Udpating our previous posts (here and here) about the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan survey, which has been revised following an outcry from citizens about the options in the original version: You’re running out of time to have your say about what you think future development in the community should be like.
The deadline to fill out the image preference survey is July 6, and you’ll need some time to do so. It’s 89 questions long and asks citizens and business owners to state their preferences about the look, density and feel of residential and commercial development, as well as landscaping, streetscapes, greenspaces, stormwater management and more.
A community meeting in August will summarize the findings. More on the JOSH project can be found here. Like other small-area plans, the JOSH master plan will be added to the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan
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On Monday District 2 Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott signed off on minor modifications for the architecture and canopy for Chick-fil-A Woodlawn Square renovations that will begin in July.
As we noted in December, commissioners approved the restaurant’s expansion plans in December that include a double drive-through with a canopy and subject to final approval from the district commissioner.
That’s standard practice on most zoning and site plan cases that come before the commissioners. What they’re not required to do is explain what modifications they make after the cases are approved.
Earlier this spring Ott said he would publicly post any minor modifications and any other sign-offs on zoning cases online and in his weekly newsletter:
This will allow you, and your neighbors, the opportunity to review the request and to see what changes are being proposed and to provide feedback to Commissioner Ott. Commissioner Ott will review the feedback that has been provided, make possible changes and will sign the document the following week.
The canopy and architectural renderings, as modified at the Woodlawn Chick-fil-A, can be found here. The changes pertain to side and rear elevation specifics of the canopy.
As we noted in March, the busy restaurant is closing in July for the renovations and is expected to reopen in November.
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The first tenant in a new shopping center on the site of the former Mountain View Elementary School will be the first location in Georgia for the Publix GreenWise Market concept.
The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that the store will have 25,000 square feet as the anchor of a 103,000-square foot development on 14 acres on Sandy Plains Road at Shallowford Road.
The still-to-be-named complex is being developed by East Cobb-based Brooks Chadwick Capital and Fuqua Development and will include “chef-driven” restaurants, retail and service shops and a self-storage facility.
Rezoning for the complex was approved by Cobb commissioners last fall, and they signed off on the self-storage building this spring despite complaints from nearby residents.
According to a report in ToNeTo Atlanta, which covers the metro retailing scene, Publix is rolling out its GreenWise Market organic foods concept in other Southern markets. They include Tallahassee, Boca Raton and the Charleston, S.C. area.
The East Cobb store will be right down the street from a Publix supermarket at the Highland Plaza Shopping Center. The ABCquoted an Atlanta real estate observer that:
“The target market for GreenWise is those areas that have a strong Publix presence already. GreenWise could function as a complementary destination for a core Publix location, helping to spread out customer density in their busiest markets.”
GreenWise is eyeing a competitive East Cobb organic grocery market, with Whole Foods and Sprouts nearby, in the Johnson Ferry-Roswell area.
The Shallowford-Sandy Plains area also was a target of Lidl, a German-based supermarket chain, which wanted to locate a store on the site of the Park 12 Cobb movie theater on Gordy Parkway. But its zoning application was rejected by commissioners last fall following intense community opposition.
ToNeTo said the East Cobb Public GreenWise Market could open by next summer.
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The Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended approval of a gas station operated by Kroger at the Pavilions at East Lake Shopping Center in East Cobb
By a vote of 3-1, the planning board voted in favor of the zoning request by Kroger from Neighborhood Shopping to Community Retail Commercial (agenda item information here).
Planning commission members Andy Smith of East Cobb, Skip Gunther and Galt Porter voted in favor; Thea Powell was opposed. Judy Smith of Northeast Cobb was absent.
The vote is advisory. The Cobb Board of Commissioners will make the final decision on June 19.
Kroger wants to demolish a 10,000-square foot building on 14 acres in the front of the shopping center that’s been largely vacant for a gas station. The operating hours will be from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. seven days a week.
The building used to be occupied by a Panera Bread store, and some other smaller spaces also are empty.
Garvis Sams, an attorney for Kroger, said the layout for the fueling station (see renderings at bottom) will be similar to another Kroger development on Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill Road that was approved earlier this year.
There will be no outside storage at the fueling station, and front signage will not be on top of the fueling canopy, addressing a concern by the East Cobb Civic Association.
He also said once the gas station closes at night, the outdoor lighting also will be turned off. The site is located next to an apartment complexes, and single-family homes are located a bit further behind.
Construction hours for the gas station would be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and no work on Sunday.
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An East Cobb Kroger gas station would replace vacant space at the Pavilions of East Lake Shopping Center where a Panera Bread restaurant was located.
That’s among the requests on the June zoning agenda in Cobb County.
The Cobb Planning Commission will hear cases next Tuesday, June 5. The Cobb Zoning Staff released its final analysis on Tuesday (full agenda here), and is recommending approval of the gas station request (agenda packet item here) with several conditions, including the district commissioner making minor modifications, and to incorporate recommendations and comments from the site plan review, stormwater management review and Cobb DOT review of the application.
Kroger wants to rezone 14.55 acres of the East Lake complex at 2100 Roswell Road from the current Neighborhood Shopping to Community Retail Commercial. The area includes a 10,000-square-foot building that would be demolished for the fueling center.
The anchor space in that building has been empty for several years after Panera Bread closed. Existing businesses would be relocated to other empty spaces at East Lake.
Kroger said in the application the hours for the fueling center would be from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week, and include a kiosk with seven pumps and an air station.
A stipulation letter in the application from Garvis Sams, the applicant’s attorney, to the East Cobb Civic Association indicates that construction hours for the gas station would be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and no work on Sunday.
An apartment complex is located next to the proposed gas station site, and no construction vehicles would be parked on an adjoining road. There also would be no signage on the top of the gas station canopy.
A few other East Cobb cases to be heard Tuesday by the planning commission include:
ANE Investments, Inc., for 0.94 acres on Jamerson Road, south of Canton Road, for an automotive shop (staff recommends denial for comprehensive plan reasons);
Duncan Land Investments Inc., for 1.93 acres on Wesley Chapel Road and across from Loch Highland Parkway for four single-family homes (staff recommends denial for density reasons);
Oak Hall Companies, LLC, for 96 acres on Wigley Road for 92 single-family homes (the case was held by the planning commission, tentatively until July, for density, runoff and other reasons).
The planning commission meeting will take place at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb County government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
Final decisions on zoning matters will be made by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on June 19.
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The day after the Cobb Development Authority approved issuing $35 million in bonds for a tax abatement for a portion of a new East Cobb commercial project, developers’ representatives explained the situation to the Cobb Board of Education.
The school board is typically briefed on tax breaks heard by the authority, due to their impact on school tax revenue.
The developers of the MarketPlace Terrell Mill, a mixed-use retail and residential development on the site of the present Brumby Elementary School, were seeking a break for the portion of the project that is to include a Kroger superstore.
Brian Fratesi, a vice president for Connolly Investments and Development, which is building the project, said during a school board work session Thursday that MarketPlace Terrell Mill is “a gateway to East Cobb.”
The abatement would cover only the Kroger portion of the $120 million project, which was approved in February in a zoning case by the Cobb Board of Commissioners. The 23.9 acres at the northwest corner of Terrell Mill Road and Powers Ferry Road includes aging commercial, shops, restaurants and office space.
Brumby is relocating to a new campus on Terrell Mill Road in August, and its sale prompted the MarketPlace project, seen as a linchpin of redevelopment in the Powers Ferry corridor.
Fratesi said the Cobb County School District currently gets around $34,000 in annual tax revenues from existing commercial activities on that site.
By the time the tax abatement period ends, 11 years after it begins, he estimated the school district would receive more than $500,000 a year in tax revenues from MarketPlace complex.
The Kroger store 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, in rising increments of 10 percent each year.
Fatesi said the Kroger is slated to be in the second phase of the project, with the first phase calling for the construction of restaurant and retail space, a self-storage unit and a nearly 400-unit luxury apartment complex.
When asked about the rental units’ impact on school enrollment, Fatesi said it would be minimal, since they’re expensive, one- and two-bedroom apartments being marketed primarily to Millennials and downsizers.
The MDJ reported that two members of the Development Authority voted against the bonds, including Karen Hallacy of East Cobb, concerned about a precedent being set by retailers for getting tax abatements.
But two East Cobb board members were ecstatic. Scott Sweeney, whose Post 6 includes the Powers Ferry area, said the MarketPlace proejct “will help our tax digest in the long run.”
He said that the per-student share coming from commercial tax revenue in Marietta City Schools is higher than Cobb’s, at around $1,400 a year, because of what that city derives from its commercial digest.
“I do like the project,” said board member David Banks of Post 5 in Northeast Cobb. “It’s good and I think the whole county will benefit.”
Fatesi said the first phase of MarketPlace could break ground by August or September, with completion expected 18-24 months after that. The Kroger would be completed in another 18 to 24 months, he said.
The board also heard outlines of another proposed tax abatement for a manufacturing company that is looking to expand its operations to near SunTrust Park and The Battery.
A research and development facility would bring more than 800 high-paying jobs in what’s being dubbed “Project Dashboard.” The company, which is seeking more than $260 million in development bonds for a tax abatement, is not being identified for the moment.
Jack DiNardo, a commercial real estate relocation expert who represents the company, told board members discussions on its potential Cobb move are in “progress,” and that a decision could come “sometime this summer.”
He said a requested tax abatement would be for $21 million.
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On Tuesday another JOSH community meeting will solicit public input on continuing efforts to develop a Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan. A new image preference survey for possible future development in the area is the main subject, following protests from some that what they had to choose from was too dense.
The meeting takes place from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday at Chestnut Ridge Christian Church (2663 Johnson Ferry Road) and here’s what District 2 Cobb commissioner sent out on Friday about what’s on the agenda:
Previously, staff was scheduled to present a conceptual plan on Tuesday, May 8. Instead, staff will utilize the May 8 community meeting to facilitate the additional IPS.
The focus of the session will be a second Image Preference Survey that is concentrated on suburban-style development concepts. The survey will include more-specific residential, commercial and office development types that would be more typical of a neighborhood activity center and transitional areas within a suburban community. In addition, there will also be images reflecting greenspace and park options, stormwater management options, and streetscape elements.
Staff will still conduct an “Open House” format meeting to present the conceptual plan in upcoming months.
Jason Gaines of Cobb Community Development told us that final meeting has tentatively been scheduled for May 23 but that has not been announced as of now.
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A rendering of homes in the proposed Provence Estates development.
A Wigley Road rezoning case that has been delayed for months is being held up again after major revisions to the application that have prompted traffic and stormwater concerns.
The Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday voted for a 60-day hold on a rezoning application by Atlanta-based Oak Hall Companies, LLC, which wants to build 92 single-family homes on 96 acres currently zoned R-30, low-density residential.
Here’s the agenda item packet for what would be called Provence Estates, with homes ranging from 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. Oak Hall had requested zoning to R-20 OSC, a low-density residential designation with open-space provisions.
Cobb zoning staff is recommending that the land be rezoned R-30 OSC to include more conservation easements because of the hilly terrain of the property.
The land is from the estate of Audra Mae Wigley and was part of the Wigley Farm in Northeast Cobb. Initially, the Oak Hall application was for 55 acres. Parks Huff, an attorney for Oak Hall, said Tuesday that his client “wanted to bring in both pieces of property at the same time.”
The land is north of Sweat Mountain and has a steep topography that has prompted concerns about stormwater runoff. Plans call for nearly half of the tract to be open space, and there would be 50-foot undisturbed buffers on the eastern and southern edges of the property.
Dave Evans, who lives on Wigley Road, said 40 percent of runoff from the property flows into a lake near his home, and worries that additional stormwater would overwhelm capacity.
The other stormwater routes are into neighboring Cherokee County and the nearby Falcon Crest subdivision.
Dave Breaden of the Cobb Stormwater Management Department admitted that “we’ve got a challenge to control runoff on this site.” Several retention ponds are included in the Oak Hall site plan.
Included in the staff comments is a request for the developer to provide a preliminary rough grading plan.
Others noted traffic issues. Cobb DOT currently estimates around 40 daily traffic trips in that area, a figure some residents said would jump to around 1,000.
The Oak Hall site plan (see illustration) also would cut off an adjacent cluster of homes that abut the Cherokee County line from Cobb-provided public services, including traffic access to Wigley Road.
In order to sort through all those issues, Planning Commission chairwoman Judy Williams, who represents the area in District 3, asked for the vote to hold the application until July. The vote was 4-0, with Thea Powell, also of Northeast Cobb, absent due to what Williams said was a family emergency.
Tony Garcia, who lives on Summitop Road, said given the housing that’s already in the area, the homes that would be built in Provence Estates don’t “fit into the character of Wigley Road.”
But planning board member Skip Gunther said that the land “is going to get developed one way or another,” and that the R-30 OSC designation is a “no-brainer.
“It’s going to generate traffic, but it’s going to be less than it otherwise would be.”
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After an outcry by some respondents to high-density choices in a questionnaire that’s part of a new Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan, county officials overseeing the project will send out a revised survey next week.
(Here’s our post from earlier this week about the pushback).
An “image preference survey” designed to get public feedback about possible residential and commercial buildings will be reworked to include more “suburban-style” options (as seen above), especially for housing, according to Jason Gaines.
Gaines, the planning director for the Cobb Community Development Agency, told members of the East Cobb Civic Association on Wednesday that he’s prepared a new survey that’s in draft form.
Many of the buildings shown in the survey were several stories high, alarming some residents who felt that their choices may be limited to structures that are better suited for urban areas.
“The goal was to learn whether people like or don’t like” the styles of buildings, Gaines said. “We’ve got to a little bit more to do but that’s okay.”
Gaines, who is spearheading a series of public meetings about the master plan (called “JOSH” to indicate the main street name in the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford corridor), said around 200 people have responded to the survey online, and the feedback has been wide-ranging.
The image preference survey has been a similar component of other master plan updates. Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, whose District 2 now includes the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford area, asked for a new survey to be drawn.
He told East Cobb News that the original survey was approved by a 20-person stakeholders committee that includes citizens and business owners in the JOSH area.
Ott said there are no outside consultants influencing the survey options, and that the work preparing the materials is all being done by county staff.
This is the fourth master plan project he has requested for his district, including Vinings, Powers Ferry and Johnson Ferry (whose design guidelines were adopted this week).
“We’ve done this three other times, and every time the community has been supportive,” Ott said. “It’s not about what we or the staff thinks. It’s what the community thinks.”
He admitted that sometimes the staff selections for a survey are “a shot in the dark,” but they’re done as much to learn what a community doesn’t want as much as what it prefers.
The final JOSH public input meeting was supposed to have been May 9 but Gaines said there will be another meeting, on May 23, to give citizens time to respond to the new survey.
In addition, Gaines said two stakeholders meetings will take place in June to analyze all of the public response before any formal action is taken to update the master plan.
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One resident quipped in reference to the question and photo above included in an image survey about future development in the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford community: “Did Cobb lose a war to Romania?”
When Cobb community development officials recently asked Johnson Ferry-Shallowford residents to respond to an “image preference survey” of potential future development in the area, the blowback was swift, angry and occasionally sarcastic.
Suggested photos contained in the lengthy survey (see examples below) included plenty of high-rise residential and commercial buildings that are typical in urban areas, sunny resorts and even other countries.
Residential high-rise building.
What they didn’t look like to a good number of those responders was anything like what’s in the suburban Johnson Ferry-Shallowford area now, or what they want to see in the future.
That’s just one of the many subject areas that community development staff is surveying. A final public input session is scheduled for May 9 at the Chestnut Ridge Christian Church (2663 Johnson Ferry Road).
To be sure, the image preference survey did include some photos of single-family dwellings and low-rise office and retail space that looks fairly typical for what’s in the East Cobb area that’s the subject of an ongoing evaluation by county officials.
Residential development.
But many posts over the weekend at the East Cobbers Against High Density Development Facebook group (which has around 1,000 members) tore into much of what the survey was serving up, fearing that there weren’t going to be many other choices besides the high-density options they were asked to comment on.
A few examples of the sharp replies:
“Basically they’re saying we don’t have a choice in the sense of no traditional housing on normal sized, decent lots. They are steering us in their direction, none of which is desirable to the vast majority of us who prefer no high density and more neighborhood like.”
“Even the single family options were right on top of each other.”
“I don’t know why there is a question about what people want. We want what we had when we chose to move here. Single family homes, large lots with room for kids to play, good schools and low crime, libraries that were open etc., and that is slowly disappearing.”
“I tried to make sure they knew they were reaching: ‘Did Cobb lose a war to Romania?’ “
Office/retail/commercial building.
Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, whose District 2 now includes the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford community, weighed in on the Facebook group page, saying he had nothing to do with the survey selections and that what was being suggested was only to solicit feedback.
“This is not some consulting firm telling you what you have to accept. Let’s give staff some credit for taking this to the public for their thoughts,” he said.
To which a resident replied: “Then please give us choices that reflect homes on one acre lots. Nothing remotely resembling that was offered in the pictures presented.”
Similar image preference surveys have been done in previous corridor studies in Ott’s district, including the Powers Ferry Road area and Johnson Ferry Road.
We posted yesterday about the Johnson Ferry design guidelines that are coming up for commission adoption tonight, five years after they were presented. Those guidelines incorporate community feedback, and some of the generic photos in that presentation were included in the JOSH image preference survey.
Public space.
Some of the image survey responders simply asked that future development conform to the current and future land use plans in the area.
Ott said he would have the image survey redone. The original still exists, for now, and includes suggestions on sidewalks, cycling paths, greenspace, public space, stormwater retention ponds and more.
He also reminded citizens who thought their feedback was being sought for political reasons with primaries next month that he’s not up for election this year.
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It’s been nearly five years since the Johnson Ferry Design Guidelines were unveiled and revised following numerous public hearings.
As part of the Johnson Ferry Urban Design project from 2009-11, the guidelines were to meant to foster greater aesthetic unity along one of East Cobb’s busiest commercial corridors, ranging from standards for streetlights and sidewalks to landscaping, park benches and other public amenities.
However, those guidelines have never been acted upon by the Cobb Board of Commissioners. That may change at Tuesday’s commission meeting, which includes an agenda item to adopt the guidelines. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the second floor meeting room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
UPDATED: The guidelines, which were part of the consent agenda, were passed by a 5-0 vote Tuesday night.
Here’s a brief description of why this is coming up now:
“Recently, discussions between the District Commissioner, staff, and members of the community have occurred to bring the Design Guidelines forward for formal consideration by the Board of Commissioners. If approved by the Board of Commissioners, staff will use the guidelines as recommendations to work with property owners when zoning applications, variance applications, and site plans are submitted for review and/or consideration.”
As was the case when the guidelines were made public in 2013, they would apply to commercial property owners who go through the rezoning process and variance applications, as noted above. The design evolution could take many years.
The corridor area is along Johnson Ferry between Roswell Road and the Chattahoochee River (see below streetscape map from the final urban design guidelines).
What’s on Tuesday’s agenda doesn’t look substantially different from where the issue was left in 2013. According to the introduction, the guidelines are “intended to assist architects, engineers, planners, developers and community members to make more informed design decisions based on community preference.”
They also had the support of the East Cobb Civic Association. The design study was prompted by East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott, who also commissioned corridor studies for the Powers Ferry area and, currently, in the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford communitythat is now part of his District 2.
Ott said after the vote that the guidelines were held up because “some folks had issues” back in 2013 but said he wanted to get them adopted with upcoming rezonings and variances to consider.
The guidelines will be incorporated into the design plan’s developmental standards.
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The developer of a proposed Wildwood Plaza townhome community got rezoning approval on Tuesday after reducing the number of units and making other changes at the request of county officials and citizens groups.
But a major topic of discussion at a Cobb Board of Commissioners zoning hearing was how to replace aging pear trees that are part of the conceptual design for the office and residential complex off Powers Ferry Road.
The 5.6 acres of wooded area at the northeast intersection of Windy Hill Road and Wildwood Parkway, right across from the Towers at Wildwood Plaza, will soon feature the Ashton Woods townhomes. The land had been zoned for office-industrial use.
The applicant, Ashton Atlanta, received multi-family zoning (RM-12) and will build 60 three-story townhomes instead of 67, ranging in size from 2,100 to 3,500 square feet and featuring attached two-car garages. The developer also will stretch the width of units facing Windy Hill Road from 18 to 24 feet.
Those are some of the conditions approved by commissioners in their 5-0 vote, and after they had just received a revised site plan submitted on Monday. Another stipulation relating to the preservation of pear trees will be determined after District 2 commissioner Bob Ott confers with the county arborist.
Ashton Atlanta rendering of townhome project next to the Towers at Wildwood Plaza.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Patty Rice, president of the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance and a resident of the nearby Riverwalk at Wildwood community, asked commissioners “to do something to maintain the trees” within the landscaping plan that is part of the Wildwood Plaza project.
Those 15-story twin towers, built by Atlanta developer Tom Cousins in 1991, were designed by famed architect I.M. Pei, who wanted to preserve as much of the surrounding natural setting as possible.
Residential communities behind the towers maintain lush trees and landscaping amenities that blend in with the nearby Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.
Some residents were concerned that Pei’s name wasn’t included in the Monday stipulation letter about tree preservation. Roughly two-thirds of the trees that line the triangular area around the plaza, including some on the newly rezoned land, are pear trees part of Pei’s original design.
Ott said that “the trees have reached [the end of] their useful life” and understands the desire by residents to replace as many of them as possible.
“I’m very familiar with what you’re trying to preserve,” said Ott, who has lived in the nearby Terrell Mill Road area for more than 20 years. More recent community activism, including the formation of the PFCA, he added, is the “reason we’re getting all the great things that we are.”
Other conditions of the rezoning approval, in addition to the trees, include Ott’s approving the final site plan, as well as fencing and wall designs and interior materials and elevations.
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An Olde Towne townhome development that nearby residents have said is too intense for the area was approved Tuesday the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
By a 5-0 vote the commissioners approved RM-12 rezoning (high-density residential) for a four-acre tract at 5000 Olde Towne Parkway, adjacent to the Olde Towne Athletic Club.
The applicant, Pulte Homes, wants to build a John Wieland residential community with four-story units at a minimum of 3,000 square feet. The townhomes would be priced from $700,000 and up.
The case has been held for a couple of months as Pulte revised a landscaping plan and made other changes from its initial proposal. An empty one-story office building is currently on the site.
The approval by the commissioners is conditioned on the submission of a revised site plan and District 2 commissioner Bob Ott approving that, along with the relocation of several units for better landscaping as well as a final landscaping plan.
James Bailli, an attorney representing Pulte, said residential development would result in a traffic count of around 250 trips a day, lower than the present estimate of more than 1,000 trips under the current planned shopping center category.
He also said that Olde Towne Athletic Club supported the rezoning. The land is located next to the new Northside Hospital East Cobb Medical Center, where another medical office building is being planned.
But opposition came from the East Cobb Civic Association, which said the Pulte plans were too intense. Sarah Patterson, a nearby resident with an architectural degree, said she and other residents aren’t opposed to new residential development in Olde Towne, “but what’s being proposed does not fit” what already exists.
She also said the proposal was too intense, and pointed out that the proposed 50-foot height for the townhomes would surpass the 40-foot treeline for all development in the community.
During her presentation, she showed photos of what the Pulte project would look like as presented, saying it “looks like a brick wall” that would stand out even more in the winter. “This will be very visible.”
A rendering by Olde Towne colony resident Patterson to illustrate the Pulte townhome proposal height above existing treelines.
By contrast, Patterson said other other homes in Olde Towne do not face Olde Towne Parkway, but the Pulte homes would.
The roundabout where the Pulte townhomes would go is the highest point of the Olde Towne complex, she said, so anything built there is going to stand out dramatically.
“We will see this every day, head on,” Patterson said in response to questions from commissioners.
The commissioners incorporated her suggestions on relocating seven units for landscaping, although they admitted the height issues remain a concern.
Chairman Mike Boyce said that “what’s going to go in there is a lot better than what’s there now,” and commended Patterson for her input: “You did make a difference by your participation.”
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If you missed the first of the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford community meetings on planning and development that was held last month, there are two more opportunities to attend and to take park in the “small area plan” concept that is seeking citizen input.
The next meeting takes place Monday from 7-9 p.m. at Chestnut Ridge Christian Church (2663 Johnson Ferry Road), and it’s being conducted by Cobb County Government officials, including staff from community development, DOT, stormwater management, parks and recreation and others.
Here’s a summary of the first “JOSH” meeting that took place last month, with a county-provided photo above showing the small-group focus of the event.
Monday’s workshop will be formatted the same way, as a chance for the public to gain information and offer feedback about the future of the “JOSH” corridor.
The bottom of the main JOSH page also has more links to individual topics related to the small area plan project, including community boundaries, facilities, land use and planning, traffic and public amenities.
All of the input will be factored into a concept master plan and other recommendations by county staff.
If you can’t attend Monday, there will be a final opportunity on Monday, May 8, also from 7-9 at the Chestnut Ridge church.
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The Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended approval of a proposed Shallowford Road subdivision that initially garnered some nearby opposition.
Cobb zoning staff aerial photo
But changes to the proposal, including a zoning category with reduced density and a revised site plan, satisfied those homeowners.
The 6.1-acre tract on the north side of Shallowford Road, between Shallow Ridge Road and Willowwood Drive, is currently zoned R-30, and has been the site of a family farm.
It’s located just west of I-575, not far from Noonday Park, and is in the Kell High School, McCleskey Middle School and Blackwell Elementary School attendance zones.
The land is also surrounded by the Falcon Hills neighborhood, which has around 140 homes. Some residents who live there turned out at Tuesday’s meetings to speak against the proposal by Loyd Development Services, but said they supported the application after the changes.
They include seeking an R-12 zoning category instead of RA-5, which reduced the number of units in the proposed development from 20 to 18. A revised site plan includes a retention pond near the back of the property, as well as a 10-foot undisturbed buffer along the edges of the development.
The subdivision would have one street that would include a cul-de-sac. Garvis Sams, an attorney for the developer, said homes would cost from the low-400s to the low-500s and would range from 2,200 square feet to 3,200 square feet. The community also would have a homeowners association, he said.
The recommendation by the planning commission passed with a 5-0 vote. The Cobb Board of Commissioners will take final action on April 17.
Another long-delayed East Cobb zoning request is being held again. An application by Oak Hall Companies, LLC, to rezone 55 acres on Wigley Road and north of Summitop Road is being continued to May by the Cobb Zoning staff.
The application seeks rezoning from the current R-30 category to R-15 for 85 single-family homes. Staff is recommending no more than 61 homes.
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On Monday Cobb government officials will hold the first of three community meetings over the next couple of months to outline what they’re calling a “small area plan” for Johnson Ferry-Shallowford development issues.
The first meeting is slated from 7-9 p.m. Monday at Chestnut Ridge Christian Church (2663 Johnson Ferry Road). That will the site for additional meetings on April 16 and May 8, also in the same time slot.
The area indicated in the map above is called JOSH, and it’s to be a supplement to the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan to address anticipated development issues in the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford corridor.
The departments involved in JOSH planning include community development, planning, parks and recreation, and the Cobb Water System’s stormwater division.
Here’s more about JOSH and what county officials are asking for in terms of public feedback:
The purpose of JOSH is to provide guidance to the Board of Commissioners regarding policy and decisions pertaining to land use, design guidelines, parks, greenspace facilities and infrastructure.
It will focus will focus on five key elements: future land use, design guidelines, stormwater management, parks and greenspace, and transportation. Due to anticipated growth, new development and redevelopment, future land use will be a key focal point of the study. Issues and concerns will be identified by community members and addressed through the concept plan and implementation recommendations.
The JOSH plan will be developed in part by way of an extensive public participation program. A stakeholder group has been established, consisting of key individuals representing a variety of groups and organizations. Stakeholders include neighborhood/civic groups and business/commercial representatives. In addition to the Stakeholder Group, the project team will facilitate three community meetings to engage the public in defining problems and concerns and identifying their desires for the future of the JOSH community.
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Several hundred Northeast Cobb residents living near the run-down Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center turned out Wednesday night to hear county and elected officials sympathize with their plight to rid their community of a long-standing eyesore.
Although they explained an ongoing process to get the property owner to comply with a new “blight tax” ordinance and urged the citizens to keep applying public pressure, some in attendance in the theater at Sprayberry High School weren’t always satisfied with the answers they got.
That’s because they were told that despite their frustrations, the property owner, NAI Brannen Goddard, can’t be forced to sell the 17 acres at 2692 Sandy Plains Road that has sat nearly vacant for the last two decades.
Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell
“We have tried to market this property for years,” District 3 Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell told the standing-room-only crowd. “The owners have property rights. We can’t force them to sell. But we can enforce the code.”
Commercial property owners cites for substandard properties under the new ordinance, passed last fall by the commissioners, could be subject to seven times the county general fund millage rate value of their properties.
Some residents groaned when they heard that the maximum NAI Brannen Goddard could be taxed is $17,000. That’s because of the eight parcels making up Sprayberry Crossing, only one of them, the site of a long-closed bowling alley, would be subject to the blight tax. Its assessed value is around $367,000.
But it’s an involved process, ultimately requiring a court ruling to assess the tax. Cobb community development director Dana Johnson said that process is about halfway through.
Cobb community development director Dana Johnson: “There is no code for ugly. I wish there was.”
For now, only the bowling alley land is eligible for blight tax action since criminal activity has been documented. Johnson said dozens of law enforcement calls have been made in recent years to the site at the back of the Sprayberry Crossing site, and alleged gang activity also has taken place there.
The four other buildings on the property remain much as they did after the retail center began losing tenants in the 1990s, especially a Bruno’s supermarket.
A few businesses are there, but the parking lot is riddled with potholes, walls and doors have holes in them and power lines have come down.
The property owner was invited to attend the meeting Wednesday but did not show up.
Resident Lynn Palazzo asked Birrell how the county could impose something more than “marginal compliance” after so many years. She also asked what the community’s options are as the blight tax process is underway.
“Your options are to stay engaged and keep doing what you’re doing tonight,” Birrell said.
Palazzo responded that “none of that appears to be working,” and the crowd erupted with applause. Birrell reminded her that the ordinance is still new.
Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce, who said he has toured the former bowling alley and “I understand what your concerns are,” said the county has to be careful in what it says publicly with ongoing negotiations.
“Your community voice makes a huge difference,” he said. “Why it hasn’t happened in this case, I have no idea.”
Joe Glancy, a resident who started the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook Group14 months ago to galvanize public action, said NAI Brannen Goddard is a well-connected, savvy real estate firm that is waiting to sell to maximize its investment.
The property owner, Glancy said, has chosen to be “selective” in what is shared with the community. He urged his fellow citizens “to make life a little more difficult for the property owner.
Joe Glancy: “It is up to all of us to make everyone involved uncomfortable until this is resolved.”
“How do we engage them and make them want to be done with us and move on?”
Birrell said she met with a potential developer of the property in 2015 and “was ready to close” on a deal that would require rezoning. But NAI Brannen Goddard, she said, “wouldn’t sell.”
The county has estimated that Sprayberry Crossing has a current estimated value of $3.4 million. When a resident asked if the county would “just buy the land” for a public park, he told her it’s unlikely that would happen in a commercial area with high real estate value, and stated a figure estimated between $14 million and $17 million.
When he quipped that citizens should raise the money, a man walked up to the front of the theater holding up a dollar bill and gave it to Glancy, as the crowd broke out in laughter.
Also complicating the Sprayberry Crossing property is that a cemetery is located there. Associate county attorney Debbie Blair spelled out another laborious process for identifying next of kin of those buried there, as well as two public hearings before any exhumations and relocations can occur. Sandy Plains Baptist Church has offered to provide perpetual care.
Glancy was at his most adamant when explaining that NAI Brannen Goddard understandably wants to sell the land with the cemetery issue resolved.
However, he said, “they bought a shopping center that had a cemetery in it. . . They cannot be excused for using that as an excuse for not selling the property.
“It is up to all of us to make everyone involved uncomfortable until this is resolved.”
Johnson said “remediation” discussions with the property owner are continuing, but declined to elaborate. If terms cannot be worked out, he, said, the county attorney’s office would prepare to go to court for a blight tax ruling.
“There is no code for ugly,” he said. “I wish there was.”
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The current office building at 5000 Olde Towne Parkway (East Cobb News photo)
A rezoning request that would allow townhomes in the Olde Towne development is being delayed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners. They voted 5-0 this morning to continue the case at the request of the developer, Pulte Home Corp., to continue working on the proposal.
Pulte wants to build a John Wieland Homes community of 43 townhomes on 4.1 acres at 5000 Olde Towne Parkway. That’s where an office building currently stands, and it’s been the Olde Towne Athletic Club and the new Northside Hospital medical complex at Olde Towne and Johnson Ferry Road.
The Cobb Planning Commission voted earlier this month to approve the application by a 3-1 vote, but not after a long discussion about density, traffic and a heavy amount of impervious surfaces.
Also on Tuesday, Cobb commissioners voted to delay another East Cobb zoning proposal in the Powers Ferry Road corridor. An application by Ashton Atlanta would rezone nearly 6 acres on Windy Hill Road and Wildwood Parkway for 67 homes.
It’s a request that has been delayed several times before, and is being opposed by some nearby residents.
Also being delayed, and not for the first time, is a request by Oak Hall Companies to rezone 55 acres of low-density residential land on Wigley Road near Summit Top Road for 85 single-family homes.
Another continuance involves an application by Loyd Development Services to convert six acres on Shallowford Road near Shallow Ridge Drive from low-density residential for 20 single-family homes. Density also is an issue.
Another East Cobb case that was removed from Tuesday’s agenda was a withdrawal by Duncan Land Investments to rezone three acres on Piedmont Road at Cajun Drive for eight single-family homes after the planning commission recommended denial.
The commissioners approved a request by Green Park PCH for a 32-bed personal-care home on Sandy Plains Road north of Ebenezer Road.
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A citizens group that has organized a public meeting next week about the fate of Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center (previous East Cobb Newspost here) is sending word about the elected officials who are expected to be in attendance.
They include Cobb commission chairman Mike Boyce, District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell, and State Rep. Don Parsons. The Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook group also has invited State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick.
Boyce and Parsons will be among those speaking and will take questions after their remarks.
The meeting will take place at 6 p.m. next Wednesday, March 21, in the theater of Sprayberry High School (2525 Sandy Plains Road).
The citizens group organized the meeting to prompt action on the run-down shopping center on Sandy Plains Road near Piedmont Road. While there are a few tenants, most of Sprayberry Crossing has been long-vacant and is in deteriorating condition.
Last month, the Cobb Community Development Department sent a notice to Brennan Goddard, a commercial real estate agency representing the shopping center property owner, to propose an improvement plan under the county’s new “blight tax” provision (previous East Cobb Newspost here).
Among the issues cited in the county’s letter, in addition to the decay of the buildings, are numerous police calls to the shopping center, and signs of possible gang activity at a former bowling alley.
Shane Spink, one of the leaders of the Sprayberry Crossing Action group, told East Cobb News that the property owners have been invited to “attend every meeting we have had on this site but they have always chosen not to attend.”
Spink said “this one is no different and they will have seats saved with their names on it but I wouldn’t bet on them coming.”
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A proposal that would allow a 43-unit townhome complex adjacent to the Olde Towne Athletic Club is the latest high-density rezoning case in East Cobb.
The request by Pulte Homes (here’s the agenda item packet) goes before the Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday. The Cobb zoning staff says the site plan (above) is too dense and is recommending denial.
That’s one of several East Cobb zoning cases on the docket that staff is recommending for denial, for density and future land use reasons.
The four-acre Olde Towne property houses a four-story office building at 5000 Olde Towne Parkway, and the end of a cul-de-sac, and is zoned planned shopping center (PSC).
The proposed townhomes would be next to the Olde Towne Athletic Club (numbered 4950).
Pulte is seeking the RM-12 multi-family residential zoning category, which would allow 10.5 units an acre. The land is designated for potential community activity center (CAC) in the Cobb future land use plan.
Although there are nearby multi-family homes in the Olde Towne development, most of the surrounding land is commercially oriented. Those homes also are zoned at a lower density and are detached. Pulte’s proposal would build townhomes of around 3,000 square feet each and they would include garages.
The zoning staff, in its denial recommendation, said that RM-12 is ideally compatible with surrounding high-density development should match nearby residential categories.
Other East Cobb cases to be heard Tuesday by the planning commission include:
Another high-density townhome development at Windy Hill Road and Wildwood Parkway, by Ashton Atlanta, which was held by the Cobb Board of Commissioners in February;
A personal-care home proposal on less than an acre on Sandy Plains Road and north of Ebenezer Road, by Green Park PCH, which Cobb zoning staff also is recommending for denial since it would include 32 units and would be close to a single-family neighborhood;
A eight-unit single-family residential proposal by Duncan Land Investments on East Piedmont Road at Cajun Drive, on three acres zoned for low-density residential. Staff also recommends denial;
A 20-unit residential application by Loyd Development Services, on six acres on Shallowford Road near Shallow Ridge Drive. Right now the land is zoned low-density residential and staff also recommends denial, saying it’s too also too dense.
Here’s the link to all of the cases on Tuesday’s planning commission schedule. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor board room at the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.
Planning board recommendations are advisory. The Cobb Board of Commissioners will make final decisions on March 20.
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