East Cobb Zoning & Development

East Cobb Kroger tax breaks upheld by Georgia Supreme Court

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Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill development, MarketPlace Terrell Mill, East Cobb Kroger
The Kroger superstore is slated to be built on the site of the former Brumby Elementary School (back right) as part of the MarketPlace Terrell Mill development.

A request by Kroger to receive tax breaks for a planned superstore at the MarketPlace Terrell Mill project in East Cobb was given the go-ahead by the Georgia Supreme Court.

The high court ruled in a unanimous 7-0 vote that a retired Cobb Superior Court judge erred in denying issuance of $35 million in revenue bonds by the Development Authority of Cobb County.

The ruling, which was released Monday (you can read it here), took issue with Judge Adele Grubbs’ interpretation of a state code provision that denies validation of such bonds if a project is not deemed “essential” to “the development of trade, commerce, industry, and employment opportunities.”

Justice Keith Blackwell, writing for the Supreme Court, said that provision does not require an “essential” determination for bonds to be issued.

“To say that “the development of trade, commerce, industry, and employment opportunities is an ‘essential’ purpose of development authorities is not to say that anything financed by a development authority must be ‘essential’ to such development,” Blackwell wrote.

Brandon Ashkouti, Eden Rock Real Estate Partners
Brandon Ashkouti

The 95,000-square-foot Kroger store is the anchor of the $120 million MarketPlace Terrell Mill project, which is just now getting underway. Regarded as a linchpin of revitalizing a high-density corridor, the development will include 298 apartment units, restaurants and other retail shops.

At a meeting last month of the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance—a civic group—Brandon Ashkouti of Eden Rock Real Estate Partners, the project’s developer, said he anticipated “a favorable outcome” by the court. Kroger initially indicated it may not proceed with the store if it lost in court.

The Kroger store is slated be the final part of MarketPlace Terrell Mill to be completed, ideally 18-24 months from now, according to Ashkouti.

Kroger would be exempt from taxes its first year of operation, then would gradually pay an assessed tax value phased in over a 10-year period, rising by 10 percent each year.

The 23.9-acre property at Powers Ferry Road and Terrell Mill Road was eligible for abatements by being included on a redevelopment list by Cobb commissioners. Only Kroger applied for the bonds.

Last spring, another member of the developer team estimated the project would yield annual property tax revenues of $500,000 for the Cobb County School District alone. The property included some offices and retail space as well Brumby Elementary School, now relocated on Terrell Mill.

Two development authority members, including Karen Hallacy of East Cobb, voted against issuing the bonds, worried about setting a precedent for retailers getting tax breaks.

Last fall, Kroger and the Cobb Development Authority appealed Grubbs’ ruling to the Supreme Court, which did not hear additional arguments.

Larry Savage
Larry Savage

The legal challenge was filed by Larry Savage, an East Cobb resident and twice a candidate for Cobb Commission Chairman.

He cited a state code provision that “gave unrestricted power to the Development Authority to decide what projects would or would not be granted tax abatements and this violates the provisions of the state constitution that require ‘uniformity’ of taxation. There cannot be uniformity when there are no rules.”

Savage said his objection wasn’t “whether the Kroger store was an economic boost but only the question of the constitutional requirement for “uniformity.”

“The Development Authority of Cobb County, and all development authorities in the state, are now free to use their unrestricted discretion in awarding tax abatement deals to any and all projects that suit their pleasure. ‘Uniformity in Taxation’ is toast.”

Savage said he’s not pursuing his case any further because there’s nowhere else to go. He told East Cobb News:

“The Georgia General Assembly could enact legislation that would clarify rules for development authorities. The Cobb County Commission could do the same for the Cobb County Development Authority. I do not expect either would act on anything that does nothing more than protect taxpayers.”

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Lower Roswell rezoning-annexation update: Cobb-Marietta mediation hits a snag

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Lower Roswell rezoning-annexation

An update to the story we published Thursday about mediation talks between Cobb County and the City of Marietta about a disputed annexation-rezoning case on Lower Roswell Road and the Loop:

That mediation, scheduled for next Wednesday,  has been called off. Also, Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, who was to have represented the county and was scheduled to meet Monday with a small group of nearby residents opposed to the proposal, has opened the meeting to the public in a town hall format.

That word comes from Robin Moody (in photo), a leader of a group of Sewell Manor neighbors who are working to reduce the density and demand other changes from Traton Homes.

The prominent Cobb residential developer wants to build 37 townhomes and 15 single-family homes on 7.48 acres, which the neighbors say is too dense and would add to traffic headaches they already experience.

Some have called it a “Stack-A-Shack” proposal for how close the residences will be built on the property that abuts Sewell Manor.

(Read the revised case file here for Z-2019-04.)

In a message sent Friday to her neighbors and citizens in nearby communities, Moody said the City of Marietta wanted to change mediation from being overseen by retired Cobb Superior Court Judge James Bodiford to going before another, unspecified judge.

Ott declined, since that change would require approval of the other county commissioners, and he is planning to bring the matter up with his colleagues on June 11.

A Georgia local government law called HB 489 (passed in 1997) allows counties to formally object to annexation and rezoning cases in certain high-density conditions, and sets up terms for arbitration or mediation to settle disputes.

Moody noted the time provided for public comment at commissioners’ meetings and added:

“We are grateful that Cobb County will now hear the viewpoints (at least how Ott explains it) that the community has been voicing since January of this year.”

The Sewell Manor residents live in 1950s-built single-family homes with a density of less than two units an acre. Traton’s proposal is 6.95 units an acre, higher than a threshold of four units an acre as specified in HB 489.

Although the Marietta Planning Commission has recommended denial, the Marietta City Council has never voted on the Traton proposal. It has been pulled twice over the last two months.

Ott’s town hall meeting will be 7 p.m. Monday at the Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road). Moody said citizens from more than a dozen nearby subdivisions have signed petitions opposed to proposed development.

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An East Cobb community organizes to stop ‘Stack-A-Shack’ development

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East Cobb community, Sewell Manor
James Rosich, an urban planner by training, calls the Traton Homes proposal a “stack-a-shack” development. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)

For several months, residents of an older East Cobb community—proud of their long-standing roots, and embracing those who’ve come to live there more recently—have felt increasingly cut off.

Cut off by increasing congestion at a major intersection. Cut off by vacant commercial and residential properties fronting their neighborhood that have become eyesores.

And, most of all, cut off in a matter between Cobb County and the City of Marietta over a rezoning and annexation request they worry may be settled next week without their input.

UPDATE: The mediation has been called off, and Cobb commissioner Bob Ott will hold a town hall meeting on the matter on Monday. Click here to read more.

For residents of Sewell Manor, a proposed development by Traton Homes for townhomes and urban-style single-family homes is more than just incompatible with their homes.

It’s become what some believe could be a troubling bellwether for the kind of high-density development that they moved there to avoid.

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A small-town feel

Sewell Manor is “the closest thing to Mayberry that you can find in Cobb County now,” said Theresa Gernatt, who grew up in Sewell Manor and lives there again, as a caregiver for her mother.

The small brick ranch homes that line Indian Trail and Worthington Drive were built in the late 1950s, as what became known as East Marietta suburbanized.

Most of them are valued at less than $200,000 today, bargain prices in highly affluent East Cobb, where new homes are routinely sold for $700,000 and up.

She said she and her neighbors understand the empty lots next to their neighborhood will be redeveloped, and they’re not opposed.

“Change is good,” Gernatt said Wednesday at a meeting she and her neighbors called at the Sewell Mill Library, just down the street on Lower Roswell, and that drew around 50 people, many from nearby subdivisions.

However, she said, “real progress is not always change,” and especially what one of the most powerful residential developers in Cobb County has in mind for their community.

East Cobb community, Sewell Manor
Sewell Manor residents William Warwick and Lindsay Field Penticuff.

The proposal by Traton would plop 37 townhomes and 15 single-family homes on less than eight acres at the northeast corner of Lower Roswell and the Loop.

The land includes three commercial parcels on Lower Roswell annexed by Marietta, as well as property on which six former homes stood in Sewell Manor.

The residential tracts are in unincorporated Cobb County—which Traton is proposing the city also annex—as is the rest of Sewell Manor.

Traton has come down from its initial proposal of 63 townhomes and one single-family home, dropping the density from around 12 units an acre to 6.95.

That’s still above the threshold of a state law that allows counties to object to annexations when rezonings include density of more than 4 units an acre.

(Read the revised case file here for Z-2019-04.)

City-county conundrum

When Traton submitted its plans earlier this year, Cobb officials did object. However, they didn’t formalize their opposition until it was almost too late.

Earlier this month, as the Marietta City Council was to vote on the Traton request, the county asked for a delay for mediation.

The city agreed, and they’re scheduled to meet next Wednesday with retired Cobb Superior Court Judge James Bodiford.

While the Sewell Manor residents are temporarily relieved, they don’t think their concerns are being taken seriously.

“This is a city creating a problem for us, after we bought into the county to enjoy,” said Robin Moody, a relative Sewell Manor newcomer, who’s lived there 15 years.

She’s urged her neighbors to lobby Bob Ott, their county commissioner (who’s meeting with them on Monday), and to turn out in force for the mediation hearing.

East Cobb community, Sewell Manor
Sewell Manor resident Robin Moody.

Sewell Manor residents are asking Traton to reduce density down to four units an acre, which is still more than twice the density of their neighborhood.

But that’s hardly all of their objections to a proposal they say runs counter to city and county land use plans and basic rezoning standards.

Tration is asking for 15 variances. They include waiving landscape buffers along Lower Roswell and a waiver to build deceleration and acceleration lanes at the Indian Trail access point.

No traffic plan has been submitted by Traton, another requirement.

Some of the townhouses are only 900 square feet, well under the city’s minimum of 1,400 square feet for townhouses. No square footage sizes have been indicated for the single-family homes.

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At the intersection, there’s a massive billboard owned by Ray Boyd, the property owner, that Sewell Manor residents want taken down.

They also want minimum open space to be 25 percent, and a 60 percent maximum for impervious services.

“This is not a good site plan,” said James Rosich, who lives close to nearby Sedalia Park Elementary School. “It’s just not.”

Site plan markup

Rosich, who has an urban planning degree from Georgia Tech and governmental planning experience in Florida and North Carolina, dubbed the Traton plan “Stack-A-Shack.”

It’s lingo in his profession, he says, for high-density development jammed especially closely together. There’s not room for school buses to turn around in the new community, nor for residents to place trash for curbside pickup.

He annotated Traton’s plan to incorporate the community’s requests to get it to something they could accept.

East Cobb community, Sewell Manor
Sewell Manor residents’ objections to and recommended changes for the Traton plan. For larger view click here.

Sewell Manor residents say Marietta City Council member Michelle Cooper-Kelly, who represents the potential annexed land, has told them she’s against the project.

So is the Marietta Planning Commission, which voted in March to recommend denial.

That’s the only vote that’s been taken on the yet-unnamed Traton proposal tabled twice by the council.

Setting a trend?

Ott, who will be the county representative at the mediation, has said that Marietta could eventually exercise home rule and rezone and annex as it pleases without Cobb’s blessing.

(East Cobb News has left a message with Ott’s office seeking comment.)

East Cobb residents in other communities said they’re concerned about a precedent, similar to what’s taking place in the Powers Ferry corridor, if the Traton project goes through.

“If we don’t push back now, that’s what’s going to come along Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry Road,” said Hill Wright, who lives in the Spring Creek neighborhood off Holt Road.

“It’s not just about this neighborhood. It’s the first battle in a war” to maintain a traditional suburban setting, he added.

 

East Cobb community, Sewell Manor
The Indian Trail home of William Warwick, which has been in his wife’s family for more than 40 years. It’s surrounded by land proposed for upscale townhomes and single-family homes. 

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Lower Roswell rezoning/annexation case subject of community meeting

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Lower Roswell rezoning/annexation

Residents living in the Sewell Manor neighborhood at Lower Roswell Road and the Loop have scheduled a public meeting for Wednesday to discuss a proposed annexation and rezoning case next to their community that’s going to mediation between Cobb County and the City of Marietta.

The meeting is scheduled for Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center, just down the road at 2051 Lower Roswell Road.

Citizens living in Sewell Manor have been opposed to a proposal before the Marietta City Council by Traton Homes to build 37 townhomes and 15 single-family detached homes on 7.48 acres at the northeast intersection of Lower Roswell and the Loop.

The rezoning request also requires annexation into the city, since some of that tract is in unincorporated Cobb.

Cobb officials initially objected to the request under a state law governing annexation involving high-density zoning matters.

Traton has come down on its proposal from nearly 12 units an acre to 6.5 an acre. The law’s threshold is 4 units an acre, but the county did not formalize its objection in writing.

The Marietta City Council could have voted anyway, but tabled that vote earlier this month and agreed to mediation with the county.

That process is set to start in June, and Sewell Manor residents want to brief their fellow neighbors on their concerns.

They include additional traffic at an already congested intersection, as well as other aspects of Traton’s site plan.

Sewell Manor homes were built in the 1950s and the neighborhood density is 1.75 units an acre. Some have said they’re not against new development but what Traton is proposing is incompatible with their community.

 

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Famed architect I.M. Pei, designer of Wildwood Plaza, dies at 102

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I.M. Pei Wildwood Plaza

I.M. Pei, the architect who designed the Wildwood Plaza office park in East Cobb and who was known for many acclaimed buildings around the world, has died at the age of 102.

His most famous building is the Louvre Museum pyramid in Paris, and he’s also known for the John F. Kennedy library in Boston and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.

He was world-famous by the time he drew up the plans for Wildwood Plaza, which was developed by Tom Cousins and opened off Powers Ferry Road and Windy Ridge Parkway in 1991.

The twin towers are two 15-story granite buildings with a pyramid atrium (inspired by the Louvre building, which opened two years before Wildwood) that form the centerpiece of the 289-acre Wildwood office complex.

The towers, done in Pei’s modernist urban style also were graced by pear trees he explicitly included across the traffic circle from the buildings.

Last year, during a zoning case before Cobb commissioners, some nearby residents asked if the developer of a townhouse complex slated for the area could try to preserve the aging trees (they were not).

Pei, who was born in China in 1917, came to the United States and studied architecture at MIT under Walter Gropius, one of the leaders of the modernist Bauhaus movement.

Pei designed many other commercial and residential buildings during his long career, including the now-razed Gulf Oil Building on Ponce de Leon Avenue in Atlanta that is his first major project.

His awards included the Pritzker Prize, the most prestigious honor in architecture, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

 

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MarketPlace Terrell Mill construction gradually getting underway

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MarketPlace Terrell Mill construction

As crews were finishing the grading work for the new MarketPlace Terrell project and construction began on the self-storage facility, a spokesman for the developer updated the community about the mixed-use development.

Brandon Ashkouti of Eden Rock Real Estate Partners told members of the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance last week that the overall timetable for the $120 million project, located at the northwest intersection of Powers Ferry Road and Terrell Mill Road, is expected to be about 24 months.

That depends in part on a case to be decided soon by the Georgia Supreme Court. Kroger, which is planning a 95,000-square-foot superstore as the center’s anchor, is appealing a Cobb judge’s ruling against tax abatements it sought from the Development Authority of Cobb County.

MarketPlace Terrell Mill site

Ashkouti said in response to a question from the audience that Kroger is committed to building there (and moving from a nearby location at Powers Ferry and Delk roads).

“Until they are approved,” he said, referring to the abatements, “we do not have a timeline for that store. We anticipate a favorable outcome.”

The Kroger store would be located where the former Brumby Elementary School campus once stood.

In the meantime, a self-storage facility located at the back of the 23.9-acre tract, and near Terrell Mill Road (in photo above) is the first building to get underway.

Ashkouti said that building should be done within 9 to 12 months, and an adjacent apartment building with 298 units is expected to be completed in 24 months.

Building out shops and restaurants could take between 12-15 months, he said, and discussions are underway with possible tenants he wouldn’t identify.

Construction on the latter could get underway this fall, he said, and two planned restaurants would have 4,200 and 3,500 square feet.

“We’re talking to some great local restaurants,” Ashkouti said.

Brandon Ashkouti, Eden Rock Real Estate Partners
Brandon Ashkouti

The buildings will be in Colonial Williamsburg style architecture.

A dentist’s office on the intersection that has already opened is not part of the MarketPlace Terrell Mill project.

The plans also call for traffic lights on Powers Ferry right across from Micro Center shopping center and on Terrell Mill, to be sequenced at the L.A. Fitness entrance.

Rezoning was approved last year by Cobb commissioners in a project that has been dubbed “transformative” for a corridor that is being revitalized elsewhere.

The so-called Restaurant Row cluster on Powers Ferry near Windy Hill Road will make away for another mixed-use project.

Craig Gearheart of Greystar, a multi-family developer, told the PFCA audience that groundbreaking will begin in July for Overture at Powers Ferry, a 171-unit building for residents 55 and older, and should take around 24 months to complete.

A 276-unit apartment building, Elan at Powers Ferry, also is planned for the property, as is a 10,000-square foot building with shops and restaurants, including Rose and Crown.

It’s the only active restaurant still remaining at Restaurant Row, and will relocate to the new facility, taking up 6,000 square feet.

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Lower Roswell rezoning/annexation request tabled again; mediation looms

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A controversial rezoning and annexation request on Lower Roswell Road at the Loop was tabled again on Wednesday by the Marietta City Council.

Cobb County officials delivered a letter to city officials earlier on Wednesday, reiterating their objections under a state law that gives counties that right in high-density cases.

Traton Homes wants to build 37 townhomes and 15 single-family residences on 7.48 acres at the northeast intersection of Lower Roswell and the Loop, a plan that residents in an adjacent neighborhood have opposed.

Many living in Sewell Manor are in the county, and they grew concerned when the Marietta City Attorney suggested Tuesday that a vote could go ahead because Cobb commissioners hadn’t voted on formalizing the objection.

At a town hall meeting elsewhere in East Cobb Wednesday, Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said the council tabled the request, and that he had spoken to Marietta Mayor Thunder Tumlin.

The parties “have agreed to follow the steps of HB 489,” Ott said, referring to the state law in question. That allows counties to enter mediation when there’s such a dispute.

The law kicks in when a city wants to annex unincorporated land that would be zoned for more than four residential units an acre. Traton’s initial request was for more than 11 units an acre, but it’s revised it to 6.5.

That still didn’t set well with Sewell Manor residents who think the project not only remains too dense (their neighborhood density is 1.75 units an acre), but that they also believe will contribute to traffic issues at a clogged intersection.

Ott said the mediation process would include going back to county commissioners, but the possibility looms that the city could annex the land under Georgia home rule provisions.

The property includes three tracts of land already part of the city that front Lower Roswell, and six residential parcels that were once part of Sewell Manor, a community of small homes built in the 1950s.

 

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East Cobb Cityhood group to hold town hall, appear at Powers Ferry meeting

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East Cobb cityhood group

The leaders of a group promoting cityhood for East Cobb have switched the location for an April 29 town hall meeting.

Rob Eble, one of the leaders of the Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, told East Cobb News Friday that the meeting will now take place in the theater at Walton High School (1590 Bill Murdock Road) due to capacity issues.

The meeting was originally slated for Chestnut Ridge Christian Church. More than 600 people showed up to to hear cityhood leader David Birdwelll at a March town hall meeting (above) at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

Eble said the town hall at Walton will last from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and will feature a moderated panel discussion and questions from citizens.

It’s the first of two public meetings cityhood leaders will be having in short order. They’re also slated to speak at a meeting of the the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance next month.

The civic association is holding a community meeting May 8 from 7-9 p.m. at Brumby Elementary School (815 Terrell Mill Road) that also will include Cobb Commission Chairman Mike Boyce and Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott.

Other topics of discussion include public safety staffing in Cobb, a transit update, issues in the Powers Ferry corridor and news on redevelopment projects that include the MarketPlace Terrell Mill and Restaurant Row.

The day after the March town hall, local legislation was filed that will be considered next year that calls for a referendum in March 2020, and if approved, mayor and city council elections would take place next November.

East Cobb News Cityhood Coverage

The cityhood forces have maintained that they want more local control of government, and would provide police, fire and zoning and planning services.

Birdwell, a real estate entrepreneur, joined the group in January, a couple of months after the group commissioned a financial feasibility study. Eble, a technology consultant, is the other new “face” of the cityhood movement

The city map that was drawn and introduced with the legislation includes a population of 96,000 and takes the East Cobb portion of Ott’s District 2 and the Powers Ferry area that is not in the Cumberland Community Improvement District.

Patti Rice, president of the PFCA, told East Cobb News after the town hall that the proposed map would split the community “right down the middle.”

She said while she lives just outside the proposed City of East Cobb, she’s keeping an open mind about cityhood but thinks the cityhood group “needs to organize their message.”

 

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Kroger fuel center in East Cobb approved by commissioners

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Sandy Plains Centre, Kroger fueling center

Following last Friday’s post about Kroger’s proposed fuel center at Sandy Plains Centre: Cobb commissioners approved the measure Tuesday on their consent agenda.

The grocery chain initially got rezoning for the fueling center in 2011 in a case that included the construction of a Chick-fil-A that did not happen.

Kroger’s revised site plan also calls for nine pumping stations, compared to the original five, and to realign the fueling center to be parallel with Shallowford Road.

On April 10 Kroger’s attorneys submitted a letter with more than a dozen stipulations, and commissioners Tuesday moved to put the item on their consent agenda, which was approved unanimously.

Among the conditions are operating hours of 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week and no beer and alcohol sales to be permitted at the fueling center.

Kroger fuel center Sandy Plains Centre

 

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Kroger plans fueling center at Sandy Plains Centre

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Sandy Plains Centre, Kroger fueling center

For the second time in as many years Kroger wants to build a fueling center in the East Cobb area.

The grocery chain’s request for a location at the Sandy Plains Centre Shopping Center comes before the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday.

It’s listed as “other business” (view the case file here) and includes a revised site plan (see map below) for a nine-pump station fronting Shallowford Road, near Gordy Parkway.

That’s at the front of the shopping center on the southwest corner of Shallowford and Sandy Plains Road (signified by a red star) that includes a Kroger store (green pin).

According to documents filed with the Cobb Zoning Office, commissioners in 2011 approved a rezoning case at the shopping center that called for additional retail space, a restaurant and a fueling center that was never built.

Kroger fueling center Sandy Plains Centre

The CRC zoning status still applies, and the site plan for the fueling center is revised from that 2011 application.

The original request was for no more than five pumps at the fueling center, and allowed a canopy with a maximum height of 22 feet.

Other stipulations banned beer and alcohol sales at the fuel center, permitted an air station (but no car vacuum devices) and set its operating hours between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. six days a week.

Those hours are similar what Kroger sought for a fueling center in 2018 at the Pavilions at East Lake on Roswell Road. That request was approved but construction has not begun on the gas station there.

The rest of the commissioners’ zoning hearing agenda can be found here. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the second floor boardroom of the Cobb Office Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

 

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Lower Roswell townhome project delayed again in Marietta

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Lower Roswell townhome project
Traton Homes wants to build 57 three-story townhomes, similar to what’s above, on a cramped corner of Lower Roswell Road and the North Marietta Parkway.

A proposed townhome project on Lower Roswell Road that includes an annexation request and is opposed by nearby residents in unincorporated East Cobb has been tabled by the Marietta City Council.

The council announced the latest delay at its agenda work session Wednesday, and pushed the item back to May.

The developer, Traton Homes, wants to build 37 townhomes and 15 single-family detached residences at Roswell Road and the South Marietta Parkway, and is seeking rezoning from residential (R-20) and community activity center (CAC) to Planned Residential Development Single Family (PRD-SF).

The application is being fought on density and traffic grounds.

 

Lower Roswell townhome project

The council delay comes a week after the Marietta Planning Commission voted 4-2 to recommend denial of Traton Homes’ request, which covers 7.48 acres. Three of the parcels in the tract are already in the city and are zoned for commercial use—they once were sites for automotive repair shops and a recycling business—and six other lots were once part of a single-family subdivision that’s in the county.

The neighborhood is Sewell Manor, which dates back to the 1950s and features small ranch homes. Residents there have said the project is too intensified for their community, and already-bad traffic will be made worse with a single point of entry on Indian Trail.

Traton, one of the largest homebuilders in metro Atlanta, has come down on its original proposal, which was for 63 townhomes and one single-family home.

Lower Roswell townhome projecg
What Traton has in mind for the 15 single-family homes.

The developer filed a last-minute revision on April 1, the day before the Planning Commission hearing (see map above, and click here to view the case file), and included a site plan and requests for a 15 varianc

The variances include no acceleration or deceleration lane on Lower Roswell, and a reduction in the minimum greenspace requirement of 25 percent to 21 percent. That open space is more than the initial request, which was for 12 percent, but is tucked away in a back portion of the assembled property.

Traton first filed the application for consideration in February, but it was also opposed by Cobb County officials, also for density reasons.

The initial request had the project at 8.56 unites an acre, and the revised plan calls for a density of under seven units an acre.

Cobb officials said in their objection letter to the city that current nearby residential density is only 1.75 units an acre, and pointed to a citing a 2004 state law limiting newly annexed land to a maximum of four units an acre.

 

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Revised Lower Roswell townhome plans still face residential opposition

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Lower Roswell townhome planx

Traton Homes has reduced the number of townhomes it wants to build on a corner of Lower Roswell Road and the South Marietta Parkway, but some living in the adjoining Sewell Manor neighborhood are still opposed to the project.

The home builder delayed a rezoning and annexation request with the city of Marietta last month (see previous ECN coverage here), and has submitted the new plans ahead of Tuesday’s Marietta Planning Commission meeting.

Traton’s request is for the Planned Residential Development Single Family (PRD-SF) zoning category, and the land is adjacent to smaller, older single-family homes in unincorporated Cobb.

(Here’s the revised zoning case file for Z2019-04.)

The original plans called for 63 townhomes and a single-family home on 7.48 acres. The number of townhomes now is 52, but William Watkins, who lives in Sewell Manor, said that other issues with the project remain along with density, including traffic access, short driveway lengths and a lack of preserving natural surroundings.

Watkins lives on Indian Trail, in one of two homes that’s directly fronting the land area. It includes three parcels of former commercial property in the city of Marietta, and six parcels in Cobb that were part of Sewell Manor, which dates back to the 1950s and 1960s.

The proposed density of the revised townhome project would be nearly seven units an acre, down from 8.56.

“There is no reason to annex residential lots into the City of Marietta to force high-density housing into a low density neighborhood,” Watkins said.

The three city parcels were annexed by Marietta in 1998. They formerly housed automotive businesses but were torn down.

The planning board meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday with a work session, followed by its business meeting, where it will make recommendations. The Marietta City Council will make a final decision on April 10.

 

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East Cobb indoor entertainment center gets approval from commissioners

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Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center, East Cobb indoor entertainment center

A proposed indoor recreation and entertainment center at Sandy Plains Village in East Cobb was passed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners at their Tuesday zoning hearing.

By a 5-0 vote on the consent agenda, the commissioners followed the Cobb Planning Commission’s recommendation to keep the existing neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) category, with use-specific conditions for the 67,000-square-foot space that will become Ignite Adventure Park.

(Read the case file here.)

DDR Sandy Plains LLC had sought community retail commercial zoning (CRC) for the entire shopping center it owns because the entertainment center uses didn’t fit the NRC category.

Ignite Adventure Park will include a variety of indoor activities, including go-karts, bumper cars, trampolines, mini-golf and rock-climbing, as well as a restaurant and cafe.

It’s slated to go in the former space of the Walmart Neighborhood Grocery, which closed in 2017.

Planning commissioner Andy Smith of East Cobb—who represents the area of the shopping center on Woodstock Road between Sandy Plains Road and Mabry Road—incorporated several special-use conditions to keep the shopping center NRC.

The commissioners also agreed to planning commission recommendations to mandate that the go-karts and bumper cars be operated on either battery power or electricity (no gasoline-driven engines).

Construction will be limited from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturday construction is indoors only (no nights, Sundays or holidays).

Commissioner Bob Ott noted that the case “started as a contentious zoning” and was moved to the consent agenda by the collaborative efforts of the applicant, Smith (his appointment to the planning commission) and nearby residents who initially were opposed.

Also approved on the consent agenda was a residential rezoning for eight farms-style homes on seven acres on Shaw Road (case file here).

As reported late last week, Mt. Bethel Christian Academy withdrew its request to amend a special land use plan for an athletic field at its Upper Campus on Post Oak Tritt Road.

The case was to have been heard Tuesday, but generated strong opposition from some nearby residents.

 

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Mt. Bethel Christian Academy withdraws sports stadium request

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The lawyer representing Mt. Bethel Christian Academy in its request to allow a sports stadium on its campus at 2509 Post Oak Tritt Road has withdrawn the application.

The letter sent to the county zoning office on Tuesday by attorney Jim Ney did not give a reason for the withdrawal (you can read it here), but it had been strongly opposed by nearby residents.

Cobb commissioners were scheduled to hear the Mt. Bethel application next Tuesday at their monthly zoning hearing. The case has been delayed since it was first scheduled to be heard in December.

The letter by Ney beat the deadline for having the application withdrawn without the commissioners having to vote on whether to do so. That deadline is the Wednesday before the following Tuesday.

Mt. Bethel operates grades 9-12 on what it calls its Upper Campus (with K-8 classes on the Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church grounds on Lower Roswell Road).

When Mt. Bethel purchased the Post Oak Tritt property from the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta in 2013, it said it had no intention of building out a stadium. Some neighbors were concerned then about noise and lighting, and those concerns were raised anew when Mt. Bethel applied for the land-use permit revision last fall.

(Here’s the full case file.)

In an e-mail letter sent to the county zoning office and commissioners the same day as Ney’s withdrawal letter, Becky Carlin, a resident of nearby Marneil Drive, complained that if a stadium is allowed, “I will be able to hear every single word announced at every game played there, as I already can hear noise from Sprayberry High School which is further away.

“This is was one of my concerns when it was first proposed that Mount Bethel purchase this property. The church essentially lied to us, saying they wanted to be part of the community and they would minimize the impact to the neighbors nearby.”

She said the area around the high school, which opened in 2014, has become a nuisance due to increased traffic. (Read her letter here.).

Another resident told East Cobb News she was upset that the stadium would include a 90-foot light tower and loudspeakers “less than 200 feet” from homes.

She was among several who said they intended to speak against the Mt. Bethel request on Tuesday.

 

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Final Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan meeting is Tuesday

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Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan

After two open house-style meetings, Cobb community development leaders and commissioner Bob Ott will be unveiling a draft plan on Tuesday for the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Chestnut Ridge Christian Church (2663 Johnson Ferry Road).

Previous East Cobb News coverage here.

For more information visit the county’s community development project page.

Related stories

 

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Proposed East Cobb indoor recreation center gets initial approval

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Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center, proposed East Cobb indoor recreation center

The Cobb Planning Commission voted Tuesday to recommend approval of a proposed indoor recreation center at the Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center that the developers’ attorney says will be a “cutting edge” facility.

The board voted 5-0 to retain the current neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) category for the retail center, with several stipulations to govern what would be called Ignite Adventure Park.

DDR Southeast Sandy Plains, LLC had sought a community retail (CRC) category for its entire property because the rec center doesn’t fit in NRC (here’s the case file).

But planning commissioner Andy Smith of East Cobb—who represents the area of the shopping center on Woodstock Road between Sandy Plains Road and Mabry Road—incorporated several special use conditions to keep the shopping center NRC.

The rec center would have go-karts, bumper cars, wall and rock climbing, indoor trampolines, mini-golf and other features, mostly for kids. Garvis Sams, an attorney for DDR Southeast Sandy Plains, said there also would be a restaurant and cafe.

Among the stipulations added by Smith include mandating that the go-karts and bumper cars be operated on either battery power or electricity (no gasoline-driven engines) and that construction be limited from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday (no nights, weekends or holidays).

The Cobb Zoning Staff had recommended denial of the application in part due to concerns over noise and fumes. Sams said the go-karts and bumper cars were always intended to be battery-powered, and that any noise inside the rec center will be at decibels below the county ordinance.

“They’re as silent as the cars you see” on the roads, he said.

Sams also said in his presentation that the developer will not expand square footage or extend building height for the rec center. The 67,000-square-foot space was originally a Kroger and later housed a Walmart grocery, which closed in 2017.

No one spoke in opposition to the rezoning request.

Sams also represented an applicant in another East Cobb case that got a 5-0 recommendation for approval.

The property owner is Tracey Coker, whose family has owned land on Shaw Road for more than 50 years. The rezoning would go from R-20 to R-15 for eight farm-style single-family homes on nearly seven acres.

(Here’s the case file.)

Z-16 Shaw Road rezoning

A site plan submitted last week would preserve natural habitats including an orchard, flower garden, a community garden and a bird habitat.

“We’re protecting the watershed,” Sams said. Among the stipulations are to have the natural amenities to be maintained in a mandatory homeowners association.

The access road will front the homes, which will all be facing Shaw Road between Woodrush Drive and Oak Creek Drive. The land also is across Shaw Road from the home of District 3 Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell.

“I like the plan,” said planning board chairwoman Judy Williams, who represents District 3. “It’s well-thought out and it will be an asset to the neighborhood.”

Two other East Cobb cases were withdrawn Tuesday.

The owner of a shopping center on Canton Road near Kingston Drive withdrew an application with prejudice for an event center that drew neighborhood opposition (case file here).

Also withdrawn without prejudice was an application to rezone land for six homes on Paper Mill Road near Gateside Place. Last month the planning commission voted to hold it, also after nearby residents spoke against it.

The planning commission recommendations go to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which is scheduled to take final action March 19.

 

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Lower Roswell Road townhome and Marietta annexation request opposed by Cobb

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Lower Roswell Road townhome request
Land that was once a former recycling business would be included in a townhome community at Lower Roswell Road and the South Marietta Parkway. (ECN photos by Wendy Parker)

If you’ve noticed the green signs near the northeastern intersection of Lower Roswell Road and the South Marietta Parkway, that’s a notice from the City of Marietta about a rezoning and annexation request that’s being opposed by Cobb County officials.

On Tuesday’s Marietta Planning Commission agenda is a request by Traton Homes, LLC, to annex six parcels of unincorporated single-family residential land on Indian Trail and assemble them with with three commercial parcels already in city limits that front Lower Roswell.

The planning commission meeting begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Marietta City Hall, 205 Lawrence St., in the city council chambers.

Traton wants to build 63 townhomes and a single-family home on the 7.48 acres. The land, which formerly housed an auto repair shop and a recycling center and homes that have since been demolished, is across Lower Roswell from a QuickTrip and is in a transitioning commercial corridor with alternating city and county properties.

The three city parcels were annexed by Marietta in 1998.

Traton’s request is for the Planned Residential Development Single Family (PRD-SF) zoning category, and the land is adjacent to smaller, older single-family homes in unincorporated Cobb.

(Here’s the zoning case file for Z2019-04. The application was initially scheduled for February but was delayed to March.)

The parcels Traton Homes is assembling for townhomes are shown in diagonal lines. Map: Marietta Zoning Office

The proposed density would be 8.56 units an acre, and that’s where the county objects. It’s citing a 2004 state law that limits newly annexed land to a density of no more than four units an acre. On Feb. 1 the county sent a letter to the city pointing out that current density is 1.75 units an acre, and that the proposal constitutes “a substantial change in the intensity of the use of the property.”

The future land use plan category for the area also calls for low-density residential, but the Traton request would include changing that to high-density residential.

The Cobb letter was signed by commission chairman Mike Boyce and commissioners Bob Ott, who represents the Lower Roswell-South Marietta Parkway area, and Keli Gambrill.

City planning data including in the zoning case file indicate that other PRD-SF projects in Marietta range from nine to 12 units an acre.

Traton’s proposal comes with a number of issues that don’t meet requirements for that zoning category, and a detailed site plan hasn’t been included.

Among the concerns is dedicated recreational space, and while Traton has indicated there will be “open space” on the development, the only amenities mentioned are a pool and a pool house. In all, the recreation area would be less than an acre, and open space would be only 12 percent, less than half of the category’s requirement of 25 percent.

Lower Roswell Road townhomes
Looking east along Indian Trail, where single-family homes remain in unincorporated Cobb.

City zoning staff also noted that PRD-SF requires a minimum lot size of 4,000 square feet, but Traton wants to “reduce the minimum lot size to the footprint of each unit.”

Another variance would reduce driveway length from 20 to 18 feet, and the units would have two-car garages. All of the units would be accessed by private roads and alleys, and the city zoning staff is recommending that a traffic impact study be done.

The zoning staff also says a sidewalk waiver would be needed for South Marietta Parkway, a deceleration lane needs to be built into the development and city sanitation vehicles wouldn’t be able to go down the streets or alleys.

Instead, garbage bins and dumpsters would be needed where those vehicles can make pickups.

Traton also has not submitted a landscaping plan, nor has it detailed elevations, floorplans and finishes for the townhome units.

The Marietta zoning staff is also asking Traton to enter into a development plan and donate right-of-way along Indian Trail for traffic improvements.

If the planning board makes a recommendation, the Traton request would go before the Marietta City Council on March 13.

 

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Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center owner proposing indoor rec center

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Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center

The former Walmart grocery at the Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center would become an indoor recreational center if the owners can get rezoning for the entire retail complex.

That’s on the Cobb Planning Commission agenda for Tuesday, but the county’s zoning staff is recommending denial, saying noise is a major factor, and that it’s activity that’s better suited for a more intense commercial area.

DDR Southeast Sandy Plains, LLC, wants to rezone the complex on Woodstock Road—between Sandy Plains Road and Mabry Road and which includes the Movie Tavern—from neighborhood retail (NRC) and neighborhood shopping (NS) to community retail (CRC).

Ignite Adventure Park would contain nearly 67,000 square feet of space and is proposed as a family-oriented center with go-karts, bumper cars, wall and rock climbing, indoor trampolines, mini-golf and more.

(View the case file here.)

Cobb zoning staff, in addition to concluding that the proposed zoning is incompatible with the surrounding community, said noise and fumes are the biggest issues:

“Staff is concerned that the proposed go-karts will increase noise and fumes for the adjoining residential properties due to the venting requirements gasoline engines may require. “

The retail center’s attorney, Garvis Sams, submitted stipulation letters here and here since the initial application.

Also on Tuesday’s agenda is a rezoning in the Canton Road corridor that has drawn community opposition.

H & I Real Estate wants to rezone part of an existing shopping center at 3920 Canton Road from neighborhood shopping to neighborhood retail at the Kingston Drive Extension for a retail center with a special events facility.

(View the case file here.)

Essentially, the applicant is asking for additional use of a nearby assembly hall that’s been operating there for around five years. Zoning staff, which is recommending approval with some conditions, said the application came about because of complaints that were taken to Cobb Code Enforcement.

But the Canton Road Neighbors civic group said it objects to an event hall, which isn’t a permitted use under the proposed rezoning category.

Canton Road Neighbors said it also was concerned about the impact on the nearby Emerson Unitarian congregation and the Canterbury Glen subdivision, whose residents have complained about late-night noise.

“To date, this has not been a neighborhood-friendly business,” the civic group wrote in a letter submitted to county zoning staff

(Read it here.)

Other zoning cases to be heard Tuesday can be found here.

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

Its recommendations will be forwarded to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which will conduct a zoning hearing March 19.

 

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East Cobb Civic Association opposes building design standards bill

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Cobb commissioners local design standards

Shortly before Cobb County became the latest metro Atlanta government to oppose legislation that would strip cities and counties of local control of residential building design standards, the East Cobb Civic Association weighed in on the matter.

In response to a message from East Cobb News on Tuesday, ECCA president Linda Carver said that the organization “is firmly opposed” to companion bills in the House and the Senate, “and we will be encouraging our ECCA members to let their state representatives know of our opposition.”

(See previous ECN story here).

The ECCA, which was formed in 1982, represents around 90 subdivisions in the East Cobb area and takes an active role in examining zoning cases, making recommendations to the Cobb Planning Commission and Cobb commissioners.

Carver said in an initial response Tuesday afternoon that her organization hadn’t had time to sort through HB 302, but indicated that “anything that would take away local control of building standards would not be looked on favorably.”

She followed up later Tuesday when learning of the Senate bill and stated the ECCA’s opposition.

The bills, HB 302 and SB 172, are being sponsored by lawmakers in smaller towns and rural parts of Georgia, and some metro Atlanta cities and counties have taken exception.

The legislation would cover design elements for one- and two-family homes, and would take away local approval for such things as exterior building color, style and materials for roofs and porches, exterior architectural ornamentation, location and styling of windows and doors, types of flooring and the interior layout of rooms.

On Tuesday night, the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 to adopt a resolution by commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb to oppose the bills.

He said he’s been getting a lot of e-mails about the matter, saying it “smacks in the face of local control. We spend a lot of time working with the community” on standards governing the look and materials of new homes.

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb said it “would be a disaster for the community and surrounding neighborhoods” if local governing bodies lost the ability to set design standards.

The bills are supported by those in home building and real estate industries.

Also on Tuesday, the commissioners voted 5-0 to adopt a resolution seeking an extension for for a special transit committee in Cobb.

The resolution seeks an amendment to current state law, which call for the termination of the committee in December 2019. It’s made up of county commissioners and the Cobb legislative delegation and its duties include drawing up the boundaries for a special transit area.

Cobb is planning to hold a referendum to extend the SPLOST one-cent sales tax for county government in 2020, and Chairman Mike Boyce is eyeing 2022 for a possible transit referendum, saying the extra time is necessary to draw up a viable project list.

The commissioners also approved an alcohol license for Catfish Hox, a seafood restaurant at 2595 Sandy Plains Road, and that was recognized at the 2018 Taste of Marietta festival.

The restaurant’s initial application for beer, wine and Sunday pouring had been rejected by the Cobb License Review Board because it’s located within 600 feet of Sprayberry High School.

Owner Vivian Creasor said in her appeal that while the industry standard is to check identification of customers ordering alcohol who appear to be under 40, carding at Catfish Hox will occur “100% of the time regardless of appearance.”

She said the application for a pouring license is to compete with other restaurants in the vicinity. Kumo, a Japanese restaurant in the same shopping center, also serves alcohol.

 

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Georgia residential design bill opposed by East Cobb commissioner

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Commissioner Bob Ott of East Cobb is proposing a resolution at the board’s meeting on Tuesday opposing a residential design bill in the Georgia legislature that would bar local governments from imposing certain standards in zoning cases.

His resolution, which is being co-sponsored by new commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb, is the latest proposal by a local government body in metro Atlanta in response to HB 302.

( Read the Cobb resolution here.)

That bill, co-sponsored by some of the most powerful members of the House Republican majority, would restrict the ability of local governments to determine building design elements for one- and two-family homes.

Among other things, the provisions of the bill would cover exterior building color, style and materials for roofs and porches, exterior architectural ornamentation, location and styling of windows and doors, types of flooring and the interior layout of rooms.

(Read HB 302 here.)

Ott said the bill would subvert local control of zoning and design standards at the city and county level, where quality-of-life decisions relating to housing need to be made.

Bob Ott
Local control of design standards “helps us keep Cobb the type of community most people move here for,” commissioner Bob Ott says.

“People move to different communities because they like the look and feel of the area,” he said in a statement issued by the county Friday afternoon. “They want to protect their neighborhoods and often work with their local elected officials to do so.”

Most of the bill’s sponsors, which also include two Democrats, are from rural and small-town areas of Georgia; none are from metro Atlanta.

HB 302 narrowly passed the House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee last week and is listed on the House floor calendar for Monday.

On Friday, a companion bill, SB 172, was introduced in the Georgia Senate and on Monday will likely receive a committee assignment.

Like the House version, SB 172 is sponsored by small-town and rural lawmakers, including President Pro Tem Sen. Butch Miller of Gainesville.

HB 302 has been drawing support from the home-building industry, those in favor of expanding affordable-housing options as well as some realtors. The Georgia Association of Realtors is claiming that the “American Dream of Home Ownership is under attack.”

HB 302, the realtors’ group claims, “brings the American dream of homeownership within reach of more citizens, not just the ones local officials think deserve to be homeowners.”

The Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association also supports HB 302, saying it’s important for the preservation of private property rights.

Local governments, the group said in statement, are unnecessarily adding thousands of dollars to the cost of new homes: “What used to be the purview of a Home Owners Association are now decisions made by city or county administrators with jurisdiction-wide application.”

Ott’s resolution says that “local governments can provide more affordable housing options without sacrificing unique character or threatening economic development.”

Opposition to the bill is coming from the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia and the Georgia Municipal Association.

Some local governments have already sprung into action against HB 302, including Forsyth County, which passed a resolution last week. Sandy Springs officials have expressed concern, and on Monday the Dunwoody City Council will consider a similar measure.

Ott said another concern he has over the legislation is how it might impact the ongoing development of a new master plan for the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford area.

“Commissioners consistently work with different citizens groups to ensure the quality of development in Cobb County,” he said.

 

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