Cobb to hold December meetings on Unified Development code

November 21, 2023 4:18 PMNovember 21, 2023 9:08 AM by Wendy Parker

It’s been nearly a year since there have been events around Cobb’s proposed Unified Development Code.

A UDC is a comprehensive planning guide which incorporates zoning, planning and land-use with design, landscaping, architectural and other guidelines. Local Atlanta-area jurisdictions that have them are the cities of Atlanta and Roswell and DeKalb County.

Cobb commissioners voted along party lines in Aug. 2022 to spend $500,000 for an outside consultant to conduct a public feedback process and assist county staff in creating the code.

The county announced recently that there will be several public meetings about the UDC in December at various locations following the publication of a UDC code assessment draft.

You can read through the UDC assessment draft by clicking here; it’s 149 pages of detailed information and recommendations.

The meeting schedule is rather compact—six meetings eight days, culminating with the only East Cobb meeting on Dec. 14 at the Mountain View Community Center:

Wednesday Dec. 6, 6 – 8 p.m., Windy Hill Community Center, 1885 Roswell Street SE, Smyrna
Thursday, Dec. 7, 6 – 8 p.m., North Cobb Regional Library, 3900 S Main Street, Acworth
Monday, Dec. 11, 10 a.m. – noon, BOC Meeting Room, 100 Cherokee Street, Marietta
Tuesday, Dec. 12, 10 a.m. – noon, West Cobb Senior Center, 4915 Dallas Hwy, Powder Springs
Tuesday, Dec. 12, 6 – 8 p.m., Thompson Park Community Center, 555 Nickajack Road, Mableton
Thursday, Dec. 14, 6 – 8 p.m., Mountain View Community Center, 3400 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta

County officials have said the current collection of zoning, planning and development ordinances are more than 50 years old and need a streamlined overhaul.

“The goal of the Unified Development Code (UDC) project is to produce a document that encourages and enables development and redevelopment in identified centers while preserving the unique character of the county’s rural areas,” the county said in a recent message, adding that:

“The project also aims to protect existing neighborhoods, conserve natural and historic resources, support economic development and provide an opportunity for various housing types.”

At the time the consultant was hired, Cobb Community Development director Jessica Guinn said that “this will be a robust public process.

The December hearings are the first part of a three-step process to gain public input, make revisions and present a final version—following more public sessions—for adoption by commissioners.

Here’s more about the timeline; and more documents can be found by clicking here.

Mixed-use project at ex-Harry’s Farmers Market site vetoed

November 9, 2023 5:55 PMNovember 9, 2023 8:04 AM by Wendy Parker

Mixed-use project OK'd at former Harry's Farmers Market site — *An aerial rendering of the proposed Accent Marietta Crossing.*

UPDATED, Nov. 9:

Marietta mayor Steve Tumlin vetoed the rezoning approval on ‘Thursday, the day after the City Council voted 6-1 to approve it.

The council can override the veto with at least five votes at its monthly meeting in December.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

It’s been more than six years since Harry’s Farmers Market closed on Powers Ferry Road in the East Cobb area, in a former retail center that has sat virtually empty since then.

On Wednesday, the Marietta City Council approved a rezoning request to use that property for a mixed-use developement featuring luxury apartments and townhomes.

The long-delayed request for what’s being called Accent Marietta Crossing got a vote of 6-1.

But Mayor Steve Tumlin, who has been adamantly opposed to new apartment construction in the city in recent years, said right after the vote that he may veto the measure.

During a discussion after the rezoning presentation, he said that “I just can’t support these numbers. This just isn’t right. I can’t support this as presented.”

Westplan Investors of Atlanta had been seeking some changes to the conditional mixed-use zoning designation to build more than 200 apartments, 28 townhomes, and 14,389 square feet of retail space in an $80 million investment.

The property was zoned for a specific site plan when Studio Movie Grill came in in 2017, as Harry’s was set to close, so the Council was being asked to approve a new site plan.

(You can read the filing by clicking here.)

Parks Huff, Westplan’s attorney, said in a presentation to the Council that the project would transform an area that for “the last 30 years has looked the same.

“This is something that will invigorate this area,” he said, noting that the Marietta Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval and that there’s no community opposition.

“That’s because it fits.”

*“Please don’t stand in the way of progress,” Studio Movie Grill owner Brian Schultz said.*

The Studio Movie Grill and an outparcel on Powers Ferry with existing businesses will remain, but the rest of the nearly 20-acre center—including the former Harry’s and adjacent empty space—would be demolished.

Westplan is envisioning the new development as a critical part of an effort by Marietta officials to redevelop Roswell Road eastward from Cobb Parkway. A CobbLinc transit station is being planned for the former Sear’s property across from the Big Chicken.

Westplan’s plans call for “rehabbing” a vacant retail building of nearly 15,000 square feet that fronts Powers Ferry Road, and will keep the existing parking lot that serves the Studio Movie Grill.

Brian Schultz, the Studio Movie Grill owner, said “this property needs a spark.” He addressed also Tumlin’s reluctance.

“I’m literally imploring you to let us bring this community together,” he said. “Please don’t stand in the way of progress.”

In April, Tumlin vetoed a mixed-use project at the former Kroger store on Powers Ferry Road and Delk Road that called for more than 300 apartments, after the council voted 5-2 to approve it.

The council tried to override the veto, which needed five votes, but the vote to override passed only by a 4-3 count.

Several other citizens spoke in favor of the Westplan project, citing the need for quality rental residential space.

The 236 apartments (down from an initial 300), spread out over five buildings, and the townhomes would form a density of 16.93 units per acre. Amenities call for a leasing office, swimming pool, two gazebo/grill areas and patio space.

The two apartment buildings to face Powers Ferry would have commercial/office space on the ground floor.

The total parking would come to 844 spaces, both in surface spaces and two-level parking deck. A total of 13 percent of the site is deemed for recreational purposes, including walking trail areas and a dog run.

Westplan also has agreed to construct new sidewalks along Powers Ferry and Roswell Road to increase pedestrian connectivity.

“If this doesn’t get approved, we have to question what mixed-use is, because this is it,” City Council member Cheryl Richardson said before the vote.

Council member Andre Sims noted that his own children, in their late 20s and early 30s, “can’t afford to buy a $300,000 house” and that younger generations are struggling to afford to become homeowners.

Harry’s was once the anchor of a shopping center that opened in the 1990s, featuring Builders Square and Sports Authority stores and a Revco/CVS drug store. But after those businesses closed, Harry’s became the lone occupant of what was later named Harry’s Crossing.

Harry’s downsized its original space following the opening of the East Cobb Whole Foods store at Merchants Walk in 2012.

Whole Foods, which acquired Harry’s in 2001 but allowed the farmers market concept to retain its name, decided to close the Marietta store and open a Whole Foods in Kennesaw.

Harry's Marietta store

East Cobb Guthrie’s Chicken rezoning request continued

November 7, 2023 11:30 AM by Wendy Parker

Guthrie's Chicken files for rezoning for East Cobb restaurant

The Cobb Planning Commission Tuesday voted to continue a rezoning request by Guthrie’s Chicken for a drive-through location in East Cobb.

The board voted 5-0 to push back an initial hearing on the application to December.

The item had been on the meeting’s consent agenda, but opposition arose from the East Cobb Civic Association.

The fast-food chain purchased 0.3 acres on Lower Roswell at Johnson Ferry Road last year with plans to convert a vacated medical building into a drive-through-only restaurant.

DG East Cobb Guthrie’s LLC (you can read the application here) is requesting a change from a planned shopping center (PSC) to a neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) category.

The request also seeks a reduction from the existing 15 parking spaces to 12 and a reduction of the front setback from 50 feet to 20 feet, and would increase the impervious surface maximum from 70 to 92.9 percent.

But the ECCA last week submitted a letter recommending that the request be delayed, due to concerns over some of those proposed variances and other details.

The civic group said the initial application “contained a barely readable site plan,” did not provide a rendering or landscaping, floor, lighting and signage plans.

Guthrie’s filed the application before hiring noted zoning attorney Kevin Moore.

The ECCA said that it hasn’t had much time to respond to some of Moore’s clarifications about what is being proposed, including building height, specific modifications to the structure and traffic concerns.

Moore said that between 22-25 vehicles could be accommodated on the site at any given time.

“However, without further study or analysis of this issue, ECCA is not convinced this number of vehicles can be safely moved through the drive-thru at one time and that traffic will not block access to CVS and in addition, cause a backup into the right turn lane on Lower Roswell Road,” the ECCA noted in its letter.

The ECCA also said it’s concerned about a lack of detail about how customers would pick up food at a walk-up window.

“There is no indication whether there will be a striped walkway for customers to safely cross the traffic of the drive-thru to pick up their food,” the ECCA said. “This concern must also be addressed.”

You can read the full ECCA letter by clicking here.

Guthrie’s Chicken files for rezoning for East Cobb restaurant

October 31, 2023 8:28 AM by Wendy Parker

Guthrie's Chicken files for rezoning for East Cobb restaurant

A small commercial building at a corner of Lower Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry Road could be converted into a fast food chicken restaurant.

Guthrie’s Chicken, which specializes in chicken finger menu items, is scheduled to have a first hearing on its rezoning application next Tuesday before the Cobb Planning Commission.

The request seeks a change from a planned shopping center (PSC) to a neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) category for 0.3 acres at 4774 Lower Roswell Road.

The 2,000-square foot building is currently vacant but previously has housed small medical offices, including a COVID-19 testing location. It’s located in front of a CVS pharmacy, and plans call to remodel the building.

The application by DG East Cobb Guthrie’s LLC (you can read it here) calls for drive-through-only service from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily. An existing single point of access on Lower Roswell would be retained in the proposed site plan.

The Cobb Zoning Office is recommending approval of the application.

Based in Alabama, Guthrie’s is a Southern franchise operation with more than 50 locations in eight states, including one in Mableton and two in Canton.

The Guthrie’s in East Cobb would be located across the intersection from Zaxby’s, another Southern chicken chain.

DG Guthrie’s purchased the land and building for $1.2 million last September, according to Cobb property tax records.

The Cobb Planning Commission, an advisory body, meets next Tuesday at 9 a.m. For more information and a meeting overview, click here.

Guthrie's Chicken files for rezoning for East Cobb restaurant

Cobb Planning Commission continues NE Cobb rezoning cases

October 3, 2023 6:14 PM by Wendy Parker

The Cobb Planning Commission heard three major rezoning cases in the Northeast Cobb area on Tuesday, and decided to delay making a recommendation on all of them.

All three were continued to the November zoning calendar.

Among them is a proposal to build a 105-home single-family detached subdivision on Sandy Plains Road near Kincaid Elementary School in an area that’s a flood plain.

The nearly 20-acre site on Ross Road is includes Little Noonday Creek, and the site plan reflects that nothing would be built on a sliver of the property to the west.

But the applicant, Toll Southeast LP Company, is also asking for variances that would substantially reduce the minimum lot size, set and front setbacks and width between homes and increase the impervious surface maximum to 70 percent.

(You can read the case file by clicking here; and the site plan can be found here.)

The new homes would be built adjacent to another subdivision near the Scufflegrit Road intersection, and Toll’s attorney, Kevin Moore, noted that nearby subdivisions in Cobb and Marietta city limits have similar or less dense zoning categories.

“We’re simply asking to be treated equally by what has been approved by this county and the city that you legally have to acknowledge,” Moore said.

But Laurie Wood, who lives in the nearby St. Charles Place subdivision, said the land is in a wetlands, and that the Toll development design does not include a deceleration lane, unlike other communities along Sandy Plains Road.

A traffic study done earlier this year does not factor in other subdivisions under construction for a total of 90 homes.

Planning Commissioner Deborah Dance, who represents District 3, wants to see a more detailed traffic study, and said she’s concerned about the variances.

*Quick Trip wants to build on a former Rite Aid site, but nearby businesses are objecting.*

A few minutes before that, she asked for a continuance for a proposed Quick Trip gas station and convenience store at the intersection of Canton Road and Jamerson Road.

It’s on a 1.6-acre site that was formerly a Rite Aid pharmacy, and next to a retail center that includes Vespucci’s Italian Kitchen, a Planet Smoothie and Ray’s Donuts. (case filings here).

The shopping center’s attorney and Vespucci’s owner told planning commissioners the shared entry and parking lot on Canton Road would adversely affect their businesses.

“This represents an existential threat to these businesses,” attorney Lawton Jordan said. “These are small neighborhood businesses.”

He said a traffic study showed there would be three times as much traffic coming the Quick Trip than the pharmacy “that’s going to have a negative effect” on his clients.

Carol Brown of the Canton Road Neighbors civic group said there are 11 gas stations in a five-mile radius along Canton Road, and two are within walking distance.

“The neighborhoods love these restaurants,” she said of efforts to recruit more “destination” businesses to a corridor saturated with automotive enterprises.

But Moore said 75 percent of the access to the Quick Trip would be along Jamerson Road.

“We love the local businesses they have, but we think this can work very well,” Moore said. He said that long-term vacancies such as the empty Rite Aid building “is devastating to a community.”

*Nearby residents are opposed to warehouse/distribution buildings in a proposed mixed-use development at Chastain Road and I-575.*

Another request would level one of the largest remaining wooded tracts in the area for a mixed-use development with townhomes, senior apartments, retail and distribution warehouses off Chastain Road.

A request by SDP Acquisitions LLC has been delayed before, but after nearly an hour of presentations and questions, the Planning Commission voted to wait for a traffic study and for the developer to meet with community leaders concerned about the proposed industrial buildings.

SDP has proposed 145 townhomes, 220 apartments for 55 and over residents and nearly 30,000 square feet of retail space fronting Chastain Road near I-575.

Citizens opposed to the project have no problem with that, but objected to plans to build three large buildings totalling 425,000 square feet along ChastainMeadows Parkway for what SDP attorney Kevin Moore described as office space (case filing here).

But Tullan Avard of the Bells Ferry Civic Association said the site plan is too intense for the property, and the distribution warehouse usage that’s proposed doesn’t fit the office category that’s being sought.

They’re to be operated 24/7, she said, and each building will have 30 loading docks, unlike other office/service facilities in the area.

“There would be almost a million—a million—square feet of speculative industrial space on nearly 60 mostly impervious acres,” Avard said. “Warehouses are not permitted under the OS office-services category” that’s in the county’s future land-use map for the property.

Dance said that the proposed uses “as shown are appropriate,” but said more time to work out traffic and other details.

All three cases were held by 4-0 votes, with Planning Commission Chairman Stephen Vault absent.

PHOTOS: MarketPlace Terrell Mill Kroger ‘Superstore’ opens

August 4, 2023 5:49 PMAugust 2, 2023 11:14 AM by Wendy Parker

After years of anticipation, a Kroger “SuperStore” opened at the MarketPlace Terrell Mill development in East Cobb Wednesday with an early-morning celebration.

Before they headed off to school, cheerleaders and a pep band from Wheeler High School set the tone for the festivities, which included a special dedication to the supermarket chain’s partnership with local schools.

After elected officials and Kroger executives spoke, they cut the ceremonial ribbon, then ushered onlookers inside to have a first look at the 90,000-square-foot store, Kroger’s first locally of such an expanded concept.

The store, which also includes a gas station, is the centerpiece of the redevelopment that includes apartments, fast-casual restaurants and small retail, and touted as a catalyst for improvements along the Powers Ferry Road corridor.

Victor Smith, Kroger’s Atlanta division president, thanked former Commissioner Bob Ott and Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance president Patti Rice, among others, “for helping to make this happen.”

MarketPlace Terrell Mill Kroger ‘Superstore’ opens

He said Kroger is investing $38 million in the project, which has expanded “everything” from its recently closed store just down Powers Ferry Road.

Ott, who lives nearby and who served three terms as District 2 commissioner until 2021, said “it’s been a long time coming.”

The nearly 24 acres at Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill Road previously housed some office, retail and restaurant space that was aging. The Kroger at 1311 Powers Ferry Road sits on the former site of Brumby Elementary School, which relocated to Terrell Mill Road in 2018.

“We started talking about [redevelopment] during the economic downturn,” he said. “For a while I wasn’t sure it was going to happen.”

Commissioners rezoned the land in early 2018, with plenty of community support. The $120 million project was developed by Eden Rock Real Estate Partners, with two restaurants set to open soon that will fill up all the space at MarketPlace Terrell Mill.

The Development Authority of Cobb County approved issuing $35 million in revenue bonds for the part of the project containing the Kroger store, because it was listed on the county’s roster of redevelopment properties.

East Cobb resident and former Cobb Commission Chairman candidate Larry Savage challenged the tax breaks, which were initially invalidated in Cobb Superior Court.

While the case was on appeal, Kroger said it might not go ahead with the MarketPlace Terrell Mill store if it lost in court.

But in June 2019, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the tax breaks, which exempt Kroger completely in the store’s first year of operation. Kroger will gradually pay an assessed tax value phased in over a 10-year period, rising by 10 percent each year.

(According to Cobb tax records, the Development Authority is listed as the owner of the 10.8 acres on which the Kroger project sits, and it has an appraised value of nearly $12 million).

For a time, supporters of the project worried their aspirations may not be realized.

“Never!” Rice said when asked if she thought this day would come. “I’m just so happy. They said it would be the last thing to go in. It’s beautiful.”

“It’s fresh. It’s new. It’s got a lot of product,” Ott said.

MarketPlace Terrell Mill Kroger ‘Superstore’ opens

Customers pass by a specially-designed mural of local landmarks at the entrance, leading into a cornucopia of fresh-cut flowers, an abundance of produce offerings and fully stocked sushi, delicatessen, bakery and meat and seafood counters.

There’s also a location of Murray’s Cheese Shop, which has 42 spots in metro Atlanta, including Kroger stores at Parkaire Landing and the Pavilions at East Lake in East Cobb.

Aisle after aisle after aisle are loaded name-brand foods, frozen goods, personal care and household products, toiletries and pet food. (The store is still waiting for a retail beer and wine sales license.)

Kroger officials handed checks to organizations that help to feed those in need, including its own Zero Hunger, Zero Waste Foundation.

Smith said that’s part of Kroger’s “unwavering commitment to our purpose—to help feed the human spirit.”

The vacated Kroger store at Powers Ferry and Delk Road that served the community for 42 years had been proposed for apartments earlier this year.

The Marietta City Council approved rezoning for 322 units in April, but Mayor Steve Tumlin vetoed the project.

Ott said he’s confident that that property will be redeveloped eventually, and “it will become something great.”

The MarketPlace, he said, has inspired other improvements in the area, including the redevelopment of Restaurant Row, with the Rose and Crown Tavern relocating back there soon.

Tasty China Restaurant is also moving from the Franklin Gateway to property that once housed the La Frontera Restaurant on Powers Ferry Road.

Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said that “renewal does something. It energizes community and inspires confidence.”

MarketPlace Terrell Mill Kroger ‘Superstore’ opens

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Cobb Planning Commission OK’s Paper Mill Village Starbucks plans

August 6, 2023 1:52 PMAugust 1, 2023 12:20 PM by Wendy Parker

Nearly a year after being proposed, a rebuild of the Starbucks at Paper Mill Village finally got a vote on Tuesday.

After months of delays, what had been first designed as a two-story standalone building went before the Cobb Planning Commission as a one-story coffee shop on the site of the present Starbucks location.

The matter was on the consent agenda, which was passed by a 4-0 vote.

The applicant, S&B Investments, Inc., wanted to rezone 0.73 acres at 31 Johnson Ferry Road, at the intersection of Paper Mill Road, from future commercial and low-density residential (R-80) to neighborhood retail commercial.

The expanded coffee shop would have had 2,500 square feet, 25 parking places and drive-thru service and would be open daily from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Those dimensions were sharply reduced in March after the initial plans were filed for two stories, 5,000 square feet and 23 parking places.

The Cobb Zoning Staff analysis said that wasn’t enough parking, and local civic groups also got involved in what turned to be months of discussions and revisions.

In a July 20 stipulation letter, S&B attorney Parks Huff said his client was withdrawing its site plan and keeping the building’s present configuration and footprint.

The letter also said there would be no drive-thru and any changes would go before county commissioners.

The present building would follow the “village” architectural style of Paper Mill Village and conform to the Johnson Ferry Design Standards in building the new structure.

(You can read that letter by clicking here.)

The Planning Commission’s recommendation for approval goes to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which will conduct its next zoning hearing on Aug. 15.

Office use request for Mt. Bethel Community Center withdrawn

July 5, 2023 4:28 PMJuly 3, 2023 2:31 PM by Wendy Parker

Mt. Bethel Church Community Center rezoning

UPDATED, July 5, 4:30 p.m.:

The Cobb Planning Commission voted 5-0 today to allow the applicant to withdraw without prejudice, meaning the matter could be refiled at any time.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

A development company that applied to rezone land including the former Mt. Bethel Church Community Center for a small office building wants to withdraw that request.

We noted last month that the 1.13 acres at 4608 Lower Roswell Road includes a 6,250-square-foot building that has been vacant and that was one of several parcels owned by the church that has been put on the real estate market.

But the zoning signs have come down and the applicant’s attorney filed notice with the Cobb Zoning Office last Thursday that they’d like to withdraw without prejudice.

The application was scheduled to be heard by the Cobb Planning Commission on Wednesday, but the withdrawal request would have to be voted on by that board since it came after the deadline for doing so, which is a week in advance.

MRE Properties & Investments, LLC was seeking low-rise office (LRO) zoning, which would permit professional office uses. The current building, which housed various Mt. Bethel Church activities and non-profits, including Aloha to Aging, is a single story on land zoned in the RA-4 residential category.

The Cobb Zoning staff is recommending that the zoning stay at RA-4, with a limited professional services permit (full analysis here).

The land is bordered by an O & I designation at the corner of Lower Roswell and Woodlawn, where a Mt. Bethel Church day care center once stood, and a single-family subdivision.

The staff analysis concluded that “the applicant’s rezoning proposal is in conformity with the policies and intent of the Cobb County Comprehensive Plan, if deleted to RA-4 with a LPSP. Approval of an LPSP would be more appropriate to the residential neighborhoods surrounding the site.”

Kevin Moore, an attorney for MRE Properties, submitted a stipulation letter last Monday reiterating his client’s desire for LRO zoning,

His request to withdraw did not indicate a reason.

Another East Cobb case that has been delayed for months is being continued again. It’s for a standalone Starbucks at Paper Mill Village, and was to have been heard by the Planning Commission Wednesday.

But S&B Investments Inc. has asked for a continuance until August.

The applicant originally wanted to tear down a small building at 31 Johnson Ferry Road at Paper Mill Road where the current Starbucks is located and build a two-story structure.

That has been reduced to a single story, and attorney Parks Huff said his client continues to work on design.

The Cobb Planning Commission meeting Wednesday will take place starting at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).

Here’s a summary agenda; you can read through the full agenda by clicking here.

The meeting will be live-streamed on the county’s website, cable TV channel (Channel 24 on Comcast) and Youtube page. Visit cobbcounty.org/CobbTV for other streaming options.

The Planning Commission recommendations will be considered by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on July 18.

NE Cobb rezoning request withdrawn on historic home site

June 20, 2023 10:53 AM by Wendy Parker

NE Cobb rezoning historic preservation efforts

The owner of a car wash chain eyeing property near the Town Center area in Northeast Cobb has withdrawn its rezoning request.

Attorney Parks Huff submitted the request Monday on behalf of Tommy’s Express by Northgate, telling Cobb commissioners Tuesday at their monthly zoning hearing that his client had contractual and other obligations that prevented the case from going forward.

Commissioners were to have heard the request to rezone two acres at Bells Ferry Road and Barrett Parkway that includes an 1840s-era home that was the headquarters for a Union general during the Civil War.

Earlier this month, the Cobb Planning Commission voted 4-0 to recommend approval to convert the property from residential to neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) and low-rise office (LRO) after Huff presented a revised site plant that would have kept the McAfee House on the site.

Trevor Beemon, Cobb Landmarks’ executive director, told the Planning Commission that his organization wants to relocate the house, saying it’s not ideal to serve as a cultural center, although there is some community support for keeping it there.

Huff didn’t elaborate on why his client was backing out after the Planning Commission vote. Commissioners voted 4-0 Tuesday to formalize the withdrawal without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled again at any time.

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said she’s hopeful a new applicant can come in and pursue development of the land, which is across from Bells Ferry Elementary School and is surrounded by commercial development.

In a social media post late Monday, Cobb Landmarks said it will continue efforts started in 2019 to preserve the house:

“For those suggesting the house be used as a museum or other public use—if money wasn’t a factor, then yes. However, the estimate to restore the house for commercial/public use is about $700,000. Maintenance is estimated to be about $23,000 a year. Not to mention the list price near $1M to acquire it. It would cost $1.7M+ just to get started, and then more to operate it once it’s finished. This would be extremely challenging for anyone to pull off.”

This is the second rezoning case in recent months that involved an historic structure in East Cobb that eventually was abandoned.

Huff also was the attorney for Kenneth B. Clary, who had sought rezoning on Post Oak Tritt Road for a subdivision that drew opposition for stormwater issues.

The site near McPherson Road also contained an 1840s cabin that Cobb Landmarks has wanted to preserve. Some residents and a member of the Cobb Cemetery Preservation Committee claim area around the Power-Jackson cabin includes a small family cemetery, but Huff said he has no evidence of any burials on the site.

Huff withdrew that request last month after the Planning Commission voted to continue the case.

East Cobb resident reappointed to Cobb Development Authority

June 15, 2023 7:46 AM by Wendy Parker

Karen Hallacy

Karen Hallacy, an East Cobb resident who’s been active in various civic activities, has been reappointed to serve on the Development Authority of Cobb County.

The authority is a seven-member body appointed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners that approves bond requests and other incentive packages for businesses and corporations.

Hallacy, a former lobbyist for the Cobb County School District who lives in the Walton High School area, has been on the Development Authority since 2013.

She was reappointed to another term by the full Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday in a 4-0 vote, with Chairwoman Lisa Cupid absent. Most recently, Hallacy had been serving as the authority’s secretary/treasurer.

Hallacy hasn’t always supported some of the more high-profile and controversial tax abatement requests that have come before the authority.

Among those she opposed was for the Kroger superstore that’s set to open later this summer at the MarketPlace Terrell Mill on Powers Ferry Road, and she cited setting a precedent for retail businesses.

Hallacy also has been a member of the Cobb Elder Abuse Task Force and is a former president of the Georgia PTA.

Also on Tuesday, commissioners voted $4-0 to spend $495,292 for design work for the Johnson Ferry Road-Shallowford Road intersection project (previous ECN post here).

Kimley-Horn of Atlanta will develop the design concept for the $15 million project, most of which is coming from federal sources.

Commissioners also voted Tuesday to spend $8.132 million to purchase two vacant office buildings in an industrial park. The buildings are on 10 acres on West Oak Circle and West Oak Parkway and include 85,000 square feet. They would house official documents that are required for the Cobb County Records Services Division to retain and archive.

The records are currently held at a number of facilities around the county. Renovations are expected to cost another $1.362 million.

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Office building proposed for Mt. Bethel Community Center

June 10, 2023 4:08 PMJune 9, 2023 5:27 PM by Wendy Parker

Mt. Bethel Church Community Center rezoning

The Mt. Bethel Church Community Center that’s been up for sale since last fall could be converted into a small office building.

A local real estate development firm has applied for rezoning the 1.13 acre site at 4608 Lower Roswell Road for that purpose, and a zoning hearing has been scheduled for July 5 before the Cobb Planning Commission.

MRE Properties & Investments, LLC is seeking low-rise office (LRO) zoning, which would permit professional office uses. The current building, which housed various Mt. Bethel Church activities and non-profits, including Aloha to Aging, is a single story on land zoned in the RA-4 residential category.

A preliminary site plan filed with the application (agenda item here) indicates that the structure would remain relatively the same, except for some upgrades inside and to the exterior.

The office hours would be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. MRE has hired noted zoning attorney Kevin Moore.

The land on which the community center sits is one of four parcels Mt. Bethel Church put on the real estate market following its controversial departure from the United Methodist Church last year.

Mt. Bethel paid the UMC’s North Georgia Conference $13.1 million as part of the legal settlement.

In March, Mt. Bethel sold nearly an acre with a day care center that’s adjacent to the community center $1.55 million, according to Cobb property tax records. No forthcoming use for that facility has been announced by the purchaser, a local asset holding company.

The building was a day care center before Mt. Bethel Church purchased it in 1990. Mt. Bethel closed the day care center in December.

Mt. Bethel is also selling a vacant home across Lower Roswell Road and a wooded lot next to the U.S. Post Office.

The community center site was once the home of the Poss family, which owned a farm and was prominent in the area before East Cobb became suburbanized.

The community was then known as Mt. Bethel, and we spoke with members of the Poss family in 2019 about those memories.

Cobb Planning Commission OK’s zoning involving historic home

June 6, 2023 6:10 PM by Wendy Parker

NE Cobb rezoning historic preservation efforts

The Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended approval of a rezoning request for a car wash near Bells Ferry Elementary School that would allow room to preserve an 1840s-era home on the property (see previous post here).

The board voted 4-0 to send the request for neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) and low-rise office (LRO) rezoning to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which will hold a zoning hearing June 20. Planning Commission member Michael Hughes was absent Tuesday.

Parks Huff, an attorney for the Medford Family Limited Partnership, the property owners, said the car wash would be located on the NRC portion of the two-acre site at Bells Ferry Road and Barrett Parkway.

The LRO designation could be used to accommodate the house if it were to stay on the land.

The case has been delayed as the applicant and historic preservation interests continued discussions that have been ongoing for years.

In a May 19 stipulation letter, Huff suggested the split zoning as a means to keep the house on the land.

In her motion to recommend approval Planning Commissioner Deborah Dance was skeptical of the twin zoning categories, and wanted some clarity on what would happen to the LRO land if the home were removed.

He suggested that it could be used for common greenspace, such as a pocket park.

Tommy’s Express by Northgate is proposing a 15,000-square-foot car wash at an intersection that’s surrounded by commercial development, including a Barnes and Noble and Publix.

Cobb Landmarks, an historic preservation non-profit, has been talking with the landowner for four years about finding a way to preserve the McAfee House, which was a homestead that served as a Union general’s headquarters during the Civil War.

Trevor Beemon, Cobb Landmarks’ executive director, told the Planning Commission Tuesday that his organization wants to relocate the house, saying it’s not ideal to serve as a cultural center, although there is some community support for keeping it there.

He said Cobb Landmarks, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation and the Cobb Preservation Commission could be conveyed a deed for preservation purposes.

He said he’s meeting this week with the Georgia Trust, which could put a preservation easement on the land surrounding the home, then make repairs and find “suitable purpose” and possibly a new location.

Cobb Planning Commission OK’s zoning involving historic home — *A rendering of the proposed Tommy’s Car Wash.*

Civil War-era homesite subject of NE Cobb rezoning request

May 10, 2024 5:29 PMJune 2, 2023 4:06 PM by Wendy Parker

NE Cobb rezoning historic preservation efforts

A home in Northeast Cobb that served as a Union general’s headquarters during the Civil War could soon give way to a car wash.

The Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday is expected to give a first hearing for a proposed car wash at the intersection of Bells Ferry Road and Barrett Parkway after the application had been delayed.

The McAfee House has been vacant for years, and historic preservation interests have been negotiating with the landowners to have the building relocated.

Two-acre site is surrounded by commercial property, including a shopping center with a Publix and a Barnes and Noble, and is across the street from Bells Ferry Elementary School.

Tommy’s Express by Northgate is seeking the neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) category (case filings here) for the two-acre site, which currently is zoned general commercial.

The car wash, which would include 5,315 square feet of space and 29 parking spaces, would be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Cobb Landmarks has been talking with the property owner, the Medford Family Limited Partnership, since 2019 to find a way to relocate and preserve the land, and has acknowledged that “the house and land are not protected through local zoning or historic designation.”

The Cobb Zoning Office is recommending approval with some conditions, and suggested that “if the house cannot be moved and/or preserved on site, staff recommends that documentation of the structure, all outbuildings, and its setting, including current archival-quality photographs be completed by a cultural resource consultant. These materials should be submitted to the historic preservation planner.”

The McAfee House was the homestead of farmers Eliza and Robert McAfee, and it dates back to the 1840s. It was used as a Union Army general’s headquarters after the seizure of the Big Shanty during the Civil War. It also served as a field hospital after an 1864 engagement near what was called McAfee’s Crossroads.

Cobb Landmarks had been working to preserve another 1840s home on Post Oak Tritt Road where another rezoning case was being considered.

But the applicant, Kenneth B. Clary, withdrew that application last month after a proposal for a subdivision drew opposition for stormwater and historic preservation reasons.

The Power-Jackson Cabin was also built in the 1840s and has been abandoned for several decades. Cobb Landmarks posted earlier this week that it recently visited the site to assess the possibility of having an archaeological survey conducted:

“Cobb Landmarks is also exploring different options for the long-term preservation of the cabin, including the possibility of relocating it to a nearby park for public display. . . We were encouraged by what we saw and are hopeful the cabin can still be saved.”

Cobb Landmarks has been interested in having the structure relocated to the Hyde Farm facility on Lower Roswell Road.

Another Northeast Cobb rezoning case of interest to be heard Tuesday has been placed on the consent agenda, meaning there is no known opposition.

It’s a proposal by Toys & Gift Delivery, Inc. for a bakery at 2601 Sandy Plains Road, from office-industrial to NRC.

The vacant building at 6,552 square feet and the bakery would be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, according to the zoning filing.

The Cobb Planning Commission hearing begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), you can view the full agenda and individual case files by clicking here.

You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.

Cobb strategic plan draft makes exclusionary zoning reference

May 16, 2023 5:03 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb real estate outlook — *Most subdivisions in East Cobb were developed on property that allows only single-family residential use. ECN file.*

The draft of the Cobb County Five-Year Strategic Plan was released last week, and the second of two public hearings before the Cobb Board of Commissioners is scheduled for May 23.

The plan, which will help set county government policy and goals from 2023-2028, recommends strategies “for achieving success indicators,” as the study’s consultants have phrased it, that for the most part are not very controversial.

But one of those recommendations under the housing category could prove to become a subject of interest as the county continues to gather feedback.

The plan’s three “success indicators” for housing include aiming for an “adequate quantity and availability of housing types.”

One of the recommended strategies under that section is to develop a process to “evaluate and adapt land use policies that promote exclusionary zoning and inhibit a variety of housing options across the County.”

Exclusionary zoning is the practice of allowing only certain kinds of zoning categories in certain areas, and has come up frequently in communities across the country—especially suburban ones—in regard to affordable housing in recent years.

Shortly after the Biden Administration took office the White House issued comments about exclusionary zoning along similar lines, saying that such practices “drive up housing prices, poorer families are kept out of wealthier, high-opportunity neighborhoods. This, in turn, leads to worse outcomes for children, including lower standardized test scores, and greater social inequalities over time.”

Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid has mentioned affordable housing frequently, including at a contentious town hall meeting last summer in East Cobb when she said that “people who work here should be able to afford to live here.”

In recent years, a number of local and state governments have acted to limit or ban exclusionary zoning, as it has been described by some activists as racially and economically discriminatory.

Such bans have been approved in California, and there’s a proposal in New York state to do the same. Similar measures also have been adopted in Minneapolis and Arlington, Va.

There’s no such language suggesting or proposing a ban in the Cobb strategic plan draft, which goes onto to recommend that other strategies to address affordable housing include setting a countywide housing mix goal, and to ensure that a proposed Unified Development Code, should that be approved, “enable a variety of housing types.”

Atlanta became the first city in Georgia to ban exclusionary zoning in 2017, and a year later Brookhaven created an “inclusionary” zoning code and outlawed short-term rentals.

Housing data included in the strategic plan draft indicates that Cobb has a median gross rent of $1,367 a month and a nedian home value of $263,150.

The strategic plan draft was prepared by Accenture LLP, which the county is paying $1.45 million. A proposal to provide another $285,000 and a time extension was dropped last month by commissioners, who said they would hold extra meetings and feedback sessions instead.

The plan is designed to give policy makers a long-term (10- to 20-year) vision for meeting those future service needs, in addition to the more immediate 5-year range.

The draft submitted by Accenture includes seven topic, or “strategic outcome” areas—community development, economic development, governance, housing, infrastructure, mobility and transportation and public safety.

The public can comment on the strategic plan by e-mailing: StrategicPlan@cobbcounty.org.

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Post Oak Tritt Road subdivision rezoning request withdrawn

May 16, 2023 2:29 PM by Wendy Parker

*The Power-Jackson Cabin is one of the last one-room log cabins in Cobb dating back to the 1840s. Photo: David Seibert for Historical Marker Database*

A week after the Cobb Planning Commission voted to hold a subdivision request on Post Oak Tritt Road that drew community opposition, the applicant has withdrawn the proposal without prejudice.

Attorney Parks Huff asked for the withdrawal in a letter dated May 12 to the Cobb Zoning Office, but didn’t specify a reason, other than referring to “issues raised during the pendency of the application.”

East Cobb News has left a message with Huff seeking more information.

A request by Kenneth B. Clary, the landowner, to rezone 13.38 acres at 4701 Post Oak Tritt Road near McPherson Road for homes adjacent to the Clary Lakes subdivision was first made last fall, but didn’t get a first hearing until April.

The Cobb Planning Commission voted for a continuance then, after Clary sought rezoning from R-30 to R-15, and with nearby residents concerned about responsibility for repairing two dams on the lake.

The Cobb Zoning office recommended an R-20 designation, which would allow 18 homes.

But historic preservation activists also had issues with the rezoning. The site includes the Power-Jackson Cabin, one of the last one-room log structures left in Cobb County.

It dates back to the 1840s, and the Cobb Landmarks Society wanted the applicant to pay for relocation expenses to the Hyde Farm property in East Cobb.

Also at the April hearing, preservationists mentioned a cemetery on the site that Clary’s representatives said they weren’t aware of.

At the May 2 Planning Commission hearing, Jimi Richards of the Cobb Cemetery Preservation Commission cited a book about the early history of Cobb County (up to 1932), indicating a young mother, part of the Power family, died there nearly 140 years ago giving birth, and she is buried there with her baby twins.

He asked for the delay for the applicant to hire an archaeologist, per county code, to conduct a survey to discover if, and where, they may be resting.

Joe Ovbey, who lives in an adjacent home on Post Oak Tritt, said his family has known the Clarys for decades.

“I’ve been shown where those graves are for many years,” he said earlier this month.

The planning commission motion to hold the case included provisions for a community meeting between the applicant and nearby residents, a third-party analysis of the possible graves and further addressing dam and stormwater issues.

When an zoning applicant withdraws a request without prejudice, it can refile at any time. Cases that are denied or that are withdrawn with prejudice cannot be refiled for at least a year.

Post Oak Tritt zoning case delayed — *The nearly 14 acres owned by Kenneth B. Clary at Post Oak Tritt and McPherson roads (inside the blue lines) is located just east of Tritt Elementary School.*

JOSH developer to ask for higher impervious surface limit

May 12, 2023 5:40 PMMay 12, 2023 3:24 PM by Wendy Parker

Ashwood Atlanta site plan 3.14.23 — *A revised site plan for a 77-home subdivision on Johnson Ferry Road at Waterfront Drive. For a larger version **click here**.*

The developer of a residential subdivision included in the East Cobb Church rezoning in 2021 will ask Cobb commissioners Tuesday to raise the threshold for impervious surfaces for that development.

It’s included as an Other Business item at the commission’s monthly zoning hearing, and it was continued from last month at the request of the applicant (agenda item here).

Johnson Ferry Road LLC attorney Kevin Moore asked last month for additional time. He represented North Point Ministries, which will be building the East Cobb Church facility at the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection.

Below that, and below a declared flood plain as well, Ashwood Atlanta will be building 77 single-family detached homes on 19 acres zoned RA-5.

The residential portion of the rezoning case was the most contentious, with some in the community insisting the density proposed at the time (44 townhomes and 51 detached homes) was too much, for traffic and stormwater reasons.

Zoning approval included limiting impervious surfaces in the subdivision to 40 percent. Moore will be asking to raise it to 45 percent with the additional runoff “designed into the retention area,” and that “would help to accommodate development consistent with the area,” but there was no further elaboration.

Citizens serving on a plan review committee said they wanted the final plan to get as close to the 40 percent stipulation as possible.

Initial clearing and grading work has been underway at the site for a few weeks, including the relocation of Waterfront Drive.

The zoning hearing hearing begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), you can view the full agenda and individual case files by clicking here.

You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.

King’s Hawaiian pulls out of plans for NE Cobb restaurant

May 9, 2023 2:11 PMMay 8, 2023 5:21 PM by Wendy Parker

King's Hawaiian rezoning request approved

Not long after Cobb commissioners approved a site plan change last month to allow for a King’s Hawaiian restaurant in Northeast Cobb, the California-based company decided it would not go ahead with those plans.

Jason Linscott, a principal at Stein Investment Group, which owns the property at Gordy Parkway and Shallowford Road where the eatery was proposed, said King’s Hawaiian made the decision a week after the zoning hearing.

He said the reason was that the conditions included in the approval “weren’t going to make it work.”

In particular, Linscott cited a required 40-foot buffer between the back of the property and the adjacent Harrison Park tennis courts.

Stein had applied to reduce that buffer to just four feet for parking and drivethru access. But Commissioner JoAnn Birrell referred to a 1980s stipulation when the land was previously rezoned about a 40-foot buffer, saying reducing it “would set a precedent. It was put in place for a reason.”

During the hearing, Garvis Sams, Stein’s attorney, said not being able to reduce the buffer would cause “a considerable re-engineering” of the restaurant.

Linscott said that after the vote Stein “tried really hard” to keep King’s Hawaiian on board, but to no avail.

“It’s a little deflating,” Linscott told East Cobb News, saying he’s not sure what kind of development his company can get approved for that land.

East Cobb News has contacted King’s Hawaiian seeking more information.

It’s uncommon, but not unprecedented, for zoning applicants to pull out of projects after they’re approved. In another Northeast Cobb case in 2021, Pulte Homes withdrew from developing a 92-home subdivision on 50 acres on Ebenezer Road near Blackewell Road.

Linscott said there were other conditions that were approved at the request of the Gordy Architectural Control Committee and the East Cobb Civic Association that also were “not going to work” for King’s Hawaiian.

There also was some opposition from nearby residents about traffic issues, similar to those that prompted commissioners to reject plans for a Lidl grocery store at that intersection.

King's Hawaiian pulls out of NE Cobb plans — *The land proposed for the King’s Hawaiian restaurant (with the gold star) sits at a busy intersection near Lassiter High School.*

Birrell suggested in her motion to approve that Stein purchase adjacent county-owned land to address the buffer issues, but Linscott said that involved a complicated process involving title searches and other factors that also proved to be difficult to pull off.

“We tried to find other ways to do it,” Linscott said, but ultimately, King’s Hawaiian “felt they had given a lot of things” to open the company’s first restaurant outside of its southern California base.

“They said they didn’t feel like they were welcome,” he said.

King’s Hawaiian first filed for a site plan amendment in mid-2022, but didn’t get a hearing before commissioners in March.

The 1.14 acres on which the restaurant was to have gone is shaped like a wedge, next to the self-storage facility that Stein built after getting rezoning in 2021 to convert the former GTC Cobb Park 12 movie theater.

“We’re basically starting over,” Linscott said, saying “it’s not feasible to do a restaurant without getting into that buffer.”

Linscott said “we’ll do something there. I hate that it couldn’t have been something like this.”

Cobb Planning board delays Post Oak Tritt subdivision plans

May 2, 2023 10:51 AM by Wendy Parker

Post Oak Tritt subdivision plans delayed — *For a larger view **click here**.*

A long-delayed request to build homes on property containing an historic 19th century cabin is being held again after the Cobb Planning Commission voted for a 30-day hold on Tuesday.

The 5-0 vote came after a lengthy discussion about a number of other issues—including stormwater, dam repair and traffic access issues—that weren’t resolved after the applicant submitted a revised site plan last month.

“It’s pretty clear to me that we don’t have enough information,” said Planning Commissioner David Anderson, who represents District 2, which includes the 13.38 acres at 4701 Post Oak Tritt Road.

The five-member board, appointed by members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, voted to hold the request last month for similar reasons.

Kenneth Clary, the property owner, wants to sell the land adjacent to the Clary Lakes subdivision for what would be an 18-home development (case file here).

His property is currently zoned R-30, the lowest-density residential category in Cobb. After initially making an R-15 request, his attorney, Parks Huff, submitted an R-20 site plan per the recommendation of the Cobb Zoning Office.

Huff told the planning board that many of the outstanding issues mentioned by opponents can be resolved during the plan review process.

“Your job is to zone property,” he said. “You cannot say that R-20 is not a proper category for that property. Let’s not overthink this. Let’s put this in the proper zoning category and move on.”

But the requested zoning category wasn’t why opponents came forward.

Another outstanding issue is historic in nature, that being the possibility of three graves on the site located near the Power-Jackson Cabin, one of the last one-room structures left in the county dating from the 1840s.

Huff said his client knows of no human remains on the property.

But Jimmy Richards of the Cobb Cemetery Preservation Commission cited a book about the early history of Cobb County (up to 1932), indicating a young mother, part of the Power family, died there nearly 140 years ago giving birth, and she is buried there with her baby twins.

He asked for the delay for the applicant to hire an archaeologist, per county code, to conduct a survey to discover if, and where, they may be resting.

The site plan submitted by Huff, according to Richards, doesn’t indicate anything about the location of the cabin or the possible graves.

Joe Ovbey, who lives in an adjacent home on Post Oak Tritt, said his family has known the Clarys for decades.

“I’ve been shown where those graves are for many years,” he said, urging that the rezoning be delayed.

Cobb Landmarks, an historic preservation non-profit, wants to have the cabin relocated to Hyde Farm, near other Powers family cabins.

The Power-Jackson Cabin includes Masonic markings on the chimney that are “why it wasn’t burned down during the Civil War,” Ovbie said.

More modern concerns also prompted the additional delay.

Richard Grome, president of the East Cobb Civic Association, said the new site plan “seems to have some of the same problems as the old one.”

One of the lots would not be accessible by the subdivision street at all, but via Post Oak Tritt Road.

other lots are included on a flood plain on the southern edge of the two Clary lakes. There also is a dam that is located on one of the lots.

When Anderson asked who would bear responsibility for repairing the dam, Huff indicated that it might not be a homeowners association but rather an individual property owner.

“We’re doing this the same way [as nearby subdivisions],” Huff said. “We’re doing it at a lower density.”

But Anderson wasn’t reassured by that response, nor some of the traffic access problems. His motion to delay included provisions for a community meeting between the applicant and nearby residents, a third-party analysis of the possible graves and further addressing dam and stormwater issues.

NE Cobb zoning cases spark historic preservation efforts

April 27, 2023 5:00 PM by Wendy Parker

NE Cobb rezoning historic preservation efforts — *The McAfee House, which was a Union general’s headquarters during the Civil War, would give way to a car wash at the intersection of Bells Ferry Road and Barrett Parkway. (Cobb Landmarks)*

Two homes built in the 1840s—a decade after the creation of Cobb County—have stood the test of time.

The Power-Jackson Cabin on Post Oak Tritt Road and the McAfee House at Bells Ferry Road and Barrett Parkway have been the subject of considerable attention by historic preservation interests for a number of years.

But they stand on property being eyed by developers in areas of Northeast Cobb where there’s little undeveloped land remaining.

Two current rezoning cases will likely determine the fate of those historic buildings.

On Tuesday, the Cobb Planning Commission will hear for a second time a proposal to develop a subdivision on the Post Oak Tritt property after voting to hold it at their April hearing (case filings here).

In addition to community opposition for density and stormwater issues, the subject of the Power-Jackson Cabin is also a consideration.

It’s regarded as one of the last one-room cabins left in Cobb from that era, and is literally falling apart.

At the April Planning Commission hearing, an attorney for the applicant said the building is “uninhabitable” and urged for its relocation.

In a stipulation letter to the Cobb Zoning Office dated Monday (you can read it here), attorney Parks Huff said his client would provide Cobb Landmarks, a local historic preservation non-profit, access to the cabin “for research purposes” and to make it available for relocation or for preserving parts of the building.

In response to a message from East Cobb News, Cobb Landmarks executive director Trevor Beemon said his organization would like to relocate the Power-Jackson Cabin to Hyde Farm off Lower Roswell Road.

That’s where another 1840s-era cabin, the Power Cabin, has been preserved, and where another cabin in the Power family also sits.

A rezoning case on land where the McAfee House is located was to have been on Tuesday’s Planning Commission agenda.

It was the homestead of farmers Eliza and Robert McAfee, and was used as a Union Army general’s headquarters after the seizure of the Big Shanty during the Civil War. It also served as a field hospital after an 1864 engagement near what was called McAfee’s Crossroads.

Huff, also the attorney for that applicant, has asked for a delay to June (see case filings here).

His client is Tommy’s Express by Northgate, which wants to build a car wash on the two-acre site that’s across from Bells Ferry Elementary School and near a retail center with a Publix and a Barnes & Noble.

The Medford Family Limited Partnership, which owns the land, has wanted to sell for several years. Cobb Landmarks has been in talks since 2019 to find a way to relocate and preserve the land, but acknowledged that despite the designation of an historical marker (there’s also one at the Power-Jackson Cabin) “the house and land are not protected through local zoning or historic designation.”

Those discussions, with the landowner and potential developers, have not been successful, but Beemon said Thursday that efforts would continue “with the developer and a private individual to relocate the home to Marietta for restoration and use as a residence.”

Another East Cobb case that’s been delayed and that also won’t be heard Tuesday is a request to build a new standalone Starbucks at Paper Mill Village.

Garvis Sams, the applicant’s attorney, asked this week for another continuance, to July.

You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.

Legislative leader to speak to East Cobb Civic Association

April 24, 2023 3:28 PMApril 24, 2023 10:13 AM by Wendy Parker

State Rep. Sharon Cooper, a Republican from District 45 in East Cobb, is the featured speaker at the East Cobb Civic Association‘s monthly meeting on Wednesday. East Cobb Civic Association logo

The meeting takes place at 7 p.m. at Fullers Park (3499 Robinson Road), and is open to the public.

Cooper, the chairwoman of the Georgia House Public Health Committee, is expected to review the recently concluded 2023 legislative session.

The East Cobb Civic Association is an all-volunteer organization of around 9,000 homeowners that influences development in the community by getting involved in zoning and code matters, as well as transportation, community service and other issues.

The meetings are held the fourth Wednesday of each month and include a discussion of and recommendations on zoning cases to be heard by the Cobb Planning Commission and Cobb Board of Commissioners.

Upcoming zoning cases include a rezoning on Post Oak Tritt Road for a subdivision near Clary Lakes, and replacing the current Starbucks at Paper Mill Village with a larger coffee shop in a standalone building.

Those cases have been delayed several months and are tentatively scheduled to be considered in May.

The ECCA opposed a decision last week by Cobb commissioners to allow for a King’s Hawaiian restaurant at Shallowford Road and Gordy Parkway.

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