crown once stood. It’s slated to be part of a new mixed-use development by Greystar Development Group, an Atlanta apartment developer, that includes a 280-unit apartment building (Elan at Powers Ferry), and a 170-unit senior living building (Overture at Powers Ferry) and restaurant/retail space.

Rose and Crown closed in July and its owners are running Mojave, a restaurant on Powers Ferry Road in Sandy Springs, until then.

The 8.8-acre tract fronts the entrance to the Wildwood office park. Construction also is expected to last for two years.

A back view facing Powers Ferry and north, at the Windy Hill Road intersection.

 

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Request to divide Holt Road home lot nixed by commissioners

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Holt Road home lot

In zoning cases, the word “precedent” is used quite often by those opposed to high-density proposals, or for requests that don’t match approved land-use categories in a particular area.

On Tuesday, residents of two neighborhoods near Wheeler High School banded together to urge the Cobb Board of Commissioners not to set a precedent they fear could take hold in East Cobb given the chance:

Subdividing a single home lot into two lots, below minimum lot size requirements.

That’s what Danesh Roshan, the owner of a Holt Road home lot, was attempting to do. He applied for a reduction in the minimum lot-size of 20,000 square feet for homes zoned R-20 to accommodate two lot sizes of 18,118 square feet each.

(Read the case file here.)

It’s technically not a zoning request and was listed under “Other Business”—for applications seeking site plan amendments and changes in stipulations that don’t have to go back before the Cobb Planning Commission.

But residents of the adjacent Bannock Estates and Spring Creek neighborhoods sprung into action, pressing commissioners with pleas to reject Roshan’s request. He has not filed any formal development plans, and Cobb Zoning staff recommended that commissioners deny the request.

Some opponents said the request amounted to a variance issue. Others, including the East Cobb Civic Association, said subdividing the .42-acre lot at Holt Road and Emory Lane would in effect change the zoning to R-15, a higher-density category.

One resident who spoke against the request said most of the surrounding homes are on lots of 23,000 square feet or more.

Allowing such a precedent, said Hill Wright, a Spring Creek homeowner, “would paint a target on neighborhoods like this in the future.”

When Wright vowed to support candidates “who will protect our properties,” commission chairman Mike Boyce interjected that “we got plenty of e-mails about this case” and that citizens know their elected officials are accessible on such matters.

According to Cobb property deed records, Roshan purchased the land in 2018 from the estate of L.D. Satterfield for $170,000. His obituary states that Satterfield was a World War II veteran who died in 2010. On the land sits a three-bedroom, 1,923-square foot ranch-style home built in 1964.

Holt Road home lot
The home at 515 Holt Road is shrouded by trees and brush, including along Emory Lane.

Roshan, who lives in nearby Pioneer Woods, is the owner of several residential and commercial properties in the surrounding East Cobb area and elsewhere in the county, according to tax assessors’ records.

Peggy Jackson, who lives on Emory Lane, next door to the former Satterfield home, said the home has been in disrepair as long as she can remember, although it’s been renovated recently, and was upset she wasn’t notified about Roshan’s request.

Page Morgan, an East Cobb real estate agent, said that if properties would be allowed to be subdivided this way “we are doing exactly what the folks of East Cobb don’t want. . . . It will set a precedent we can never roll back.”

Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, who represents the area, said the Roshan property is at an entrance to a subdivision, and that’s where “we should not allow carving up lots and making them different than what’s in the neighborhood.”

He made a motion to deny the request, and there was no discussion before commissioners voted 5-0 to turn it down.

Related Story

 

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