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.
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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.
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.
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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.”
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.”
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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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.
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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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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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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).
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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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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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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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.
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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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 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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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.”
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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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.
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.
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.
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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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.
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.
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.
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The attorney for a proposed suites hotel next to the Hilton Garden Inn at Powers Ferry Road and Windy Hill Road has withdrawn an application for a special land-use permit.
Garvis Sams, who represents Milestone Hotel Management, wrote a letter to the Cobb Zoning Office dated Sept. 10 about the withdrawal without prejudice, which means it can refile the application anew.
Milestone’s request is listed on the agenda (main case file here) as a continued case for Tuesday’s meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
In addition to zoning cases, the commissioners also consider land-use permits and changes to site plans and stipulations in previously approved zoning cases under the category Other Business (OB).
The Cobb Zoning Office had continued the Milestone hotel case, which has been delayed before, until October. Milestone had sought to build a five-story, 95-suite Homewood Suites by Hilton next to the Hilton Garden Inn on 1.9 acres.
Currently the land includes an accessory parking lot for the existing hotel, and it’s zoned for office mid-rise (OMR). The Future Land Use category is listed as Regional Activity Center.
Milestone was proposing 95 parking spaces, but the required minimum under the current zoning category is 105. In late August, Sams filed a continuance letter with numerous stipulations.
Opposition to the application came from from ML Wildwood Holding LLC, which owns the land at 3045 Powers Ferry Road where the Hilton Garden Inn is located. David Kirk, an attorney with Troutman and Sanders, which represents ML Wildwood, cited parking and traffic issues, along with density and other factors, including the possible impact to The Flats at Riverwalk, a nearby condominium complex.
Another East Cobb Other Business case we’ve noted before is being continued until the Oct. 15 zoning hearing. That’s a request by request by Poag Shopping Centers, LLC, owners of The Avenue East Cobb, to change stipulations and a site plan amendment (case file here).
Poag wants to change the appearance and location of the monument sign at the entrance to the shopping center, and to alter opening hours for a fitness center from 7 a.m. to 5 a.m. The closing hours would remain at 11 p.m.
The nearby East Hampton neighborhood has objected on both counts, asking for a smaller sign and saying there’s no need for a fitness center to open at 5 a.m.
The East Cobb Civic Association has filed a letter in support of East Hampton.
A few items on Tuesday’s agenda in East Cobb have drawn opposition:
OB-47, Geneva Roswell, LLC, 4905 Alabama Road, which is seeking to change a site plan and stipulations for a now-vacant LA Fitness Center space at the Indian Creek Shopping Center. The proposal would subdivide the space for a smaller fitness center and neighborhood retail uses and allow for a truck dock to be installed behind the building (see case file);
OB-51, Danesh Roshan, who wants to reduce the minimum lot size for R-20 zoned land at Holt Road and Emory Lane. He wants to tear down an existing home there and build two homes; the East Cobb Civic Association is opposed, saying it would set a bad precedent because it would reduce zoning to R-15, a higher category, than what surrounds it (see case file);
On the consent agenda (which includes items that have no stated opposition) are the following cases in East Cobb:
Z-48, SAW Holdings, 4076 Ebenezer Road, from neighborhood shopping to neighborhood retail on 1.7 acres that had generated previous opposition;
Z-54, Kay Porter, owner of Perfect Reflections, a hair salon and home boutique business at 4781 Alabama Road. She’s retiring, and is seeking rezoning of a building on a half-acre from general commercial to neighborhood retail center;
OB-50, Michael Clarke, who wants to amend a site plan at a home at 2875 Brandl Cove Court to allow for a gazebo;
OB-54, J.D. España, who is seeking to amend a site plan for the development of four houses on 1.98 acres 4648 Steinhauer Road, reducing it to one house and removing stipulations from a 2014 zoning case;
OB-56, Waldron and Lee Dentristy, LLC, which is seeking flag-style entrance signage as a change to a 2018 zoning case that allowed for a dental building under construction on Roswell Road, next to the Bank of America at East Piedmont Road.
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A sample rendering of other Atlantic Residential properties included in the company’s release on Friday.
On Friday afternoon Atlantic Residential, which is interested in redeveloping Sprayberry Crossing, released new details of a mixed-use project that includes nearly 400 residential units and 30,000 square feet of commercial space.
Atlantic Residential is saying that of the 195 conventional apartment units, 75 percent will be one-bedroom and 25 percent two-bedroom.
The proposal includes 3- and 4-story buildings, with commercial activity on the ground floor and three floors of rental living space above. The townhomes would be three stories.
According to an aerial rendering of the proposal (below; click here for a larger view), the apartments would be in the front of the 15-acre property on the south side of Sandy Plains Road, just east of East Piedmont Road, with the townhomes in the back. Another 6,000 square feet of residential amenities would be included.
The senior living building would be on the eastern side of the property, along with 8,000 square feet of related amenities.
Joe Glancy of Sprayberry Crossing Action, a group of citizens pushing to rebuild the blighted property, said the developers “are ready to meet with the community at any time.” He said a community meeting would not take place until after the fall Cobb County School District break in late September. The group he helped, the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook page, which now numbers 5,000 people, has an active comments section.
Here’s also what he said:
“As always, I ask that everyone continue to be respectful in their dialogue and discussion. This page provides an opportunity to express you opinion, not to drown out or belittle so else’s. We have a really good history of respectful dialogue and expect that will continue. This is a wonderful community and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it.”
The developer said the co-working space would be developed by Work at Thrive, which has facilities in Roswell, Milton, Alpharetta and soon in Canton. The senior apartments would be built by Evoq Town Flats and would be 1- and 2-bedrooms for those age 55 and older. Atlantic Residential would be building the 195 other apartments, and the townhome developer is still to be determined.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Residential brochure:
“While this project will not have the scale and impact of well-known mixed use projects like Avalon or Ponce City Market, it will be designed to be sustainable for the long-term and to be a spark for the redevelopment of adjoining and nearby properties that currently are not achieving their full potential for the community.“
We”ll update this story with more reactions and details when they become available.
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Cobb commissioners are holding up a vote on an appointment to the county’s Development Authority after a heated discussion that’s rare for such an agenda item.
Newly elected commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb wanted to appoint J.C. Bradbury, a Kennesaw State University economics professor, to the body that considers such things as tax abatements and other economic development incentives.
Commissioners’ appointments are usually routine and for the most part are approved without a hitch. But Gambrill was upset when she said she was told right before Tuesday’s meeting by commission chairman Mike Boyce that he wanted more time to consider Bradbury’s appointment.
Boyce said he understood that two of the five commissioners were against Bradbury’s appointment and that since he was the swing vote, he wanted a delay.
The Development Authority is comprised of seven members appointed by county commissioners. Bradbury would replace Bob Morgan, whose four-year term has expired.
Bradbury has been a critic of Cobb’s publicly-subsidized deal with the Atlanta Braves to build SunTrust Park, and remains openly skeptical of economic impact claims county officials have made since the stadium opened in 2017.
Gambrill said other commissioners’ first-time appointments were easily confirmed, and said the delay over Bradbury is an example of “pure patronage and politics at its worst on this board.”
The Development Authority has come under greater scrutiny in recent months for its votes to provide tax abatements for new commercial projects, including the Kroger superstore that’s part of the MarketPlace Terrell Mill project under construction.
Gambrill said her appointment was being stymied “because [Bradbury] holds a different opinion from some on this board.”
Bradbury—who’s outspoken against tax subsidies in general, including those made to the state’s film industry—would be representing the interests of citizens, Gambrill further stated, “and not the interests of the economic powers” in the county.
She said she sent her colleagues information on Bradbury on Aug. 29 and heard no response until right before Tuesday’s meeting. Boyce said he wasn’t aware of opposition before then and asked her to “walk the halls” to gather support.
“It’s your recommendation but it’s a board appointment,” Boyce responded. “All I’m saying is that there needs to be more time.”
East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott took Boyce’s side, saying commissioners table votes all the time, including a new package of tax incentives they approved on Tuesday for a new hotel complex (see item below).
He also said it was “wrong to make a public accusation against a commissioner who asks for more time.” All of them have an obligation, Ott said, to do their “due diligence.”
Commissioner Lisa Cupid of South Cobb said she supported appointing Bradbury and thought Gambrill’s appointment “is being treated unequally.”
She said “this is less an issue of procedure and more of substance . . . but you still need three out of five” votes to approve an appointment.
In late 2013, Ott and fellow East Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell voted for the nearly $400 million bond issue to help finance what’s now called SunTrust Park, while Cupid was the only vote against.
Boyce defeated then-chairman Tim Lee in 2016, making the way the voting process was conducted a major campaign issue. Since coming into office, Boyce also has boasted of the economic benefits he said the stadium has brought to the county, including The Battery and other new development in the area.
The vote to table consideration of the Bradbury appointment to Sept. 24 was 5-0. In other action Tuesday, the commissioners agreed to development incentives for a planned dual-branded hotel next to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in the Cumberland area.
NF IV-VA ATL Cumberland LLC, which would operate a Hilton Garden Inn and a Home2 Suites by Hilton (rendering above) will get more than $350,000 in permit fee savings and will be allowed to pay sewer development fees in increments.
The two hotels would have a total of 260 rooms and create 70 new jobs. Michael Hughes of the Cobb Community Development Agency said the county government would net an economic benefit of $1.15 million over 10 years and the Cobb County School District $1.46 million in additional tax revenue over that time.
The measure, which passed 4-1 (with Gambrill voting against) had been tabled at Ott’s request because of parking concerns that he had. Ott said all the criteria for meeting the county’s guidelines for getting incentives (more details here) had been satisfied.
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Atlantic Residential, developer of The Reserve at The Ballpark near SunTrust seen above, is proposing a 3- or 4-story apartment building, senior living, townhomes and retail on the site of Sprayberry Crossing.
Last Friday Sprayberry Crossing Action group leaders met with Richard Aaronson of Atlantic Realty, which is proposing a mixed-use development at Piedmont Road and Sandy Plains Road to replace the blighted, mostly abandoned shopping center there.
On Tuesday Shane Spink, one of those community leaders, reported on the meeting, and said he was impressed with the developer’s willingness to listen and make changes and adjustments to the plan.”
He said Atlantic Realty “took a few of the suggestions to go back to the drawing board.”
While the news about Atlantic Realty’s proposal has generated a positive reaction—for the most part—on the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook page, the most sensitive part of the project remains over some of the details of the residential plans.
Spink admitted his “top concern” was whether the townhomes would be for sale or rentals, since Atlantic has built some of the latter, but said he was “very pleased to hear that the townhomes will be ‘for sale’ ownership homes.”
About the overall development, here’s what Spink said they were shown:
“Please let me emphasize that what we looked at was a true mixed-use property and not a giant apartment complex like others have tried to describe this as. Here is the preliminary breakdown of what we saw:
For Sale Townhomes
Luxury Apartments w/Pool
Senior Living
Senior Living Amenities Center/Pool
Ground Floor Retail/Restaurant Space
Office/Workshare Space
Large Front Lawn Green-space
“In my opinion it doesn’t get more ‘Mixed-Use’ than that.”
Spink said none of the apartments will have three bedrooms and there will be more with one bedroom than two. That’s similar to what’s being built in the Powers Ferry Road corridor, mostly to prevent school overcrowding.
More exact details, Spink adds, are coming next week, and a community meeting will follow in the fall. Spink told East Cobb News there isn’t a set date for that meeting, but it could happen in October.
Understanding the concerns some have over the apartments, Spink urged residents to keep in mind that “this an opportunity to transform our area for the better. In a few years we will come up on the 50th anniversary of Sprayberry Crossing being built and that’s a long time for any shopping center but especially for one that has been so neglected for so long.”
Back in the 1970s, land was more abundant in Cobb and “sprawling retail centers were all the rage. Fast forward to today, retail is dying, land is scarce, populations are growing and new ideas for use have transformed areas all over the country. This is one of those new ideas.”
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Atlantic Residential, developer of the Reserve at The Ballpark near SunTrust seen above, is tentatively proposing a 3- or 4-story apartment development, senior living, townhomes and retail on the site of Sprayberry Crossing.
He’ll be one of five citizens who’ve met over the summer with Atlantic Residential, which has done some very upscale projects around metro Atlanta and other markets:
“The purpose of the meeting will be for the developer to show a plan for the property that they hope will be a starting point for conversations with the community. They will look for feedback on the plan and they will work with us on figuring out the best way to have a discussion with the community. . . .
“There are strong opinions on both sides with regard to the residential aspect (mostly directed at proposed apartments, but some also directed at senior living with a very small amount towards townhouses.) . . .
“I’m hesitant to post this, as some will undoubtedly see it as my advocating for the developer (and subsequently for apartments.) I am not pro-developer and I am not pro-apartments. I’m pro-reasonable development that will remove this two decades old blight and have a positive impact on the community.
“That said, I think it’s important the community understand that the prospect of holding out for a strictly retail development with shopping and restaurants is a difficult one. . . .
“Strictly retail developments face a changing and challenging market, and that doesn’t look to improve any time soon. . . .”
Read the whole post here as well as the comments, which clearly are guiding community response.
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A Five Guys restaurant proposed for the former Del Taco location at the East Cobb Crossing Shopping Center can go ahead after site revisions were approved Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
The measure, which was approved unanimously as part of the commissioners’ consent agenda, includes site plan and design changes that didn’t require rezoning.
The only addition to the original case file came from the East Cobb Civic Association, which requested that the district commissioner (Bob Ott) approve a landscaping plan. That stipulation was included before the vote at Ott’s request.
Commissioners also approved via consent a special land-use permit for SZS Holdings LLC to expand a used-car parking lot on an acre at 2069 Roswell Road by 41 spaces. Among the stipulations are for a landscaping plan subject to district commissioner approval and for no vehicles to be parked on pervious surfaces.
Some East Cobb cases on Tuesday’s agenda were not heard. Among those applications that have been delayed is a request by Poag Shopping Centers, LLC, owners of The Avenue East Cobb, to change stipulations and a site plan amendment (case file here).
Poag wants to change the appearance and location of the monument sign at the entrance to the shopping center, and to alter opening hours for a fitness center from 7 a.m. to 5 a.m. The closing hours would remain at 11 p.m.
The nearby East Hampton neighborhood has objected on both counts, asking for a smaller sign and saying there’s no need for a fitness center to open at 5 a.m.
The East Cobb Civic Association has filed a letter in support of East Hampton.
A rendering of a proposed monument sign at the entrance to The Avenue East Cobb.
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Atlantic Residential, developer of the Reserve at The Ballpark near SunTrust seen above, is tentatively proposing a 3- or 4-story apartment development on the site of Sprayberry Crossing.
A few more details of the potential Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment we’ve been posting about are coming via Joe Glancy, who informed his Facebook group on Friday that a draft plan shown him by Atlantic Residential, the interested developer, includes the following:
3 to 4 story apartments, senior living AND townhouses (not sure how many stories on the townhouses);
Separate pools and amenities for the apartments and senior living
‘Co-working’ ground floor office space
Ground floor retail space
“Town Green” common green space
It did not include the cemetery
Parking and landscaping
He pointed out some have noticed “activity at the property —evidence that the property was being surveyed.”
That’s Atlantic Residential’s land survey, and Glancy says the developer is gauging public reaction before putting forth a more formal plan. He adds this:
“They seem very sincere in wanting to work with the community—both with communication and feedback—in order to adjust the development plan in response to what the community has to say. They said this will be an open process and if there ends up being an impasse, they can simply choose to not develop and look elsewhere.”
There are plenty of comments on that post link that you can read here, and that include a variety of opinions. Many are glad a long-blighted property may finally be rebuilt, while others are worried about increased traffic and potential drop in property values with apartments possibly coming in.
Based in Atlanta, Atlantic Residential is a high-end apartment developer that’s built complexes at SunTrust Park, Grant Park, Johns Creek, Buckhead, Dunwoody, Decatur, Druid Hills and in the Milwaukee and Chicago areas.
The Reserve at The Ballpark, in the photo above, was completed in 2015 near SunTrust Park for around $70 million and features 321 units plus luxury amenities.
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