East Cobb Zoning & Development Archives

Request to divide Holt Road home lot nixed by commissioners

September 17, 2019 3:58 PM by Wendy Parker

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.

Powers Ferry Road hotel developer withdraws land-use request

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Powers Ferry Road hotel developer withdraws land-use request

September 16, 2019 3:36 PMSeptember 16, 2019 1:23 PM by Wendy Parker

Powers Ferry hotel developer, Homewood Suites

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.

Proposed The Avenue East Cobb sign

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.

The full agenda is listed here; case files can be found here.

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New Sprayberry Crossing plans: 397 residential units; 30K SF commercial

September 13, 2019 10:28 PMSeptember 13, 2019 9:39 PM by Wendy Parker

Revised Sprayberry Crossing plans — *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.

The revisions came after the developer recently met with citizen leaders who made suggestions. A four-page PDF released Friday is attached here, and here’s an overview of the specifics:

12,000 square feet of neighborhood retail
15,000 square feet of co-working space
195 apartment units
140 senior apartment units
62 townhomes

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.

Revised Sprayberry Crossing plans

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.”

Those opposed to apartments at the Sprayberry Crossing site recently created their own Facebook group.

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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Commissioners spar over Cobb Development Authority appointment

September 10, 2019 1:53 PMSeptember 10, 2019 12:58 PM by Wendy Parker

J.C. Bradbury, Cobb Development Authority appointment — *J.C. Bradbury*

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.

Hilton Garden Inn & Home2 Suites by Hilton Cumberland rendering

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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Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment called ‘a true mixed-use property’

September 7, 2019 11:02 AMSeptember 3, 2019 1:48 PM by Wendy Parker

Sprayberry Crossing developer — 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.”

You can read his full post here, and check out what’s been a very vibrant comments section.

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Sprayberry Crossing community reps to meet with developer

August 23, 2019 7:57 PMAugust 23, 2019 2:39 PM by Wendy Parker

Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment, Reserve at The Ballpark — 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.

Following up last week’s news of a sharper vision for the Sprayberry Crossing property, community leader Joe Glancy has an update on a meeting scheduled for next week with Atlantic Residential, the potential redeveloper, as posted today on the Sprayberry Crossing Action group page.

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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Five Guys plans at East Cobb Crossing OK’d by commissioners

August 20, 2019 9:48 AM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb Five Guys

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).

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.

Proposed The Avenue East Cobb sign — *A rendering of a proposed monument sign at the entrance to The Avenue East Cobb.*

Updated Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment details revealed

August 17, 2019 12:10 PM by Wendy Parker

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.

Five Guys wants to open in East Cobb at closed Del Taco site

August 7, 2019 1:44 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb Five Guys

East Cobb may get its first Five Guys restaurant soon, pending action later this month by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

We saw an “Other Business” item in the Aug. 20 agenda files for a franchise location at the former Del Taco restaurant in the East Cobb Crossing Shopping Center (4269 Roswell Road).

The nationwide chain featuring hamburgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, French fries and milkshakes has three current Cobb locations and another in Sandy Springs.

ECC Outparcel, LLC is seeking signage and other design changes that don’t require rezoning, but must be signed off by commissioners. The outparcel site and shopping center were zoned for planned shopping center use in 1998.

In 2015 Del Taco got county permission to amend certain signage stipulations. The Five Guys amendment is asking to continue the signage uses permitted when Del Taco was open, and says in its application that “no change of use, occupancy or construction type is proposed.”

Five Guys also says in the case file it’s not proposing any new signage “in locations not previously approved” by commissioners for use by previous tenants.

The case file (you can read it here) includes other renderings in addition to the one at the top, as well as other design proposals and parking configurations.

Five Guys opened in the Washington, D.C. area in 1986 and now has more than 1,500 locations, with nearly as many planned in expansion.

Ebenezer Road retail proposal delayed for a second time

August 7, 2019 1:01 PM by Wendy Parker

Ebenezer Road retail proposal

For the second time in as many months a proposal to turn a vacant commercial building on Ebenezer Road at Canton Road into a multi-business retail property is being delayed.

Last month the application by SAW Holding Inc. was delayed from July due to notification issues. At the start of Tuesday’s Cobb Planning Commission hearing, Cobb Zoning Office Division Manager John Pederson said the case was being delayed by the staff until September.

Here’s the case file for the application, which is seeking rezoning from neighborhood shopping to neighborhood retail commercial on 1.7 acres adjacent to Noonday Baptist Church.

SAW Holdings wants build 2,241-square-foot center for restaurants, a grocery store and offices, with the businesses open from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m.

The Canton Road Neighbors civic group has expressed opposition to the current application for the subdivided nature of the request, as well as for environmental reasons.

“This is generally a family friendly area, with youth sports facilities, churches and residential neighborhoods,” Carol Brown of Canton Road Neighbors wrote in a letter to the zoning staff. “The SE corner of the Canton/Ebenezer intersection is now the site of a public park. It is an area of natural beauty and the Little Noonday [Creek] needs as much protection as possible.”

The planning board recommended approval of a request by SZS Holdings Inc. for a special land-use permit to expand a parking lot at Auto Weekly Specials, a used-car business (SLUP-7-2019 (case file here).

Owner Obaid Malik wants to add 41 additional parking space on the acre parcel that’s zoned general commercial.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will make final zoning decisions on Aug. 20.

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Credit Union of Georgia electronic sign request nixed by commissioners

July 16, 2019 11:44 AM by Wendy Parker

Credit Union of Georgia

The newly opened Credit Union of Georgia branch on Johnson Ferry Road won’t be displaying an electronic message board.

The financial institution located at 1020 Johnson Ferry Road at the intersection of Little Willeo Road) had requested permission from the Cobb Board of Commissioners for a stipulation amendment to build a six-foot high LED sign. Credit Union of Georgia sign rendering

(Read the case file here)

But by a 4-0 vote, commissioners turned down the request. Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb said the electronic message board is incompatible with the neighborhood, including the newly opened Solana East Cobb senior residential facility on the opposite side of the intersection.

The reason Cobb zoning staff recommended denial, Ott said, is because “there’s a whole lot of history at this intersection.”

The Credit Union of Georgia standalone building formerly housed several bank branches, most recently BB & T. It’s also across from Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.

One of the original stipulations for the property, dating back to 1984, says any sign “shall not be backlighted and . . . no neon-type signs shall be used.”

“This would be introducing the neighborhood to a whole new element,” Ott said before making a motion to deny the request.

The only existing electronic sign in that part of the Johnson Ferry corridor is a static sign listing movies playing at the Merchants Walk Cinema.

Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce recused himself from voting, saying he had a “financial relationship” with the applicant.

In other business Tuesday, commissioners voted to continue until September a request by Geneva Roswell, LLC to divvy up the former L.A. Fitness location at 4905 Alabama Road—just up the road from Sandy Plains Village—into multiple retail parcels (view the case file here).

The case has drawn nearby opposition, and Kevin Moore, the applicant’s attorney, was going to withdraw the application without prejudice.

One of the objections to the application was a stipulation to allow for a truck dock for a potential retail occupant, and to construct a ground-based monument sign.

The county zoning staff had issues with the sign request, saying violated sewer easement setback restrictions.

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Lower Roswell annexation/rezoning case delayed 90 days by Marietta City Council

July 11, 2019 1:51 PMJuly 11, 2019 1:11 PM by Wendy Parker

Lower Roswell annexation/rezoning

After another standstill over a proposed annexation and rezoning case on Lower Roswell Road that has dragged on for months, the Marietta City Council voted Wednesday to continue the delay.

By a 5-1 vote, the council approved a measure that would “stay” the annexation and rezoning proposals, along with related action to update the city’s future land use plan, for 90 days.

That’s to provide time for all the parties to discuss Cobb County’s objection to the rezoning based on density grounds and possibly to reschedule mediation between the city and county that was called off last month.

The stay was proposed by council member Michelle Cooper-Kelly, whose East Marietta ward would include the 7.46 acres at Lower Roswell and the Loop that Traton Homes wants to develop into 52 townhomes and single-family homes.

Residents in the adjacent Sewell Manor neighborhood in unincorporated Cobb have opposed the proposal, saying it’s too dense and would worsen traffic woes they face daily.

Many of them were on hand in Marietta council chambers Wednesday, bringing yellow “Save East Cobb” signs they have used during their fight.

Because of the proposed density of the project—nearly seven units an acre—the county had the right to object, but didn’t formalize that stance in January until it was too late.

The Marietta council twice delayed voting on the annexation and rezoning, which was recommended for denial by the city planning commission in April.

Last month Cobb commissioner Bob Ott met with Sewell Manor residents about their concerns, and told them there’s nothing legally preventing Marietta from annexing and rezoning the land.

A couple weeks later, another notice went up in Sewell Manor about Wednesday’s agenda item, but some residents said they weren’t sure until the last minute what might transpire.

They prepared a markup of the Traton proposal agenda item protesting what they called an “incomplete plan” that didn’t include a traffic study and called for 15 variances.

The only council member voting against the delays on Wednesday was Joseph Goldstein, also of East Marietta, who urged there be public hearings before the 90-day period ends.

Cooper-Kelly’s motion would allow Traton, if nothing else happens, to withdraw its application after 90 days without prejudice, meaning it could refile and restart the annexation and rezoning process.

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Sprayberry Crossing update: Possible mixed-use development would be largely residential

July 12, 2019 12:27 PMJuly 10, 2019 4:38 PM by Wendy Parker

Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center

Some more information is coming from meetings held last week between a developer interested in the Sprayberry Crossing property and nearby citizens.

Shane Spink of the Sprayberry Crossing Action group told East Cobb News there’s still not a conceptual plan for a possible mixed-use development.

Some of the group’s leaders, including Spink, met last week with the developer, who’s been identified as Atlantic Residential of Atlanta, that specializes in residential and mixed-use developments.

The group, which counts more than 4,700 followers on Facebook, was informed last month about the developer’s interest, after years of haggling with the county and NAI Brannen Goddard, the managing agent for the Sprayberry Crossing Partnership owners, to do something about a long-standing eyesore at Sandy Plains and Piedmont.

Spink said while he was encouraged that the developer wants to get community input, “the details were a little fuzzy and I’m not sure they know exactly what they want to do there, mainly because there could be some larger commercial involved that would take up more space. This was a grocery chain and that didn’t seem concrete yet.”

He said the developer appears to prefer a project with a largely residential component, featuring townhomes, senior living and multi-family units on the 16-acre tract that now houses a few businesses, but that has been largely empty for years.

The details there, Spink said, are still to be revealed, “so we are waiting for the final draw up to see where we are and what we think the community will agree to.

“Bottom line is the community wants change so let’s see what they put on paper. It is such a complicated site with all the different parcels and of course the cemetery in the middle.”

A timeline for discussing a conceptual plan, after a survey and design are completed, may come about in a few weeks, Spink said.

“The bottom line on the residential is that it’s going to have to have a larger component [than what has] been proposed in the past just because that site isn’t going to work as 100 percent commercial. So the community is going to have to accept residential there or it’s probably not gonna work for any developer.”

Joe Glancy of Sprayberry Crossing has added some more details, including the map below of the current property. The green area would be redeveloped, with the yellow area currently containing commercial property.

The commercial portion of the new development, he said, “will likely be ground floor below the residential. The developer could envision that including a small grocer – but that is way down the road and far from certain.” Some greenspace figures to be contained as well.

“According to the developer, one of the reasons why this property is more attractive for residential development is that it sits enclosed with no street visibility and is already fronted by retail development. Additionally, the abundance of retail space surrounding the property makes a large retail commitment unlikely.”

He said Atlantic Residential will continue to survey the site over the next few weeks, develop a plan and bring it to the community.

The developer, he said, isn’t going to seek rezoning “until they are satisfied they have the support of the community.”

Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment
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Rose and Crown Tavern closing for 2 years in Restaurant Row redevelopment

July 3, 2019 7:11 AM by Wendy Parker

Rose and Crown, East Cobb Restaurant Row rezoning, Rose and Crown Tavern closing

This has been anticipated for a few months now, and it’s official: The Rose and Crown Tavern on Powers Ferry Road has announced its temporary closure.

The last remaining survivor of “Restaurant Row” will close next Saturday, July 13, for a two-year period as the cluster of restaurant buildings makes way for a new mixed-use development.

Rose and Crown will be part of that project, with expanded space in a retail component in a 578,000-square foot complex that will include a 280-unit apartment building and 171 senior-living units.

The rezoning for the 8.8-acre project was approved last August. The project is being developed by Greystar Development Group of Atlanta.

Ground is expected to be broken this month for the project. The apartment building is being called Elan at Powers Ferry, and the senior homes will be called Overture Powers Ferry.

Miguel Ayoub opened Rose and Crown in 2010 with his wife at a former La Madeleine restaurant at 1931 Powers Ferry Road. In the new development, the Rose and Crown space will take up 6,000 square feet of a planned 10,0000-square foot retail center.

The property is near the Wildwood Office Park, but other restaurant concepts nearby have come and gone: A Sal Grosso Brazilian steakhouse, TGI Friday’s and Famous Dave’s.

While Rose and Crown is shuttered, the Ayoubs will be running Mojave, a casual Latin restaurant at the former Ray’s Rio Bravo at 6450 Powers Ferry Road, just across the river in Sandy Springs.

A late July opening date for Mojave is planned.

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Ebenezer Road retail proposal delayed until August

July 2, 2019 1:30 PMJuly 1, 2019 10:03 AM by Wendy Parker

Ebenezer Road retail proposal

The July zoning calendar is light on cases in East Cobb, but one that will be getting first hearing Tuesday before the Cobb Planning Commission involves a retail proposal on Ebenezer Road at the intersection of Canton Road.

UPDATE: This case has been delayed to August for notification reasons.

That 1.7-acre tract, close to the Noonday Baptist Church and the eventual Ebenezer Road Park, is being sought by SAW Holding, LLC from neighborhood shopping to neighborhood retail commercial.

There’s a vacant office building on the site now, but the applicant wants to build a 2,241-square-foot center for restaurants, a grocery store and offices, with the businesses open from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m.

According to the application (case file here) about a half-acre was cleared along Canton Road without approval, and it contains part of a the state water buffer and the FEMA 100-year floodplain.

The county zoning staff is recommending approval with several conditions, including a final site plan (not yet submitted) to be approved by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

The agenda item Z-48 will be heard on the regular agenda since there’s opposition.

Not far away, a rezoning request for a light industrial category for automotive services on 1.1 acres at 4921 Canton Road is being recommended for denial by the zoning staff (case file here). The land currently houses warehouses but the proposed rezoning does not conform to the Cobb land use plan and the future land use plan.

A proposed rezoning at 3140 Johnson Ferry Road, at the site of a former bank building, would convert that space into retail use. Komorebi Holdings, LLC, is seeking neighborhood retail commercial designation for the 1.3 acres in front of the Wal-Mart store (case file here).

The devlepment would include 5,541 square feet of space, the same as the vacated bank, with business hours proposed are Sunday 12:30-6:30 p.m., Monday-Thursday 10-10 and Friday-Saturday 10 a.m.-11 p.m.

The zoning staff is recommending approval, and Z-37 will be heard on the consent agenda.

The full agenda can be found here and more zoning, variance and other business files can be found here.

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

Its votes are advisory. Final zoning decisions will be made by Cobb commissioners on July 16.

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Lower Roswell annexation case back on Marietta council agenda

June 28, 2019 3:15 PM by Wendy Parker

Lower Roswell annexation case

The green zoning signs fronting the entrance to the Sewell Manor neighborhood have a new date etched in for an annexation and zoning case at Lower Roswell Road and the Loop that residents there have been fighting for months.

After the Marietta City Council twice delayed a vote, and after Cobb commissioners reaffirmed a letter of objection to the annexation, the proposal by Traton Homes to build 52 townhome and single-family units is apparently scheduled to be on the July 10 council agenda.

There’s not an agenda posted yet on the City of Marietta website, and there doesn’t appear to be anything new in the case file. We’ll update with more information.

The city council would act first on annexation before conducting a zoning hearing.

The city and county have been at odds over the case since Sewell Manor residents voiced their objection to the Traton project, on less than eight acres of vacant land.

The county had the right to object to the annexation since the rezoning would come to more than five units an acre, but commissioners didn’t formally ratify their opposition before a January deadline.

The Marietta Planning Commission did hear the case in April and voted to recommend denial of the rezoning.

The Marietta City Council held off on votes in April and May, then asked for mediation, and the county agreed. But commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb, designated as the county representative, said the city wanted to change the process to something between mediation and formally binding arbitration, and cancelled the talks.

Earlier this month he held a town hall meeting with the Sewell Manor residents.

On June 11 commissioners discussed, but took no action, after Ott briefed them about the dispute.

He admitted that there was nothing the county could do to stop the annexation, but said Marietta Mayor Steve “Thunder” Tumlin had indicated the city would not act on the case as long as the county objected.

Sewell Manor residents have put together a flyer to urge their neighbors and others in nearby communities to turn out for the July 10 Marietta council meeting, which starts at 7 p.m.

What they previously labeled a “Save East Cobb campaign” is now being called “Annexation Without Representation.”

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Citizens group leader: Developer in talks with Sprayberry Crossing owners

June 28, 2019 3:23 PMJune 28, 2019 7:05 AM by Wendy Parker

Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center

Citizens living near a longstanding East Cobb eyesore got some encouraging news Thursday night: The owner of the blighted Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center is in talks with a developer.

That’s according to Joe Glancy, moderator of the Sprayberry Crossing Action group on Facebook, who said in a post to its 4,635 followers that there’s a “tentative agreement to redevelop—I say tentative because nothing is set in stone and we are in the very early stages.”

Glancy, who organized a town hall meeting last March about the shopping center, said he’s met with executives from the development firm—which he did not identify—and which asked to gain more input from other nearby residents in the next week.

Glancy said the development firm “is reputable, their interest is sincere and I believe, that although it’s difficult to please everyone, most members of the community will be pleased with what the firm is capable of.”

He called the discussions “a ray of hope” and said he would “share more information as things progress.”

Joe Glancy leading a town hall meeting about Sprayberry Crossing at Sprayberry High School in March 2018. (ECN file)

Among those community leaders is Shane Spink. He’s meeting with the developer next Wednesday and told East Cobb News that “I think they are being smart by reaching out to the community with their ideas on what they are looking to do” with the 16 acres on Sandy Plains Road and Piedmont Road.

UPDATE: On Friday Glancy said the developer is eyeing a mixed-use project for the property, but there’s nothing more detailed at this point beyond the concept.

For many years residents near the decaying retail center have urged county officials and the owners to take action.

Most of the businesses have long vacated the premises. Citizens have complained that the former bowling alley has been a spot for criminal activity.

Even after Cobb commissioners imposed a “blight tax” on the property last year, little has happened.

Last August, a Cobb judge ordered NAI Brannen Goddard, the Atlanta real estate agency that owns Sprayberry Crossing, to clean up a portion of the property. The most Brannen Goddard could be taxed according to the remediation plan is around $21,000 for 2019.

Earlier this spring, frustrated citizens posted photos of themselves with signs on the Sprayberry Crossing Action page, trying to shame Brannen Goddard into action.

The Sprayberry Crossing property also has been included on a redevelopment list by Cobb commissioners, meaning a developer could be eligible for tax abatements (like Kroger at the MarketPlace Terrell Mill under construction on Powers Ferry Road).

Glancy said he said he’s withholding more details for now “because the developer has been willing to be open, to communicate and to show progress. As such I’m willing to extend them the courtesy of letting them manage the roll out until they are ready.

“This has been a very long time coming. I hope and believe the community will continue to show the same character and courtesy that this group has demonstrated over the previous 30 months.”

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Powers Ferry mixed-use project returns to Cobb zoning agenda

June 18, 2019 10:12 AMJune 17, 2019 9:21 AM by Wendy Parker

Chance Powers Ferry rendering, Powers Ferry mixed-use project

A proposed mixed-use development in the transforming Powers Ferry corridor that has been delayed for nearly a year comes before the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday.

The revised Chance Powers Ferry project is similar in scope— 20,000 square feet of office space, 299 luxury apartments and a parking deck with nearly 500 spaces—to what the developer proposed last year.

UPDATE: The rezoning request was approved unanimously Tuesday on the board’s consent agenda.

It’s around 531,000 square feet, on nearly four acres at Powers Ferry Road, Windy Ridge Parkway and Shadowood Parkway, where the aging Powers Ferry Woods office complex sits now.

The rezoning would convert the land from office-industrial to regional retail commercial.

Last year there were issues with variances, including setback distances, that held up the application.

Earlier this month the Cobb Planning Commission recommended approval with several stipulations that were submitted on May 29 by Kevin Moore, the developers’ attorney.

The biggest change recommended by the planning board is that office space, contained in a three-story building, would be reduced from 30,000 to 20,000 and limited to office use only.

The stipulations include a number of uses that would be prohibited, including automotive businesses and nightclubs or adult entertainment entities.

The apartment building is proposed for five stories, with most of them two bedrooms or fewer, and only a maximum of six units with three bedrooms.

The parking spaces also have been increased in the revised application to 493 in the deck, up from 468, and 22 surface spaces. Another stipulation would create space for ridesharing deliveries (Uber, Lyft, etc.).

Access to the development would be on Windy Ridge and Shadowood.

Moore is also the attorney for David Pearson Communities, Inc., a developer who has sued the commissioners for a zoning decision in 2015 and that is coming before the board again on Tuesday.

Commissioners in November 2015 voted to rezone nearly seven acres at Sandy Plains Road and Ross Road to RA-5 for 34 single-family senior homes (ages 55 and up). That’s right across from the Sandy Plains intersection with Scufflegrit Road, in an area with some surrounding high-density development.

David Pearson Communities sought RM-5 for 54 units, and filed suit in Cobb Superior Court right after the vote (read it here), saying the commissioners’ “decision to restrict the intensity of the proposed development stands in direct conflict with the intensity of uses reflected by adjoining and surrounding properties.”

In April Moore sent a letter to the Cobb Zoning Office seeking the RA-6 category, which would allow for 41 homes, as well a proposed settlement of litigation.

Here’s the rest of Tuesday’s zoning hearing agenda and more details, along with individual filings, of current, past and upcoming cases can be found here.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

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Cobb commissioners reaffirm objection to Marietta annexation

June 11, 2019 1:53 PMJune 11, 2019 12:56 PM by Wendy Parker

The Cobb Board of Commissioners took no action on Tuesday in an annexation dispute with the City of Marietta that has embroiled an East Cobb community for several months.

Instead, commissioners verbally restated a previous objection to a proposed annexation and high-density residential rezoning on Lower Roswell Road and the Loop (background here).

District 2 commissioner Bob Ott (above) represents the Sewell Manor neighborhood and several others nearby in East Cobb who’ve protested a project to build 37 townhomes and 15 single-family homes on less than eight acres.

FIRST LOOK: Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan draft released

June 7, 2019 3:34 PMJune 7, 2019 2:29 PM by Wendy Parker

Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan draft

For the last year or so we’ve been posting about the master plan process for the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford area (known as JOSH); earlier this week the the Cobb Community Developent Agency released a draft that’s loaded with recommendations before final approval.

(You can read all 94 pages here.)

The recommendations are based on community input that included several public meetings since early 2018, as well as an online survey.

Five categories were included in the study: land use; transportation; parks; stormwater and sense of place.

What follows is a first look at the report, and the overarching recommendation is to:

“Preserve the detached single family residential character of the JOSH study area as the primary land use, directing more moderate transitional residential and commercial uses toward the Johnson Ferry at Shallowford Road commercial node.”

Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan draft
That should come as no surprise to those who’ve taken part, especially at the public sessions.

As was detailed at one of those meetings in January, the JOSH area—with a population of nearly 27,000—has more than 99 percent of its residents living in detached single-family housing.

Around 85 percent of the JOSH area is zoned for low-density residential. It also has an older and richer population than much of the rest of Cobb County.

A few more highlights from the recommendations, which begin on Page 58 of the draft:

Transportation: traffic improvements at the Johnson Ferry and Shallowford intersections, as well as Johnson Ferry and Wesley Chapel Road; Shallowford intersections at Childers Road and McPherson Road; and considering a roundabout at Hembree Road and Lassiter Road;
Landscape medians: Along Shallowford between Sandy Plains and Childers, and additional medians along Johnson Ferry at “appropriate” locations;
Pedestrian safety improvements: Johnson Ferry intersections at Post Oak Tritt, Shallowford and Lassiter.
Sidewalk recommendations: Both sides of McPherson and filling gaps along Post Oak Tritt, Lassiter and Mabry Road;
Multi-use trail: Added to the Cobb Greenways and Trails Master Plan;
Greenspace purchase: Possible parks and preservation;
Preservation: Working to get the 1830s Power-Jackson Cabin on Post Oak Tritt near McPherson included in the Cobb County Register of Historic Places;
Stormwater: fund and create a management plan for the Willeo Creek basin;
Design guidelines: To unify streetscape and architectural standards and create pedestrian and bike-friendly streets with sidewalk connectivity.

One of the biggest lingering issues in the JOSH area is 30 acres of land at the southwest intersection of Johnson Ferry and Shallowford that’s been proposed for rezoning but was withdrawn in 2017, right before the master plan process.

In the master plan draft, two conceptual plans were drawn up for mixed-use potential of that property, which includes a lake in the middle.

Among the recommendations is to work with the property owners to restore the lake, using it as a cornerstone of redevelopment, or converting that water basin into a creek.

That’s a long-term recommendation, as is the possibility of establishing a neighborhood park on that land. It’s also included in stormwater recommendations to restore to original flood stage and for possible retention use.

At the back of the master plan draft are results of an image preference survey for homes, commercial buildings, mixed-use development, parks and greenspace and more.

The 30-day public review period began on June 3, and additional input can be provided by email at comdevplanning@cobbcounty.org or through the regular mail at Cobb County Community Development, Planning Division, P.O. Box 649, Marietta, GA 30061-0649.

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