East Cobb Zoning & Development

Terrell Mill Towne Center rezoning goes before Cobb Planning Commission

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Terrell Mill Towne Center

We posted back in October some details about the proposed Terrell Mill Towne Center development that’s finally coming up for rezoning this month after months of delays.

The first step in the process comes Tuesday, when the developer, Eden Rock Real Estate Partners, gets a hearing before the Cobb Planning Commission for its 23-acre plan at the northwest corner of Terrell Mill Road and Powers Ferry Road.

The meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor commissioners meeting room, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.

The Cobb Zoning Staff packet and analysis includes a general recommendation of approval of the application with quite a few stipulations related to traffic, including that the developer conduct a traffic study.

The staff document also contains photos of landscaping and lighting plans submitted by the developer, as well as signage height dimensions for the Kroger superstore that’s the anchor component of the project.Kroger sign Terrell Mill Towne Center

Eden Rock (the formal applicant is SSP Blue Ridge, LLC) wants to convert land presently zoned for general commercial, neighborhood shopping and low-density residential (including the present location of Brumby Elementary School) to community retail commercial and urban condominium categories.

In addition to the 100,000-square-foot Kroger, Terrell Mill Towne Center would include restaurant and retail space and 340 luxury residential units.

Here’s Eden Rock’s prospectus it posted in October.

Also in October, the developers and Cobb government and school officials outlined the project at a meeting of the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance, a civic group formerly known as the Terrell Mill Community Association. That group has expressed general support for the Eden Rock project as a boost for the Powers Ferry area.

The development also is timed for the opening of a new Interstate 75 interchange at Terrell Mill Road.

In its analysis, the Cobb Zoning staff recommended that the developer donate right of way for traffic improvements, including a minimum of 50 feet on the west side of Powers Ferry Road, and a similar distance on the north side of Terrell Mill Road.

Terrell Mill Towne Center landscapingThe traffic study recommendation includes a long-term build-out assessment of 10 years, as well as the installation of traffic signal on Powers Ferry Road at least that’s at least 1,000 feet from the intersection of Terrell Mill Road.

Eden Rock also has proposed a traffic signal on Terrell Mill Road that would partially shut off access to the Terrell Mill Plaza (where the LA Fitness Center is located).

Zoning staff is recommending that a new access point be created at the rear of Terrell Mill Towne Center to coordinate with the Terrell Mill Plaza entrance, and that the developer build raised concrete islands on Powers Ferry Road and Terrell Mill Road.

The rest of Tuesday’s Cobb Planning Commission agenda can be found here, along with preliminary staff analysis.

Staff recommendations and the planning commission’s votes are advisory; the final say comes from the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Dec. 19.

 

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Keheley Drive rezoning proposal denied by Cobb commissioners

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Keheley Drive rezoning

A proposed high-density residential development on wooded land located in a floodplain along Keheley Drive was rejected Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

By a 4-1 vote, the commissioners denied a request by David Pearson Communities Inc. to rezone 26 acres from R-20 to a much higher residential density category, R-12, for 51 single-family homes.

That would have allowed nearly three units an acre in a residential area with no similar density, which drew plenty of community opposition.

“R-12 doesn’t fit in this neighborhood,” Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said in moving to recommend denial of the application. “It is way too dense for this area.”

In addition to the high-density zoning category, the developer also sought a number of variances that included spacing homes only 10 feet apart (instead of the minimum of 15 feet), and 12 of the proposed homes would have been located in the 100-year Rubes Creek floodplain that has spilled over several times in recent years, including this summer.

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As he did during a Cobb Planning Commission hearing earlier this month, a representative of nearby several homeowners associations showed photos of flooded homes and streets, including the major 2009 floods that prompted several homes in the Country Meadows neighborhood to be condemned.

The same property, owned by the Ruggles family, was proposed for rezoning in 2007 to R-15 for 39 homes, but that request was turned down.

The developer this time included stormwater management stipulations to address flooding, but not to the satisfaction of the community nor the commissioners.

Kevin Moore, an attorney for David Pearson Communities, noted that since the land is in the hands of an estate, it must be sold and is bound to be developed someday. If it is built out under the R-20 category, he added, it may not need the flooding stipulations that come with a higher density.

“What zoning can offer is to work the developer to address stormwater concerns,” he said. “The opposition has chosen to simply oppose.”

Resident Doug Boutwell of the Enchanted Woods subdivision, who said he’s encountered stormwater issues living where he does, took exception to those comments.

In his dissenting vote, East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said that “you’re not going to get the flooding fixed if you deny” and thought that an R-15 category (which includes Enchanted Woods) might be worth considering. “The fact that there was flooding this year shows that there’s a problem.”

But local opposition was especially vocal. The rezoning proposal is close to Keheley Elementary School, where more than 80 people turned out for a Nov. 2 community meeting.

Many homes had yard signs expressing opposition, and Bergin said he was representing nearly 800 individuals in several communities and got nearly 500 signatures objecting to the rezoning.

 

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Northeast Cobb residents sound off on zoning cases

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Lakewood Colony sign, Northeast Cobb residents

Some high-density zoning cases we’ve written about here in the last week got their first formal hearing on Tuesday, as Northeast Cobb residents gave an earful to the Cobb Planning Commission.

The commission engaged in virtually no discussion before voting 5-0 to recommend denying a proposal that would rezone 26 acres on Keheley Drive for 51 single-family homes, or nearly 3 units an acre. David Pearson Communities Inc. is seeking zoning from R-20 to R-12, but there’s nothing nearby that’s zoned for that density.

A similar plan was rejected a decade ago, on the same land that’s in the possession of the Ruggles family. But it’s not just density that prompted around 50 nearby residents to show up in opposition.

It’s also about flooding.

Eric Bergin, a resident of the Lakewood Colony neighborhood who spoke on behalf of several homeowners associations (totaling around 800 residents), showed dramatic slides from floods in 2009 that ravaged the nearby Country Meadows community, after which six low-lying homes had to be condemned.

The Ruggles property, which sits partially in a flood plain, is largely undeveloped, and includes Rubes Creek, a tributary of Noonday Creek.

Part of the Cobb zoning staff’s recommendation of denial also included flood plain and water retention issues that residents said would grow worse.

“We get the runoff from everywhere,” Bergin said, referencing Lakewood Colony. “This is going to cause even more water to come down.”

In June, he said, the nearby Enchanted Woods community sustained some flooding damage, as did Country Meadows again during October rains.

“The flooding and the traffic impact are too hard to ignore,” he said.

Judy Williams, who represents District 3 on the planning commission, offered the board’s only comment on the matter: “There are so many problems. Flooding has been a problem here forever.”

The planning commission’s vote is only advisory; the Cobb Board of Commissioners will make the final decision on Nov. 21.

In another Northeast Cobb zoning case, however, the planning commission voted to recommend approval of a higher-density proposal on a smaller scale that still drew community opposition.

By a 4-1 vote, the planning commission endorsed a proposal by EAH Acquisitions to rezone 12 acres on Wigley Road at Jamerson Road for 19 single-family homes.

Residents from the Falconcrest and other neighborhoods spoke in opposition, mainly for traffic reasons, and pointed to other nearby zoning and development plans that are still in the works.

“It’s not a bad plan but it just not the right timing,” said resident Patrick Cahill. “There are a lot of issues in this area already.”

However, the strongest objection came from Thea Powell, the only planning commissioner who voted no. A former District 3 member on the Cobb commission, she also cited the Country Meadows flooding issue in regards to the EAH Acquisitions application.

The land sits in a 100-year floodplain and includes a stream that flows into Rubes Creek. While other planning commissioners liked the proposal, including the architectural features, Powell was adamant.

“It doesn’t matter what the house looks like,” she said. “It’s the impact on the area.”

 

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Northeast Cobb residential proposals highlight Planning Commission agenda

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Wigley Road rezoning, Northeast Cobb residential proposals
An old farm-style house on Wigley Road. (East Cobb News file photo)

Last week we wrote about two rezoning applications for Northeast Cobb residential proposals that go to the heart of density disputes.

Those two items are part of a larger agenda to be heard by the Cobb Planning Commission Tuesday that includes other similar applications in the area.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor boardroom of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.

The Cobb zoning staff is recommending denial of a proposal to squeeze nearly three single-family units an acre, or 51 homes in all, on 26 acres on Keheley Drive, near Keheley Road and Keheley Elementary School.

That case, Z-74 (agenda item packet), is being opposed by nearby residents, who live in lower-density homes.

The zoning staff initially recommended denial of Z-71 (agenda item packet), which would rezone 13 office and low-density residential acres for higher-density residential for a 45-unit subdivision on Hilltop Drive and Hilltop Circle, off Canton Road.

The rezoning would allow for nearly three and a half units an acre, a density staff said would not be suitable, since lower-density housing surrounds the land. Homes in the adjoining Addison Heights neighborhood are zoned for only 1.5 units an acre.

A number of variances would also be required, as would improvements to Hilltop Drive and Hilltop Circle, which are both described in the staff analysis as “substandard” streets.

However, that case has been continued to December.

Two parcels of land once belonging to the Wigley family in and around Sweat Mountain were scheduled to be heard Tuesday, but one of them, Z-56 (agenda item packet), also is being delayed to December.

That application would rezone 55 acres of undeveloped land plus an old Wigley family home on either side of Wigley Road, north of Summitop Drive, for a single-family subdivision with more than 80 homes. This is the third time the application is being continued.

A nearby application, Z-69 (agenda item packet), would rezone 12 acres at Wigley Road and Jims Drive for 19 homes, and zoning staff is recommending approval with numerous conditions.

The following East Cobb items are included in the Other Business category and will be heard by the Cobb Board of Commissioners Nov. 21:

  • OB-55, by Feroz Ali, a revised site plan for vacant property at 1445 Powers Ferry Road to redevelop a gas station and convenience store adjacent to the Valencia Hills condominium community;
  • OB-57, by St. Clair Holdings, a site plan amendment for 12 high-density residential lots at 1149 Woodlawn Drive, in the Woodlawn Commons neighborhood.

Another major East Cobb zoning case that had been scheduled for November will be heard next month. That’s for the proposed Terrell Mill Towne Center at Terrell Mill and Powers Ferry that will include a Kroger supermarket anchoring shops, restaurants and residential units.

That application goes before the planning commission Dec. 5.

 

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Keheley rezoning case reflects density issues brewing in Northeast Cobb

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Keheley rezoning
A home on Keheley Drive, right across the street from a proposed high-density residential development. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)

The community around Keheley Elementary School maintains something of a tucked-away feel, with winding country-style roads, lushly wooded areas and a mix of single-family home styles on generous lots.

This part of Northeast Cobb still feels like it has some elbow room. If you travel westbound on Keheley Drive, close to where it intersects with Keheley Road, and look off to the right, you’ll see a thick scrub of land that drops down behind trees. A dirt path provides an opening into nearly 26 acres of land.

There are two homes, one built in 1910 and another in 1957, at 4351 and 4371 Keheley Drive, on land that’s otherwise designated for conservation use. The acreage is located within the floodplain and stream buffer associated with Rubes Creek.

Keheley rezoning site planThat’s where an East Cobb luxury home developer wants to build 51 single-family homes (site plan at left). A request to be heard next week by the Cobb Planning Commission (agenda item packet) is seeking a higher density use than the surrounding neighborhoods.

David Pearson Communities, Inc. has applied for rezoning from R-20 to R-12, which would allow up to three units per acre. Nearby homes are zoned either R-20 or R-15, and there’s plenty of visible community opposition.

Small yellow signs with red lettering pop up intermittently along Keheley Drive and Keheley Road, in front of homes and neighborhood entrances:

Keheley rezoning
The Keheley Lake Drive entrance to the Lakewood Colony neighborhood.

“Save Keheley! No Rezoning.”

The parcel in question is in the hands of the estate of Collene Ruggles, who died in 2016.

The Ruggles land previously came up for zoning in 2007, from R-20 to R-15, but it sits undisturbed today, in an area that’s encountering some of the same density issues that have been increasing in East Cobb.

Not far away in Northeast Cobb, land belonging to the estate of another longtime family property owner is also going before the Planning Commission for higher-density zoning.

EAH Acquisitions, Inc., is seeking rezoning from R-30 to R-15 to build 19 homes on 12. 29 acres at the northwest corner of Wigley Road and Jims Road. The titleholder is the estate of Dorothy Henrietta Wigley, who also died in 2016. She was a member of the Wigley family that was a major property owner, including Sweat Mountain and much of the present-day Mountain View area.

The only remaining structure on the Wigley property, which is proposed to be developed into a single-family subdivision.

While the Wigley application got a recommendation of approval with conditions from the Cobb zoning staff—since R-15 zoning is in effect in nearby and adjacent communities—the Keheley case did not.

In fact, the zoning staff analysis strongly recommends denial of the request. David Pearson Communities wants to build homes with at least 2,500 square feet of space on small lots. Among the variances would be to reduce the distance between residences to 10 feet from the minimum 15 feet.

Not only are other homes in the area not as densely packed, but according to Cobb zoning staff, 12 of the 51 lots in the proposed site plan don’t meet the minimum code required area above the floodplain.

Keheley rezoning
The Ruggles property on the west side of Keheley Drive.

The Cobb zoning staff also pointed out that the rezoning request doesn’t conform with the Cobb County Comprehensive Plan, since the Ruggles property is designated as being in a Low-Density Residential area (LDR), or no more than 2.5 units an acre.

The Cobb Planning Commission meets Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor boardroom of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

 

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Proposed Terrell Mill Towne Center project subject of community meeting

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Terrell Mill Towne Center
Eden Rock Real Estate Partners aerial rendering of the Terrell Mill Towne Center.

What’s currently the location of Brumby Elementary School and adjoining office and retail space along Powers Ferry Road is set to become the Terrell Mill Towne Center.

That’s the name the developers of a proposed 23-acre mixed-use project at the northwest intersection of Terrell Mill and Powers Ferry are calling their project. It is to be anchored by a 100,000-square-foot Kroger superstore, and plans include restaurant and retail space and 340 luxury residential units.

Eden Rock Real Estate Partners, which has a zoning application before the Cobb Board of Commissioners, will detail their plans Wednesday at a meeting held by the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance.

That meeting takes place at 7 p.m. at Brumby Elementary School, 1306 Powers Ferry Road. The PFCA, a citizens’ organization, was formerly called the Terrell Mill Community Association.

County development, public safety, transportation and school officials also have been invited to attend.

Brumby, which is relocating for the next school year to a new site on Terrell Mill Road, is where the new Kroger would be built (and moving down Powers Ferry from its current venue near Delk Road).

(Here’s a marketing package Eden Rock has prepared for potential tenants, touting the location’s proximity to SunTrust Park and the new Terrell Mill interchange with Interstate 75 that’s slated to open next spring.)

Eden Rock’s zoning application (here’s the most recently updated agenda item packet) has been delayed several months. The proposal would convert land currently zoned for general commerical, neighborhood shopping and residential (that’s Brumby, as are most schools) to a community retail center.

The Cobb Planning Commission will hear the application on Dec. 5, and the Cobb Board of Commissioners are scheduled to act on Dec. 12.

This will be the final round of zoning decisions in Cobb until February, since the commissioners do not hear zoning cases in January.

 

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Former Mountain View Elementary School redevelopment approved

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Mountain View Elementary School redevelopment

By a 5-0 vote Tuesday morning, the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a proposal for the former Mountain View Elementary School redevelopment plan on Sandy Plains Road.

The applicant, Brooks Chadwick Capital, LLC, wants to raze the school to build a 103,000-square foot development to include restaurants, retail, a bank and supermarket (agenda packet here).

The plan calls for seven separate buildings on the 13.8-acre site, which is owned by the Cobb County School District, and would include and expanded buffer at the back property line that is adjacent to the Hunters Lodge neighborhood.

“I think we’ve made a lot of progress,” Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said, explaining the multiple meetings between the developer and residents who had opposed the rezoning.

After the Cobb Planning Commission recommended rezoning approval from R-20 to CRC (previous East Cobb News post here), the developer’s attorney Kevin Moore, presented additional stipulations at Tuesday’s meeting to address nearby residential concerns.

Those stipulations, which were submitted in an Oct. 12 letter, include no automotive, convenience store, liquor, laundromat and dry cleaning services in the back three buildings.

A 30-foot undisturbed buffer between the back property line and the residential area would include an eight-high fence, plus an additional 20-foot landscape buffer. The fencing would be enclosed at either end of the property line, and would be inspected by a certified arborist, Moore said.

Moore also stressed that at no location within the development will amplified outdoor entertainment be allowed, a stipulation he said is similar to The Avenue at East Cobb.

The redevelopment was supported by the East Cobb Civic Association.

Birrell moved to approve the rezoning, subject to the latest stipulations and final site plan amendment, as well as a landscaping plan that she would approve as the district commissioner.

“There have been some long meetings, but I think it’s going to be a win-win-for the community,” Birrell said.

In other East Cobb items at Tuesday’s zoning hearing, an application to rezone 2.172 acres at Lower Roswell Road and Bermuda Drive from R-20 to R-15 was withdrawn without prejudice. The Planning Commission voted to recommend denial earlier this month after strong community opposition (previous East Cobb News post here).

Northeast Cobb restaurant gets liquor license despite community opposition

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Paprik'a, Northeast Cobb restaurant
The proposed Paprik’a restaurant is located at the former sites of a Pizza Hut and Donny’s Home Cooking on Sandy Plains Road. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved a request for a liquor license for a proposed Northeast Cobb restaurant that has been fought by nearby residents for the last two years.

By a 4-1 vote, the commissioners granted the alcohol permit to Naseeb Rana of Kasbah Corp., who wants to open the Paprik’a Restaurant at 4674 Sandy Plains Road. The space has been empty since 2015, and is adjacent to the Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center, at Sandy Plains and Woodstock Road (Highway 92).

Only commissioner JoAnn Birrell, whose district included the area until last year, voted against Rana’s application. The commissioners took up the matter after Rana appealed a denial for a pouring license by the Cobb License Review Board.

Residents from the Chatsworth, Jefferson Park and Jefferson Township neighborhoods, located just south of the commercial area off Sandy Plains, have said Rana has not been forthcoming with her plans since trying to get the alcohol license.

Paprik'a location map
The star signifies the proposed Paprik’a restaurant site. Click for a larger view.

They said she hasn’t always communicated with the neighborhood about her plans and expressed concern about traffic and parking issues.

“This application has been denied twice, and there have been so many red flags,” said Lisa Hanson, representing the Chatsworth Homeowners Association. “We are all for a renovated building.”

Hanson said Rana initially had proposed opening a nightclub at the location that would be open very late, and a stop-work order was issued. Those events, Hanson said, “made us question whether this application was following law.”

Both Rana, a graduate of Lassiter High School, and her attorney, Lisa Morchower, denied there were ever plans for a nightclub. Rana said she wants to have valet parking for Paprik’a since there’s limited space around the building, and explained that she has revised her menu to reflect her business’ primary function as a restaurant.

Morchower said the proposed hours for Paprik’a would be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday.

Rana said she was being unfairly “targeted” by the community, and insisted that her restaurant is similar to others in the area. “I don’t see why my small restaurant will make such a big impact,” she said.

Sandra Richardson, the Cobb business license manager, said the Paprik’a site was originally a Pizza Hut that opened in 1998 and served alcohol. After that, a restaurant called Donny’s Home Cooking operated at the location until 2015 but did not serve liquor.

Hanson said nearby residents have also dealt with noise issues from the Movie Tavern, which opened in 2013, with garbage trucks making pickups late at night. She said there have been numerous violations of other stipulations by DDR Sandy Plains, the shopping center property owner.

But commissioner Bob Ott, who represents the area, said he was satisfied with the application and said that if traffic and parking ever become an issue, the community can raise them at that time.

“We have to let the restaurant open before we know,” he said, adding that Rana’s appeal hearing often felt like a zoning hearing. “Alcohol doesn’t increase traffic. Ms. Rana has her work cut out for her, but she’s made a tremendous effort to change her menu.”

Ott said that unlike a zoning, a liquor license holder has to satisfy all stipulations and be approved for renewals yearly.

Birrell said: “I’ve heard the concerns of the community, and I cannot support this.”

The Sandy Plains Village area has been in transition recent years. It was the location of a Kroger and Stein Mart before the Movie Tavern opened. A Walmart Neighborhood Grocery also opened there in 2013 but closed earlier this year.

Former Mountain View ES redevelopment plans get initial OK

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The Cobb Planning Commission is recommending approval of a rezoning that would create a major commercial complex on the site of the former Mountain View Elementary School.

Although some nearby residents were seeking a delay, the commission voted 5-0 on Tuesday for a plan (packet item here) that would change the zoning category on Sandy Plains Road from R-20 (many schools are zoned on residential land) to CAC (community activity center).

The 13.8-acre development would include seven separate buildings for restaurants, retail shops, banks and a grocery store. The complex, which would exceed 100,000 square feet, is being developed by Brooks Chadwick Capital LLC of East Cobb and Jeff Fuqua, a private developer.

Residents living in the adjacent Hunters Lodge neighborhood were concerned about the reduction of the hill on which the former school sat affecting their sight lines, and some were opposed because they say the area already has enough businesses of the kind being proposed.

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But Trish Steiner of the East Cobb Civic Association said the organization voted unanimously to support the rezoning.

“We realize this is difficult for the neighbors to accept change,” she said. “However, we believe this application is appropriate.

Kevin Moore, an attorney for the applicants, said a full site plan hasn’t been completed because of possible changes in the final building design, depending on what businesses locate there. He said he couldn’t divulge which specific businesses are interested in the new development.

“When they sign the lease, that’s when things get set in stone,” Moore said. “We’re confident where we are with the placement of the buildings.”

Moore said the developer’s agreements to provide several buffers—50 feet of undisturbed buffers, a landscape buffer and a wall—will not change.

Those stipulations are final, he said: “We wanted to be transparent up front . . . to show the guardrails” between the development and the neighborhood.

Planning commission member Judy Williams, who represents District 3, said she also understands the opposition, but “the community has changed since the subdivision was built. I think they came up with a good plan.”

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will decide that case on Oct. 17.

Tiny, older Bermuda Drive neighborhood puts up East Cobb density fight

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Bermuda Drive neighborhood
The front portion of residential property at Lower Roswell Road and Bermuda Drive that’s up for higher density rezoning. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)

Tucked away on a cul-de-sac street off Lower Roswell Road, not far from the clatter of the East Cobb Pipeline Project and featuring some lush and ample residential elbow room, lies the Bermuda Drive neighborhood.

More formally it’s known as the Carter subdivision, named after the homebuilder who constructed nine ranch-style homes on big lots in the early 1960s. This was just before East Cobb went from rural to suburban, and as developers were still maintaining something of a pastoral atmosphere for new properties.

Several residents have been there nearly as long as the subdivision (located just across Lower Roswell from Holy Family Catholic Church), and some are related to one another. To say that the Bermuda Drive neighborhood is a tight-knit one is an understatement.

“It’s a community, not just a street,” said Elaine Dover, who’s lived in her home on Bermuda Drive for 44 years.

Yet like many East Cobb neighborhoods, Bermuda Drive isn’t immune to a rapid, explosive new wave of residential building that emphasizes density over just about anything else. When a 2.172-acre tract of land at the entrance to her community was proposed for rezoning, Dover and her neighbors were concerned.

Bermuda Drive neighborhood
R-15 communities are nearby, but not contiguous, to the Bermuda Drive neighborhood.

The rezoning (here’s the agenda item information) is being sought by Rabin Dayani, an established developer in the area. He wants to change the current R-20 zoning to R-15 to build five two-story homes on the land.

Dayani wants not only bigger houses (with a minimum of 2,500 square feet) than what’s on Bermuda Drive, they also would be on higher density land than what’s nearby. He could build four homes on the land under the present zoning category, which would have been fine with the Bermuda Drive neighborhood.

According to the Cobb zoning staff (which is recommending denial), the land was initially zoned for two lots in 1959.

When Dover and others spoke in opposition to the rezoning Tuesday before the Cobb Planning Commission, they used word “precedent” often. It’s a word that has come up frequently in recent East Cobb zoning cases, as residents have seen higher-density many residential and commercial projects proposed near their communities. Some have been approved, others have not, but in so many cases, the battle that’s being fought is quite often over precedent.

Even if it’s a difference over one house, as is the case in the Bermuda Drive neighborhood.

Bermuda Drive neighborhood
Developer’s rendering of five homes with access to Bermuda Drive. Current zoning would allow up to four homes.

“We feel it will set a precedent in this area,” said Jill Flamm of the East Cobb Civic Association, who also spoke in opposition before the planning commission. “R-20 is suitable for new development in this area.”

Dover submitted a petition to the planning commission, saying that reducing density from R-20 would open up the Bermuda Drive neighborhood “to a negative precedent.”

The planning commission—which is an advisory board appointed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners—agreed, and voted to deny Dayani’s proposal by a 5-0 vote. Mike Terry, the planning commission chairman who represents District 2 in East Cobb, said at first he didn’t think the rezoning would draw much opposition. But he heard plenty from Bermuda Drive homeowners, and read excerpts from e-mails he’s received.

Terry said the neighbors aren’t anti-growth, but favor “smart” growth that complies with the land use plan and isn’t dramatically out of step with existing residences.

“They’re not saying don’t build here, but let’s leave the current zoning and build four quality homes,” Terry said. “I think four will be fine, but five is out of character. We need to protect the character of the neighborhood.”

Terry encouraged Dayani to revise his proposal before before Cobb commissioners have the final say on Oct. 17.

Bermuda Drive neighborhood
The back lot area along Bermuda Drive.

Former Mountain View ES site redevelopment plans go before Cobb Planning Commission

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Former Mountain View ES site

After being delayed from consideration last month, a proposal to redevelop the former Mountain View Elementary School site into a mixed commercial complex will be heard Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor meeting room of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta. The meeting can be seen live on CobbTV (Comcast Cable Channel 23) or live-streamed on the Cobb government website (link here).

The zoning application Z-053-2017 (link to packet item here) is being submitted by Brooks Chadwick Capital, LLC, which is proposing to convert the 13.8-acre site on Sandy Plains Road near Shallowford Road from residential (R-20) to CRC (community retail center). Brooks Chadwick and Jeff Fuqua, a private developer, are planning a facility that would include retail shops, banks, restaurants and possibly a supermarket.

Their plans call for 103,000 square feet of developable commercial space and around 600 parking lots.

The reason the land is zoned residential is because that’s the zoning category for most school properties. The sale of the land to the developers by the Cobb County School District is contingent upon rezoning.

In the zoning application, Brooks Chadwick indicated the proposed commercial complex would have daily opening hours as follows:

  • 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., for the restaurants;
  • 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. for the grocery store;
  • 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. for retail.

The Cobb zoning staff is recommending approval, with the following conditions:

  • a deceleration lane for each entrance on Sandy Plains Road;
  • installing a flashing yellow arrow for left turn movements at the existing signal;
  • developer contribute 100 percent of the cost for traffic signal modifications;
  • keeping inter-parcel access between the development and Mountain View Community Center.

Related story

Another major rezoning application in East Cobb is being delayed again. That’s an application by SSP Blue Ridge, LLC, which wants to rezone 21 acres at the northwest intersection of Terrell Mill Road at Powers Ferry Road for a commercial and residential development anchored by a Kroger superstore (agenda packet here).

First submitted in July, Z-012-2017 is being continued by Cobb zoning staff until November (previous East Cobb News story here).

Here’s the full agenda packet for Tuesday’s meeting. The Cobb Board of Commissioners zoning hearing is Oct. 17.

Lidl Grocery East Cobb proposal rejected by commissioners

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A long-delayed site plan amendment by Lidl Grocery to convert the Park 12 Cobb theater into a supermarket was voted down Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

At their monthly zoning hearing, the commission voted 4-1 to turn down the application by the German-based grocer to build a store on Gordy Parkway at Shallowford Road, site of the cinema, in a case that received heavy community opposition. Park 12 Cobb, Lidl Grocery

“This use is too intense for this location,” said commissioner JoAnn Birrell, whose District 3 includes the theater location, which is close to three subdivisions and several parks as well as Lassiter High School.

She also cited traffic and crash data analysis in moving to deny the application. The number of accidents in the area—including the busy Shallowford/Sandy Plains intersection—has gone up dramatically in recent years.

Birrell said 42 accidents were recorded there in 2014, 61 in 2015, 82 in 2016 and through May of this year, 26, for a total of 211 accidents.

“Lidl would be better suited in a shopping center [on a major road] than in a standalone location on a two-lane road” that’s the primary point of access for residential communities, she said.

The Cobb zoning staff recommended approval for the grocery plan, which was first presented in May. Lidl attorney Parks Huff maintained that “this is not a difficult decision. This is technically a property rights issue and needs to be approved.”

Commissioner Bob Weatherford was the only vote in favor. While Lidl didn’t need rezoning, chairman Mike Boyce wondered why Lidl continued to insist upon a proposal that had such strong opposition (including an active Facebook group): “This one takes the cake.”

JoAnn Birrell
District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell. (East Cobb News file photo)

Huff, who said at the outset of the hearing that the application should be “a very routine matter,” claimed that many of those against Lidl’s plans “want to keep the movie theater as much as anything.”

Some in the audience groaned, but traffic and density issues dominated the discussion. Citizens against the Lidl proposal displayed several accident photos while making their remarks.

“We’re not opposed to this as a commercial property,” said Laura Hickman, who lives in the Highland Park neighborhood off Gordy Parkway. A grocery store, she said, “is too intense for this piece of land.” The Lidl proposal also was opposed by the East Cobb Civic Association.

Huff said the number of parking spaces would be reduced from the current 379 spaces  to 187 for the grocery store, and that landscaping and architectural plans would be an improvement from a movie theater. But East Cobb commissioner Bob Ott said the detriments to the proposal have to considered as well as the benefits.

Lidl Grocery
Opponents of the Lidl Grocery plans presented photos of accidents in the vicinity to make their case. (CobbTV screen shot)

“The traffic pictures speak for themselves,” he said.

Some citizens suggested that Lidl look elsewhere for a new site, perhaps at the old Mountain View Elementary School, which is being proposed for mixed-use redevelopment. An application for that property was to have been on the September zoning agenda but has been continued to October.

Lidl Grocery, Taqueria Tsunami cases on Cobb zoning agenda

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After several months of delays, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will finally get to consider a proposal to convert one of only two East Cobb movie theater complexes into a grocery store.

Taqueria Tsunami East Cobb
A site plan amendment is being proposed to allow for a Taqueria Tsunami restaurant at the old Caribou Coffee location on Johnson Ferry Road. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

Lidl Grocery’s application to redevelop the Park 12 Cinema on Gordy Parkway (near Shallowford Road and Sandy Plains Road) highlights a busy BOC zoning meeting that starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The meeting takes place in the second floor board room of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta (here’s an agenda summary).

The Lidl case (agenda information here) was first scheduled to be heard in May, but has drawn significant community opposition. Some nearby residents fear traffic will increase in a busy corridor near Lassiter High School.

Some opponents also have created a Facebook page and begun an online petition drive against Lidl’s proposal, mainly to preserve the cinema. Lidl is a German grocery chain looking to expand into Georgia.

The Lidl case will be heard in the “other business” category. These are for applications that don’t have to go through a full rezoning process. Also on the OB list is a site plan amendment filed on behalf of Fork U Concepts, proprietors of the Marietta-based Taqueria Tsunami restaurants.

The proposal (agenda information here) would remove the drivethru at the now-closed Caribou Coffee location at 1275 Johnson Ferry Road, and to increase parking to 42 spaces with restriping. The old Caribou/Einstein Bros. Bagel location is being eyed by Fork U to expand the Latin-Asian fusion concept to East Cobb.

As East Cobb News has reported, the amendment has been recommended for approval by the East Cobb Civic Association, as well as the Cobb Planning Commission.

The proposed redevelopment of the old Mountain View Elementary School complex on Sandy Plains Road for mixed commercial use also will appear on Tuesday’s agenda, but is likely to be delayed at the request of the applicant.

A redevelopment project at the northwest intersection of Powers Ferry Road at Terrell Mill Road is being continued by the Cobb zoning staff until October.

Full zoning staff analysis of each September agenda item can be found here.

More delays sought for major East Cobb rezoning cases

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When the Cobb Planning Commission meets Thursday morning, two of the most notable cases on the docket may not be heard at all.

That’s because of continued delays in those proposals for major retail, shopping and restaurant developments in East Cobb.

The Planning Commission meeting starts at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb BOC Building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

One of those East Cobb proposals, to redevelop the northwest corner of Powers Ferry Road at Terrell Mill Road, is definitely being continued to October. That’s Z-012-2017, submitted by SSP Blue Ridge LLC, and calling for a mixed-use complex covering 21 acres, anchored by a Kroger supermarket.

The case has been rescheduled to be heard by the Planning Commission on Oct. 3.

The site of the former Mountain View Elementary School also is being proposed for a new center to include restaurants, shops, banking and grocery options on 13 acres of the east side of Sandy Plains Road, just south of Shallowford Road.

Old Mountain View Elementary School
Plans to redevelop the former Mountain View Elementary School site include seven buildings and 103,100 total square feet. Click to see larger map.

That case, Z-053-2017, is included in the regular agenda to be taken up by the Planning Commission, but it may be continued. The Cobb zoning staff has offered full comments and a recommendation of approval with conditions.

But at last week’s East Cobb Civic Association meeting (previous East Cobb News coverage here), members were notified that the applicant, Brooks Chadwick Capital, LLC, has asked for an extension to continue working with the community.

Another application by SSP Blue Ridge that was on Wednesday’s agenda also has been continued to October. That’s SLUP-008-2017, a special land use permit request near the Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill proposal to build a self-serve storage facility on an acre along Terrell Mill Road (the land is currently zoned for residential use).

Another proposal for a storage facility in the Canton Road corridor is on the Thursday agenda.

Z-050-2017, by Storage Development Group, would allow for a 760-unit facility on 3.39 acres on the west side of Canton Road, north of Sylvan Drive (staff recommends approval with conditions). Rezoning would be from Offices Services (OS) to Neighborhood Retail Commercial (NRC). The applicant also is seeking a land-use permit (LUP-010-2017) for the site (staff recommends approval with conditions).

As was noted here last week, on Sept. 19, at their monthly zoning hearing, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will consider a site plan amendment that would allow for Taqueria Tsunami resturant to be built at the former Caribou Coffee/Einstein Bros. Bagel site on Johnson Ferry Road, below Merchants Walk (previous East Cobb News coverage here).

At that meeting, the commissioners also will consider a continued application by Lidl Grocery (OB-016-2017) to redevelop the Park 12 Cinema on Gordy Parkway that has generated community opposition. The case has been continued since May.

East Cobb Civic Association gives nod to Taqueria Tsunami site plan proposal

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Taqueria Tsunami East Cobb

A follow-up to the story we reported here Monday about a proposed Taqueria Tsunami in East Cobb going up in the old Caribou Coffee/Einstein Bagel space on Johnson Ferry Road: It’s gotten a recommendation of conditional approval by the East Cobb Civic Association.

During its monthly business meeting Wednesday, the group voted to recommend approval of a site plan amendment being proposed on behalf of Fork U Concepts, the Marietta company that runs the six-restaurant Latin-Asian fusion concept chain, but with some stipulations.

Those recommendations include the district commissioner (Bob Ott) signing off on building renderings for the new restaurant, a landscaping plan for the property and front signage, none of which have been submitted to the Cobb Zoning Department.

The 0.70-acre tract at 1275 Johnson Ferry Road has been vacant since Einstein Bagels left in 2015. The land was first zoned for commercial use in 1978 as a Krystal fast-food restaurant (Caribou replaced it in 1995 and closed in 2013).

Amor Design Group, an architectural design firm submitting the application, wants to revise the site plan to remove the drivethru window used at the former Caribou location, in order to increase parking. The proposal calls for a parking expansion to 42 spaces that would include restriping.

The ECCA, which represents more than 90 homeowners associations and other individuals, is a citizens group that provides advisory opinions to the Cobb Planning Commission and Cobb Board of Commissioners on zoning and land use cases. While it wields no official power, its influence is frequently considered (Ott is a former ECCA president), especially when community opposition arises.

One other thing to note about the Taqueria Tsunami case: It’s considered “other business” in Cobb zoning parlance since it’s a site plan amendment proposal, instead of a pure rezoning matter.

Therefore, this case doesn’t need to go before the Cobb Planning Commission and instead will be heard by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Sept. 19.

A zoning case that was on next Thursday’s Cobb Planning Commission agenda but that has been continued until October is the proposed redevelopment of the former Mountain View Elementary School (Z-053-2017). The nearly 14-acre tract would be converted into a mixed-use complex of restaurants, grocery, retail, banking and other commercial uses.

According to Jill Flamm of the ECCA, the applicant, Brooks Chadwick Capital LLC, is asking for more time to work with the community.

She also briefed ECCA members on other zoning and land use cases that have no new information to report. They include another high-profile September case, proposed by Lidl Grocery (OB-016-2017) to redevelop the Park 12 Cinema on Gordy Parkway, and a proposal by S & B Investments to add a drivethru window at the Starbucks Coffee location near Paper Mill Village, at 31 Johnson Ferry Road (OB-028-2017).

The ECCA has recommended denial of the Lidl Grocery application and supports the Starbucks addition.

Also on Wednesday, the ECCA voted to hold an application by Blair Waldron to amend a site plan for 1.28 acres on the north side of Roswell Road, just west of East Piedmont Road, to allow for a 16,000-square-foot medical and dental office building.

The land is located between a Bank of America branch and the East Cobb United Methodist Church. The proposed building would house Waldron Dentistry, which is currently located at 3020 Roswell Road, near Old Canton Road.

Flamm said no renderings have been submitted, and there are 34 pages of stipulations to consider. Much of that stems from a litigation settlement in 1999. Here’s the file information on OB-041-2017 from the Cobb Zoning Department, which hasn’t done a staff analysis for the application since it came in after the Aug. 4 commenting deadline.

Taqueria Tsunami restaurant eyed for former East Cobb Caribou Coffee location

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Caribou Coffee East Cobb, Taqueria Tsunami

An early check into a really busy September Cobb zoning calendar (especially in East Cobb) revealed this agenda item: the growing, Marietta-based Taqueria Tsunami Latin-Asian fusion restaurant concept may be headed this way.

An application in the “Other Business” section, OB-039-2017, has been filed by Amor Design Studios on behalf of Fork U Concepts, which runs six Taqueria Tsunami locations, including the Marietta Square, Roswell, Woodstock, Athens and soon in Sandy Springs.Caribou Coffee East Cobb, Taqueria Tsunami

The East Cobb location would be at 1275 Johnson Ferry Road, where Caribou Coffee and an Einstein Bros. Bagels operated side-by-side.

Caribou Coffee closed in 2013, and Einstein Bros. Bagels followed in 2015.

The Cobb Planning Commission will hear the application next Thursday, Sept. 7.

Amor Design Studios, an Atlanta architectural design firm, has filed a site plan amendment which states the following intent:

“Fork U Concepts would like to improve the property by deleting the drive-thru [of the former Caribou store] and increasing the number of parking spaces by restriping the parking lot.”

The proposed site plan changes (below, click to see larger image) call for 42 total spaces, 32 of them standard-sized spaces. The total land size for the building and parking is 0.70 acres.

Taqueria Tsunami East Cobb site planThere’s no preliminary staff zoning analysis for the moment since the application was filed on Aug. 15, after the Aug. 4. deadline for comments.

Some major East Cobb redevelopment proposals are also on the September calendar, and we’ll have more in forthcoming posts:

  • Z-053-2017, by Brooks Chadwick Capital, LLC, which would rezone the former Mountain View Elementary School location on Sandy Plains Road for a retail, restaurant, bank and grocery store development;
  • OB-016-2017, by Lidl US Operations, LLC, to tear down the Park 12 Cinema on Gordy Parkway and build a Lidl grocery store, a proposal that’s been delayed several times (see previous East Cobb News story) and has community opposition;
  • Z-012-2017, by SSP Blue Ridge, LLC, to rezone 21 acres northwest intersection of Terrell Mill Road and Powers Ferry Road for a mixed commercial and residential development anchored by a Kroger grocery story. This application also has been continued.

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East Cobb zoning cases to be heard by Cobb commissioners

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What follows is a summary of the individual East Cobb cases coming before the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday in their monthly zoning hearing. Here’s an overview of what’s on the agenda and the status of other active cases, including what’s being continued, withdrawn, etc.

Four of the six East Cobb cases are on the consent agenda, which is considered at the start of the meeting.

Two high-profile East Cobb cases listed near the top of the longer agenda summary have been continued to September, and we have mentioned them before: SSP Blue Ridge LLC’s application for a major mixed-use development at Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill Road (Z-12) and Lidl Grocery’s application (OB-016) to turn the Park 12 cinema on Gordy Parkway into a grocery store. Cobb County Government logo

In the case of the latter, Lidl attorney Parks Huff is asking for more time to conduct a traffic study requested by Cobb DOT and that includes school-related traffic counts.

A case that you may see on zoning documents but that was withdrawn without prejudice after the Aug. 3 Planning Commission meeting is the Z-40 application by Saleh Uddin to rezone 0.94 acres on the east side of Terrell Mill Road north of Brookview Road from R-40 to R-20 for two single-family homes.

Here’s what will come before the BOC Tuesday morning, starting at 9 a.m., with links to the individual packet items with the case number:

  • Z-41: JOM Holdings, LLC, seeks rezoning from PSC to CRC for a specialized contractor’s office at 811 Lecroy Drive, near Robinson Road (consent item; staff recommends deletion to NRC with conditions);
  • Z-46: CSP Development, LLC, seeks rezoning from R-30 to R-15 of 8.92 acres at 4494 Wesley Chapel Road, on the south side of Sandy Plains Road (consent item; staff recommends approval with some stipulations);
  • OB-030: Poag Shopping Centers, LLC, seeks a site plan amendment for The Avenue at East Cobb Shopping Center (4475 Roswell Road), for hardscape and landscaping improvements (consent item; staff recommends approval with minor conditions);
  • OB-034: Narden Kaldani seeks a special exception for reduction of lot size at R-20 zoned site at 2650 Roswell Road, east of Hood Road, from 20,000 square feet to 16,401 square feet (consent item);
  • LUP-13: Esther J. Kim and Sung Min Brian Ryu seek a special land use permit for R-20 zoned site at 3746 Wesley Chapel Road, south of Beacon Street, to allow seven chickens. The applicants intend to house the hens in a coop that’s at least 30 feet from all property lines, and are filing due to a code enforcement complaint. The nearby Wesley Hills Homeowners Association has consented to the application, but the staff is recommending denial;
  • OB-028: S & B Investments, Inc., is seeking a site plan and stipulation amendment to build a drivethru window for the Starbucks Coffee location at 31-A Johnson Ferry Road, in front of Paper Mill VIllage, and that would be located on the Paper Mill Road side of the building.

The zoning hearing can be seen on CobbTV (Comcast Channel 23) or streamed live on the Cobb government website

Former Terrell Mill Road restaurant site demolished at Powers Ferry Road

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Terrell Mill Road development
The northwest intersection of Terrell Mill & Powers Ferry is the proposed site for a new mixed use development anchored by an expansive Kroger store. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)

A stand-alone building at the northwest intersection of Terrell Mill Road at Powers Ferry Road that once housed barbecue and other restaurants is being torn down.

Most recently, the small structure at 1410 Terrell Mill Road was briefly the site of a battery retail store.

The site is part of a 21-acre tract that’s being proposed for a major retail, commercial and townhouse complex by SSP Blue Ridge, LLC, with the anchor business a major Kroger supermarket.

The Blue Ridge application was to have been taken up today by the Cobb Planning Commission but has been continued to September (here’s a summary of the rezoning proposal).

The proposed $70 million development is a joint project between Connolly Investment & Development and Eden Rock Real Estate Partners.

The property also includes the current site of Brumby Elementary School, which is relocating next year, and existing retail and restaurant space also at the Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill intersection.

East Cobbers from way back remember the building now being demolished as the site for barbecue joints that came and went, enjoying varying degrees of popularity: Big Ed’s, Pig and Pit, Shane’s Rib Shack and Old Hickory House.

Earlier in this decade, the 1410 Terrell Mill location was the site of the Botekim Brazilian Bistro for about a year, until it closed in 2012.

EAST COBB ZONING: Lidl Grocery, Powers Ferry-Terrell Mill cases to be continued

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At their monthly zoning hearing Tuesday morning, the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted to approve Lidl Grocery’s request to continue its rezoning application to redevelop the Park 12 Theatre site (previous ECN post here).

The case will be placed on the August zoning calendar. Another major East Cobb application, filed by SSP Blue Ridge, LLC, for a mixed-used development at Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill roads, has been continued to September by the Cobb zoning staff.

The Blue Ridge proposal is for a 21-acre retail, residential and commercial center stretching from the current location of Brumby Elementary School to the northwest intersection of Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill.

The anchor of the proposed development would a be Kroger Marketplace, replacing the current Kroger store on Powers Ferry at the southwest intersection of Delk Road.

We’ll update this post later with more East Cobb cases from today’s zoning meeting.

Lidl Grocery asks for rezoning continuance until August

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Lidl, the German grocery company that wants to build a store at the site of the Park 12 Theatre on Gordy Parkway in northeast Cobb, has asked for a continuance in its rezoning request until August.

Its application is on Tuesday’s Cobb Board of Commissioners zoning hearing agenda, but the board would have to vote at that meeting whether to grant the delay, since the request came after a deadline for doing so, according to a message issued Friday by District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell.

According to a letter sent Thursday by Parks Huff, Lidl’s Marietta-based attorney, the applicant would have to amend its site plan to accommodate a request by the Cobb Architectural Control Committee to have an arborist review tree preservation issues.

If the Lidl rezoning is delayed, it would next be taken up by the commissioners on Aug. 15. Lidl’s proposal for a 35,962-square-foot store, a bit bigger than the cinema facility but with 170 parking spaces—half the total for the movie house—has been opposed by some nearby residents, some of whom started a petition to save the Park 12.

This from petition organizer Abi Hainey, on the Save Park 12 Facebook page, who said another delay could be “a blessing in disguise:”

“If Lidl’s purpose in postponing the hearing is to “wait us out,” they are mistaken. East Cobb is a strong community of people that care and this campaign has made me even more proud to live here. We will not lose steam, in fact, our movement will only get stronger between now and August 15th. Thank you for your continued support!”