After years of pleading, prodding and practically begging, residents in the vicinity of the downtrodden Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center finally got their wish in 2021.
But the redevelopment plans of Atlantic Realty, an Atlanta luxury apartment builder that first filed its rezoning request in the summer of 2020, will look very different from what was originally intended.
Even after the Cobb Board of Commissioners approved the rezoning in June—with some vocal opposition from other residents—there was yet another twist in what the mixed-use project will look like.
As commissioners were signing off on a project with 132 senior apartments and 102 townhomes and a small amount of retail space, the developer was trying to work out a traffic arrangement with a liquor store owner whose business is located at what would be the new development’s main entrance on Sandy Plains Road.
That project also was to have included a 34,000-square-foot grocery store to be occupied by Lidl. But Atlantic Realty’s discussions with the Sprayberry Bottle Shop fell through, and Lidl is no longer involved in the development.
Other retail space and restaurants are tentatively being planned instead.
Before passage, Atlantic Realty dropped plans for a general apartment building that drew most of the opposition, with those against fearing a single-family area would change the nature of their neighborhoods.
A once-vibrant shopping center that has evolved into a longstanding community eyesore is expected to be demolished in early 2022.
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Residents opposed to the East Cobb Church rezoning application objected to high-density residences.
The cornerstone of a proposed mixed-use project at the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection was the least controversial component of a rezoning saga that took nearly a year to unfold.
While the proposed new home of East Cobb Church wasn’t an issue, residents living near the 33-acre assemblage said the residential portion of the application was too dense and would cause traffic and other quality-of-life concerns.
Cobb commissioners voted 3-1 in October to approve the rezoning, after months of delays and revisions that left residents reeling.
The final revision that was improved will allow for 44 townhomes and 51 single-family detached homes to be built near two single-family subdivisions whose primary access point, Waterfront Drive, is located in the heart of the newly approved residential area.
North Point Ministries, which operates several other megachurches in metro Atlanta, has plans to buy all of the 24 parcels that make up the 33 acres. The current owners of the properties, retired prominent attorney William Hanna and his wife’s ministry, have insisted on selling the land to a single buyer.
North Point has plans to sell 20 acres to Ashwood Atlanta, which will develop the homes.
What especially bothered some residents was a last-minute site plan unveiled at the commission meeting in October, without much time for zoning staff or public review.
“It is clear we need to vote in favor in the 2022 midterms [a] Cityhood vote to protect East Cobb’s interests and ensure we have a zoning board that listens to its taxpayers,” Rachel Bruce said after the vote.
(The properties involved in the East Cobb Church case are all included in the proposed City of East Cobb that will be considered in the 2022 legislative session.)
Other issues include stormwater concerns. What was once known as Maddox Lake has been dredged for several years, and federal officials must determine if that part of the land can be developed.
If it’s declared to be in a flood plain, North Point attorney Kevin Moore said the residential developer would reduce the number of units accordingly.
In her motion to approve the application, commissioner Jerica Richardson—in her first major rezoning case in the East Cobb part of her District 2—included provisions to cap the density at five units an acre.
East Cobb Church, which has been holding services at Eastside Baptist Church, has been promoting its campaign for a worship facility as part of the “Revitalize JOSH campaign.”
A year after commissioners approved the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan, an underdeveloped corner of that intersection will be revived by a project that wasn’t contemplated during the lengthy master plan process.
For East Cobb Church, coming home means a commitment to its new community.
“We’ve been dreaming of a home, not just to go but, but to launch from, into the community, on a mission to love, where we live,” Pastor Jamey Dickens said in a church-produced video after the rezoning vote.
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Mt. Bethel Christian Academy wants to built an athletic field (blue star) near homeowners in the Holly Springs subdivision, but residents say the proposal is incomplete.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to hold a request by Mt. Bethel Christian Academy to change its site plan for athletic facilities at its North campus.
The private school’s application for revisions to a special land-use permit will wait to be heard in February, when zoning cases resume in Cobb County.
Northeast Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell said in making the motion for the delay that the site plan changes weren’t complete, and what had been formally submitted was received only last week.
In addition, nearby residents and the East Cobb Civic Association objected to what was proposed.
“In light of all that, I would rather that we hold this,” said Birrell, and the vote was a unanimous 5-0.
Birrell had previously met with county zoning staff and Mt. Bethel Christian leaders about the changes before the school hired noted Cobb zoning attorney Kevin Moore.
“We asked that they provide a complete site plan,” Birrell said. “I didn’t receive anything until Dec. 15, after 5 p.m.”
Mt. Bethel Christian Academy has operated a high school campus on 33 acres on Post Oak Tritt Road since 2014; the site plan approved with a special land-use permit (SLUP) permitted athletic facilities on the northern side of the property, but any changes must come back before commissioners.
Moore reminded commissioners during Tuesday’s hearing of the approved uses in that SLUP, and reiterated that it also included no field lighting.
The proposed changes would remove a track previously approved around the field, relocate a field house and add 39 parking spaces for a total of 121.
Richard Grome, president of the East Cobb Civic Association, said the Mt. Bethel site plan presented by Moore “is not showing the complete picture.”
He noted that the ECCA met with Moore on Dec. 2, received the new site plan on Dec. 9, and then a new stipulation letter on Dec. 15.
In addition to concerns over the impact of two retaining walls close to homeowners adjacent to the field, the proposals don’t include elevations for the athletic facility.
“They need to know what this raised concrete stadium will look like from their yards,” he said.
Some of those property owners, who live on Alberta Drive in the Holly Springs subdivision, had planned to be in attendance at the zoning hearing, but were not due to COVID-19 concerns.
One of them, Leonard Jacobs, told East Cobb News prior to the hearing that the athletic field “will be part of my back yard. I can watch them from my dining room table.”
He said the process has been rushed, and residents had only six days between meeting with Moore and the hearing date.
He said that he wanted to “correct the impression” that the school “is trying to mitigate the nuisance they have created on a property too small and poorly located for the stated purpose.”
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Mt. Bethel Christian Academy will be asking Cobb commissioners next week to amend the site plan for its high school campus on Post Oak Tritt Road to relocate an approved athletic field house and to accommodate more parking space.
The private school run by Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church has an “Other Business” item on the commission’s zoning hearing agenda that requests moving a planned field house from the north to the south end of campus.
The agenda item (you can read it here), the last to be heard on Tuesday, also requests relocating 82 parking spaces and creating 39 more parking spaces for a total of 121.
Mt. Bethel Christian Academy was granted a special-land use plan permit in 2013 from commissioners in order to open its high school at 2509 Post Oak Tritt Road, near the intersection of Holly Springs Road.
Mt. Bethel operates grades 9-12 on what it calls its Upper Campus (with K-8 classes on the Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church grounds on Lower Roswell Road).
The original approval of the Upper Campus special-land use permit included a site plan for the athletic facilities on the northern side of the property, but any changes to the site plan or stipulations must come back before commissioners.
The new site plan modifications are needed, the agenda item states, after engineering work was done on the site and “to best utilize the Property now and in future years.”
The hearing also 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.
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A developer wants to turn an older homesite on Trickum Road with an ample backyard and wooded area into a 10-home subdivision.
An application by Lot One Homes would convert 4.33 acres across from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints into a new residential community along a very slender stretch of property owned by The Edna E. Miller Revocable Trust.
The case will be heard Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission, which is conducting its final hearing until February.
The Lot One Homes application is seeking RA-5 zoning for the lot, which in its current R-20 category would allow up to seven homes (you can read the filing here).
The request for 10 detached homes calls for a density of 2.3 units per acre, and the Cobb Zoning Office has recommended approval for a limit of 2.1 units an acre, as well as other conditions.
This isn’t the first time this piece of land has gone before the county for rezoning. Garvis Sams, a noted Cobb zoning attorney representing Lot One Homes, wrote in a Nov. 23 stipulation letter that the property was included in a larger assemblage in 2006 for 22 homes in a case that was rejected and later was subject to litigation.
But the developer didn’t close on the land, which has remained R-20, Sams said.
The land is located above the Hillcrest Oaks subdivision along Sandy Plains Road that’s zoned RA-4, a higher density.
The Lot One Homes request calls for homes along one residential street, with the homes ranging between 2,650 and 3,150 square feet and possibly more, bordered by 10-15 feet landscaping buffers and guest parking spaces.
At the back of the development would be a home on a cul-de-sac, with a detention pond and a stormwater management area.
Sams said in his letter his client has been discussing the case with the East Cobb Civic Association, which has said it is in support of the application per the stipulation letter and other stipulations.
The case is Z-85 and it’s scheduled to be heard close to the end of the hearing, under new business.
The hearing starts at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).
COVID-19 protocols are being followed, including mandatory masks and a limit on in-person attendance due to social-distancing.
The hearing also 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.
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The Johnson Ferry-Shallowford Master Plan, adopted in 2020, reflects community desires to maintain a distinct suburban feel.
A controversial proposal to create a Unified Development Code in Cobb County will be further introduced to the public on Wednesday in the first of several town hall meetings to take place over the next few months.
The Wednesday virtual meeting, which will be presented by Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, starts at 6:30 p.m., and will be live-streamed on the county government’s YouTube channel.
Citizens wishing to ask questions in advance can do so by e-mailing comments@cobbcounty.org.
In October, Cobb commissioners approved a contract for consulting services to establish a UDC, which incorporates zoning, planning and land-use with design, landscaping, architectural and other guidelines.
That’s the first word that got out to the public that a UDC process was being developed. Other metro Atlanta jurisdictions with UDC codes include Atlanta and DeKalb, and most recently, the city of Roswell, whose code went into effect in 2014.
The Cobb Community Development Agency said on an information page that the changes are needed to “streamline these documents into one combined document that would be more easily accessible to the public, designers, and County staff reviewers.”
At a recent commission meeting, county community development director Jessica Guinn said Cobb’s zoning ordinance is more than 50 years old, and that a more comprehensive process is needed that periodic updates.
But some leading civic leaders have been vocal in opposition, including Vinings resident Ron Sifen, who said the county hasn’t explained exactly what needs to be updated.
Another critic is East Cobb resident Jan Barton, who wrote a letter to the editor to the MDJ in November declaring the UDC a “war” on the suburbs.
The Committee for Cityhood in East Cobb, which is proposing planning and zoning services, republished the letter on its website. Two other cityhood movements in Cobb, in Vinings and west Cobb, also have emerged this year out of concerns over high-density development in the county.
Those concerns also were raised earlier this year during protracted zoning cases in the East Cobb area, over the redevelopment of the Sprayberry Crossing shopping center and the East Cobb Church mixed-use case at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford Roads.
(The East Cobb Church project, which includes high-density housing that were opposed by some nearby residents, is on property that would be included in the proposed city of East Cobb.)
In a video posted last week on the county’s website, Guinn told Cobb government public information officer Ross Cavitt that “what you see in your neighborhood is going to pretty much be the same.”
Cobb is currently conducting a five-year update the county’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which will be one of the main documents used during the UDC process.
Other community meetings on the UDC have been scheduled through March, including a Jan. 24 meeting at the Mlountain View Regional Library from 6-8 p.m.
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Among them is a request by INV3GRP LLC to rezone 3.4 acres on Merneil Drive from R-20 to RA-4 for an 11-home detached single-family subdivision (Z-73, agenda item here) and shown on the aerial map above.
The property is a vacant lot south of Post Oak Tritt Road, and while RA-4 housing is located nearby, the Cobb Zoning Office is recommending denial, saying it doesn’t fit the lower-density housing on Marneil Drive.
The lot is also designated for low-density residential use on the county’s future land use map.
The next case, Z-74 (agenda item, stipulation letter), is on the consent agenda because there has been no announced staff or community opposition.
It’s a request to rezone 1.14 acres from R-30 to R-20 for two single family homes on Wesley Chapel Road.
It’s an undeveloped lot belonging to Glennis F. Willis, who also owned 49 nearby acres that were rezoned in September 2020 for an 81-home subdivision near Garrison Mill Elementary School.
That property, which falls on either side of Wesley Chapel Road, is currently being developed into what will be called the Garrison Park subdivision.
Another East Cobb case on the consent agenda, Z-76, is being requested by Lot One Homes Inc. It would rezone a half-acre on Lassiter Road, just west of the intersection at Johnson Ferry Road, from low-rise office to RA-5 for two homes.
It’s a vacant lot between a convenience store and the Garland Square residential community, which is zoned suburban condominium (agenda item, stipulation letter).
Z-76 also is on the consent agenda, and the Cobb Zoning Staff has recommended approval (as it has Z-74) with some condition.
Both of those applicants are being represented by noted Cobb zoning attorney Garvis Sams.
The full agenda for Tuesday’s hearing can be found here; it will take place at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).
COVID-19 protocols are being followed, including mandatory masks and a limit on in-person attendance due to social-distancing.
The hearing also 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.
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The Cobb Board of Commissioners approved a 92-home subdivision on Ebenezer Road Tuesday after several days.
Some changes were made by the developer, Pulte Homes, after being held last month. Commissioners voted 5-0 to approve that number of homes, with additional provisions.
Pulte maintained its request for 92 homes on nearly 50 acres, but added a viewshed protection plan to address concerns from nearby residents of major stormwater runoff.
Hosack, a former Cobb County Manager and head of the Cobb community development agency, said the density of 1.96 units per acre was consistent with nearby subdivisions.
John Steutzer, a nearby resident, said while he and other neighbors are pleased with an R-15 rezoning request, 92 homes is “too dense for the area,” and suggested a limit of 85 homes.
He also said the lot sizes were not “buildable” enough and the proposed home sizes were too small, and urged that they be at least 3,000 square feet.
They also wanted more buffer, berm, landscaping, architectural, traffic and stormwater management changes.
While Pulte proposed a four-way stop at Ebenezer and Maybreeze, Steutzer said the traffic stemming from a 92-home subdivision was sufficient to require a roundabout, and said the neighbors want a signaled crosswalk for children using nearby schools.
He requested a delay or denial of the request. Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, whose District 3 includes the Ebenezer Road property, made a motion to approve the 92 homes with several stipulations, including a 35 percent maximum of impervious surfaces on all lots.
She also included the 3,000-square foot minimum for home sizes in her motion.
“An SBA loan is not a fix,” Lilly said. The Pulte Homes project has two lakes and a creek, she said, “that affect many people downstream. Could this be the reason why I have a sinkhole on my property? Maybe.”
Birrell asked county stormwater officials to work with the developer to resolve issues during plan review regarding a lake that currently is owned by private residents.
She also said that final landscaping and buffer determinations should come back for her approval.
“A lot of this will be done in plan review and will be looked at by all of us when it’s final,” Birrell said.
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North Point Ministries attorney Kevin Moore points to the latest site plan at Tuesday’s Cobb Board of Commissioners hearing.
By a 3-1 vote, the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved the North Point Ministries rezoning request for a mixed-use development.
The vote comes 10 months after it was first considered, and after nearly two dozen site plans and other revisions were submitted.
The 33-acre assemblage at the southwest corner of Shallowford and Johnson Ferry roads will include the East Cobb Church, some retail space and 95 high-density residential units.
That figure was part of the latest site plan, filed last week by North Point, but which hadn’t been formally presented to the community.
Another major revision was to restore access from Johnson Ferry to the Waterfront and MarLanta subdivisions along a relocated Waterfront Drive, but without cut-through access from the new residential community.
Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson, whose District 2 includes the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford area, made as part of her motion to approve the rezoning the creation of a three-member “JOSH” community advisory group that would be included in site plan review.
Two of those individuals, resident Ruth Michels of the MarLanta subdivision and former Cobb commissioner Thea Powell of Chimney Lakes, spoke in opposition to the rezoning.
“We’re at a loss for words,” Michels said, calling the further revised site plan “completely inappropriate.”
Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson
She said the last-minute changes show that “the applicant isn’t listening to and working with the community.”
Michels said she wondered whether the rezoning would have been considered at all had it not been made by a religious organization.
Questions over density, traffic and stormwater runoff have dogged the application from the beginning. A total of 95 people, in person and watching virtually, were counted as being opposed, with 54 in support.
The residential portion of the new site plan would include 44 townhomes and 51 single-family detached homes under the RA-5 category.
North Point will sell off the 20.6 acres for the residential development to Ashwood Atlanta. The property owners, Bill and Lynn Hanna of East Cobb, have wanted to sell off all the land at once, and not in segments.
Kevin Moore, the North Point attorney, said that “we do believe that this strikes the proper balance,” and noted that there were fewer townhomes than detached homes, when in earlier site plans that mix was the other way around.
The Waterfront Drive access would be limited to those living in nearby subdivisions, with cut-through mitigation elements to be determined in site plan review, according to Richardson’s motion.
That intersection currently includes a traffic light at Johnson Ferry and the entrance to the Shallowford Falls shopping center.
She also included a provision that exit access from the new development onto Johnson Ferry be right-turn only, meaning southbound.
In addition, the limit of impervious surfaces on the residential area would be capped at 40 percent, down from an estimated 45 percent proposed in a North Point stipulation letter submitted last week.
Richardson’s motion also limits density in the residential portion to five units an acre. She also said that revisions to the church plans (under the low-rise office category) and the retail portion (neighborhood activity center zoning) could be brought back to commissioners.
Voting against the rezoning was commissioner Keli Gambrill of North Cobb, who called the last minute changes “speculative” and objected to having to vote on a case that staff hadn’t had time to examine.
Gambrill wondered why residential revisions couldn’t also be brought back, since that’s been the most controversial portion of the rezoning case.
She noted that in September, North Point was proposing private roads in the residential community, which would have allowed for greater lot sizes, but wasn’t sure if that was the case now.
“What is the lot size we are looking at?” asked Gambrill, who said that “I’m very surprised at how this is being handled.”
Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid recused herself from the vote, due to a conflict of interest (a family member attends another North Point church).
After the vote, nearby resident Rachel Bruce said the commission’s decision to pass a site plan proposed at the hearing “sets a dangerous precedent for our area that will allow developers to do this over and over again.
“It is clear we need to vote in favor in the 2022 midterms [a] Cityhood vote to protect East Cobb’s interests and ensure we have a zoning board that listens to its taxpayers,” she said in a message e-mailed to East Cobb News.
East Cobb Church also posted a pre-recorded message from Pastor Jamey Dickens on its Facebook page, saying “WE DID IT!”
In his comments (you can watch them here), Dickens made several references to home. Since its inception in 2019, East Cobb Church has been holding services at Eastside Baptist Church.
“We’ve been dreaming of a home, not just to go but, but to launch from, into the community, on a mission to love, where we live,” he said, standing on the property where the 125,000-square foot church will be built.
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Political parties at the local level don’t often get involved in what are typically non-partisan issues, especially zoning cases.
But the Cobb Republican Party has come out in opposition to the North Point Ministries/East Cobb Church rezoning case, which is being heard again by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.
In a statement issued over the weekend on its Facebook page, the Cobb GOP said while it wasn’t against the church, the “density and intensity of this over-reaching zoning is a deal breaker.”
(UPDATE: This post appears to have been deleted or is not available to the general public. Here’s an archived version.)
Like much of the opposition that has formed against the proposed mixed-use project at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads, that’s a reference to the residential portion of the assembled 33 acres.
North Point last week submitted yet another site plan, and is now asking for 44 townhomes and 51 single-family detached homes.
“They are using flood plain in the density calculation to make it appear there are only 5.37 homes per acre, knowing there is already down stream flooding,” says the Cobb GOP message, which urges its followers to contact the two Republican commissioners, JoAnn Birrell and Keli Gambrill, in particular and tell them to vote no.
At the September zoning hearing, Democratic commissioner Jerica Richardson of District 2 asked to hold the case when traffic, density and stormwater issues were renewed. “Jerica needs one of their votes for this to pass as Chairwoman Cupid has recused herself,” the Cobb Republican message states.
In recent weeks, the Cobb Democratic Party has been holding forums about municipal elections in Cobb County, which are non-partisan. They’ve invited candidates running in Acworth and Kennesaw and the party has been canvassing for unspecified candidates in Marietta, where voting for city council and school board races is continuing through the Nov. 2 elections.
“All politics is local and it doesn’t get more local than City Council elections. Let’s build those true blue grassroots by electing some local officials that represent our values. Blue from the bottom-up.”
Otherwise, both local major political parties have stuck to internecine and boilerplate partisan matters.
The Cobb GOP passed a resolution censuring Gov. Brian Kemp, prompting the resignation of former chairman Jason Shepherd from the county committee. The Cobb Young Republicans then denounced the censure.
Cobb Democrats have been sounding off on the GOP-led Cobb Board of Education, most recently blistering chairman Randy Scamihorn for an anti-Semitism resolution passed without input from the three Democrats on the school board.
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The latest site plan by North Point Ministries changes the residential mix and reinstates Waterfront Drive access to nearby neighborhoods. For a larger view click here.
As happened in September, North Point Ministries has filed yet another site plan and stipulation letter for its rezoning request for a church/residential/retail complex that goes before the Cobb Board of Commissioners Tuesday.
Pulte Homes has done the same with a subdivision proposal on Ebenezer Road that’s also been delayed multiple times.
In a 21-page letter sent to the Cobb Zoning Office on Wednesday, North Point attorney Kevin Moore announced new totals for the controversial residential portion of the proposed development at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads, and reintroduced access to nearby neighborhoods via Waterfront Drive that had been removed last month.
In his letter (you can read it here), Moore said the new proposal calls for 63 townhomes and 49 single-family detached homes. At the September commissioners’ hearing (our story here), those figures were 44 and 51 respectively.
The request has switched back to seeking RA-6 rezoning for the residential units after being at RA-5 last month, and a corresponding increase in density, from 4.98 units an acre to 5.37.
The Waterfront Drive access from Johnson Ferry will also connect with the adjacent Waterfront neighborhood, which had been another major point of contention at the September hearing.
Commissioners voted to hold the case due to density and traffic complaints made by nearby residents, as well as the East Cobb Civic Association.
The changes aren’t likely to change the minds of opponents, who’ve said the mixed-use development is too intense for the area.
There are also stormwater issues that would remain uncertain should the application be approved. A federal floodplain study would be done after that, which could affect the number of residential units.
Also complicating the matter is Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid’s recusal from the case, citing a family member who attends another North Point Church, and leaving the decision to her four colleagues.
In the Ebenezer Road case, Pulte Home is keeping its request for 92 homes on nearly 50 acres, but has added a viewshed protection plan to address concerns from nearby residents of major stormwater runoff.
As happened in September, the commissioners will hear Tuesday’s cases in two separate sessions.
The North Point case will be the first after the consent agenda (summary here; more details here) in the morning session, which starts at 9 a.m.
The Pulte case will lead off the afternoon session, with an unspecified starting time.
The full agenda can be found here; the zoning hearing will take place in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).
COVID-19 protocols are being followed, including mandatory masks and a limit on in-person attendance due to social-distancing.
The hearing also 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.
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!
The 2021 Cobb County Future Land Use Map; for a larger version click here.
The Cobb Board of Commissioners will conduct a public hearing Tuesday to begin the process for updating the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan.
Every five years the state requires local governments to update their long-term planning priorities.
The last update in Cobb was in 2017 (you can read it here), and Tuesday’s hearing will feature details on a timeline for the 2022 process, including a public meeting schedule and methods for getting citizen input.
That hearing (agenda item here) will take place near the start of the meeting, after public recognitions and before the public comment period.
The Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan also serves as a vision statement across a number of topics:
Land use; transportation; housing, economic development, community facilities, human services, public health, education, natural and historic resources, public safety, intergovernment coordination, disaster resilience, military compatability and place-making.
More information about the county’s comprehensive planning activities can be found here.
The commissioners’ meeting begins at 9 a.m. (full agenda packet here) in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).
At 1:30 p.m. Tuesday commissioners will have a work session in the same location to hear presentations from county department heads to begin the fiscal years 2023-24 biennial budget process (agenda item here).
COVID-19 protocols are being followed for both meetings, including mandatory masks and a limit on in-person attendance due to social-distancing.
The meetings also 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.
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On Tuesday the Cobb Planning Commission will consider an application for another church in the East Cobb area, albeit on a smaller scale.
The proposed Praise Harvest Community Church would go on Jamerson Road, west of Canton Road, in a small building zoned for neighborhood shopping (NS).
The church is seeking neighborhood commercial retail (NRC) zoning and the Cobb Zoning Staff has recommended approval with conditions (the staff analysis, site plan and other details can be found here).
The existing building includes 20,000 square feet, and the church is proposing a capacity of 100 people (membership is around 45) using the facility Wednesday-Friday evenings and Sunday mornings.
The Praise Harvest case is included on the Planning Commission’s consent agenda (summary here), and the meeting begins at 9 a.m.
It’s in second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), and COVID-19 measures are in place, including required masks.
The meeting also 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.
Also on the agenda is a proposal to convert a single family home on Scufflegrit Road, just below Sandy Plains Road, for a coffee shop with a conference room and tutoring service available by reservation only.
The current home is behind a closed drug store and faces the Sandy Plains Exchange shopping center.
But it’s surrounded by low-density single-family housing and also is on the consent agenda, which mean’s there’s no announced opposition.
The staff is recommending approval (agenda item here) with conditions that include buffering and exterior modifications to be approved by the district commissioner.
The full meeting agenda can be found here; a case that was scheduled to be heard Tuesday in the East Cobb area is being held back to November. The Furniture and Mattress Warehouse wants to develop a 30,000-square foot retail and professional center on and a car wash a vacant lot on Piedmont Road, east of Bells Ferry Road, between a CVS store and a subdivision (agenda item here).
In addition to the East Cobb Church case, Cobb commissioners will reconsider the Ebenezer Road rezoning it’s delayed several times when it holds its next zoning hearing on Oct. 19.
No new filings have been added for either application since the September meetings.
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A proposal to build a 92-home development on Ebenezer Road is being delayed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which voted Tuesday to hold the application for 30 days.
The 5-0 vote came at the behest of Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb, who asked a group of nearby residents to form a committee to work with the developer and county staff on traffic, density, design and stormwater issues.
Pulte Homes had initially proposed 99 homes on nearly 50 acres on the west side of Ebenezer between Maybreeze and Blackwell roads. Last week the developer submitted a new site plan with a reduced number of units and the R-15 residential zoning category.
That would include building in a stormwater runoff area near a lack at the back of the property and which has concerned residents on Catalina Circle.
One of them, Veronica Lilley, said she and her neighbors have endured runoff issues for years, especially after the Blackwell Chase subdivision was built in the 1990s.
“Water is the great destroyer,” she said, adding that at a Sept. 11 meeting with the developer, issues she wanted to raise were denied. “We are in danger of being washed away.”
One of the main issues is that the county can’t manage a retention pond that isn’t on a county road—the streets proposed by Pulte would be private.
Another concern is traffic, and specifically coordinating a new proposed entrance for the subdivision with Maybreeze Road.
While the East Cobb Civic Association spoke in support of the proposal with some conditions, other nearby residents are still opposed.
They include John Stuetzer, who said that while the R-15 category and no variances are acceptable, 92 homes is too dense. He suggested no more than 85 homes with a minimum size of 3,000 square feet.
He and Lilley were asked to serve on the committee by Birrell, who told Rod Hosack, the former Cobb County Manager representing Pulte, that she thinks “a lot of this can be worked out.”
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In their latest site plan, attorneys for North Point Ministries have proposed closing off public access to Waterfront Drive (at left) from Johnson Ferry Road.
Another site plan, another set of new issues have been raised for the East Cobb Church mixed-use rezoning case in the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford corridor.
A few days after attorneys for North Point Ministries submitted major changes to their proposal, the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted yet again to hold the case.
By a 4-0 vote, commissioners approved a 30-day hold on what’s become a contentious matter stretching since late 2020.
Traffic, stormwater and density issues have prompted the greatest concerns from nearby residents, who renewed their concerns in a packed board room Tuesday.
A total of 56 people turned out in favor of the request, and 46 were in opposition, according to a hand count conducted before the hearing.
The latest site plan (our previous post here) would cut off public access to Waterfront Drive at Johnson Ferry Road at the southern end of the 33-acre assemblage, where planned single-family detached homes and townhomes would go.
North Point’s plans would be to sell off 19 of those acres to Ashwood Atlanta, a local residential developer, with the East Cobb Church and proposed new retail space taking up the rest of the development.
But nearby residents protested that the road closure needs to go through a public hearing process, and that public safety and emergency access to their neighborhoods would be affected.
A new site plan would allow Waterfront Drive access at Johnson Ferry Road (red star) to the new housing development only.
“The people who are being most impacted aren’t being listened to,” said Ruth Michels of the MarLanta neighborhood, who has been leading the opposition for several months.
Commissioner Jerica Richardson, whose District 2 includes the “JOSH” area, asked Amy Diaz of Cobb DOT if her agency has had time to study the proposed closure of Waterfront Drive, which connects Johnson Ferry with MarLanta and other subdivisions.
“We’ve had it for less than a week and haven’t had time for a review,” Diaz said.
That was enough for commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Monique Sheffield to support a second consecutive hold, after Richardson could not get enough support in August to approve the rezoning.
“I’m concerned about access to services for people who live on that road,” said Sheffield, of District 4 in South Cobb. “There need to be other ways to mitigate cut-through traffic.”
North Point attorney Kevin Moore said the closure was being proposed after getting feedback that some MarLanta residents wanted to be the only ones using Waterfront Road access.
“That’s not what a public road is for,” said Moore, who said continued cut-through use of that road would “serve to harm our project more than benefit it.”
He said sufficient access to those neighborhoods exist via Shallwford and Lassiter roads.
Earlier in the hearing, Moore upset residents in attendance when he described opponents of the rezoning as “clanging symbols and loud gongs that signify nothing.”
North Point had proposed 71 townhomes and 59 single-family detached homes in the RA-6 housing category—with more than 20 acres to be sold to Ashwood Atlanta, a residential developer.
But now the request is for 51 single-family detached homes and 44 townhomes under RA-5.
That would be on 19 units and the density of the homes would be reduced to 4.98 units an acre.
Michels called that “a disingenous calculation,” because a flood plain study required the Federal Emergency Management Agency would not take place until after a rezoning, and that the figure includes land where R-20 residences on Waterfront Circle would remain.
Moore said that if FEMA determined a flood plain exists, the developer would reduce the number of units to cap density at 4.98 units an acre.
But Chris Lindstrom of the East Cobb Civic Association said that while the project’s density is being reduced, the intensity would be increasing, including nearly 25,000 square feet of proposed retail that didn’t exist in previous site plans.
She also cited more than 100 variances for the civic group’s opposition.
Moore said the variances were necessary because they’re required for the single-family detached homes.
Richardson’s motion to hold the case includes provisions that include connectivity to the nearby neighborhoods from Waterfront Drive and downstream impacts from stormwater.
Chairwoman Lisa Cupid recused herself from the vote, citing a family member who attends a North Point church. She left the room while the case was being discussed and turned the gavel over to Sheffield, the vice chairwoman.
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For a larger view of the latest North Point Ministries/East Cobb Church site plan, click here.
Some last-minute changes to the North Point Ministries/East Cobb Church rezoning case and for a rezoning request on Ebenezer Road have been filed ahead of Tuesday’s hearing before the Cobb Board of Commissioners, and they’re substantial.
In the case of the former, North Point Ministries has filed a new site plan (above) for the 33-acre assembly at the southwest corner of Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads that responds to concerns over density and traffic.
In particular, the number of residential units has been cut from 130 to 95 overall, more retail space has been added, and traffic access from the MarLanta subdivision via the existing Waterfront Drive to Johnson Ferry Road has been removed.
North Point had proposed 71 townhomes and 59 single-family detached homes in the RA-5 housing category—with more than 20 acres to be sold to Ashwood Atlanta, a residential developer.
But now the request is for 51 single-family detached homes and 44 townhomes under RA-5.
That would be on 19 units and the density of the homes would be reduced to 4.98 units an acre, according to a stipulation letter submitted Tuesday by Kevin Moore, North Point’s attorney.
The townhomes that were to have bordered Johnson Ferry Road have been removed, and nearly 25,000 square feet of retail under NRC (neighborhood retail commercial) and parking have been proposed for 3.78 acres of that stretch.
The church plans haven’t changed—around 130,000 square feet and a parking deck on 10 acres zoned LRO (low-rise office), and plans for a linear community park also remain intact.
A full final analysis by the Cobb zoning staff of the revised North Point application can be found by clicking here.
For a larger view of the Pulte Homes/Ebenezer Road rezoning, click here.
On Sept. 7, the Cobb Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the Ebenezer Road case, which also has faced opposition from nearby residents for density and stormwater reasons.
But since then, Pulte Homes has filed an update to its proposal for 99 single-family homes on 50 acres on the west side of Ebenezer, between Maybreeze and Blackwell roads.
Pulte had initially applied for R-15 OSC, a residential category with an open space community provision, meaning that not all of the land can be developed.
On Wednesday, Pulte representative Rod Hosack—the former Cobb County Manager—filed a new site plan and stipulation letter requesting a simple R-15 category for 92 units, including some that will be developed in a stormwater management area.
A lake and green space that had been set aside on the property also has been removed from the revised site plan.
As we noted on Friday, the format of the zoning hearing on Tuesday has been changed to accommodate public interest in these two and other cases and to meet county COVID-19 protocols for social distancing.
The North Point case will be heard in a morning session that starts at 9 a.m.; the Ebenezer Road case is slated for an afternoon session.
The full agenda can be found here; if you’re planning to be in attendance (second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta) you will be required to wear a mask.
The zoning hearing also 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.
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!
Tuesday’s Board of Commissioners zoning hearing—which features the East Cobb Church and Ebenezer Road cases—will be conducted in two phases to accommodate public interest and to meet social-distancing protocols.
Cobb County Manager Jackie McMorris issued a mask mandate last month for anyone visiting indoor county facilities. Those attending the Tuesday zoning hearing will be required to wear masks.
The county also reverted to social-distancing protocols that were followed earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic and thus the capacity in the meeting room will be limited.
The morning session—which starts at 9 a.m.—will include East Cobb Church/North Point Ministries (Z-31, 2020) as well as consent agenda items, Z-28, Z-23, and Z-26 of 2021.
The afternoon session begins at an unspecified time and will include Z-31 (the Ebenezer Road case) as well as Z-40, OB-45, and OB-48.
North Point Ministries’ application for a church, residential and retail at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford Road late last year has been delayed several times.
While there’s substantial community support, there’s also vocal opposition protesting the density of the proposed single-family homes and town homes, and related traffic issues.
Pulte Homes wants to build 99 homes on a 50-acre undeveloped tract on Ebenezer Road.
The five-woman board was down to four during its August hearing as chairwoman Lisa Cupid was absent due to a death in her family.
Earlier this month, the Cobb Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the Ebenezer Road case, which also has faced opposition from nearby residents for density and stormwater reasons.
Tuesday’s zoning hearing begins at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta, and 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.
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!
By a 3-2 vote the Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended approval of a rezoning request for a 99-home single-family subdivision on Ebenezer Road, although numerous issues remain.
The application by Pulte Homes was for the rezoning of nearly 50 acres on the west side of Ebenezer, between Maybreeze Road and Blackwell Road.
Planning Commission member Deborah Dance, who represents District 3 in Northeast Cobb, incorporated some of those concerns in her motion to approve. They include requiring lot sizes to be a minimum of 10,000 feet, mandating that the developer maintain two lakes on the property in perpetuity and the construction of sidewalks and guest parking.
Those and other traffic issues also remain unresolved as the case goes before the Cobb Board of Commissioners Sept. 21.
Planning Commission chairman Fred Beloin and new appointee David Anderson of East Cobb voted against the recommendation of approval.
The land owned by the Phillips family on Ebenezer Road is one of the largest undeveloped tracts of land in the area, and due to the lakes the request called for rezoning from R-20 to the R-15 OSC category. That’s single-family residential with an open space community provision, meaning that not all of the land can be developed.
Last month the Cobb zoning staff continued Pulte’s request. The developer revised the initial site plan and submitted a new stipulation letter, after questions were raised about density of around 2 units an acre, small lot sizes and a lack of amenities.
But nothing new has been added to the case file in the last month, and an online petition was started called “Cobb Citizens Against Pulte Overdevelopment of Ebenezer Road Z-31.” Thus far it has more than 250 signatures.
Pulte representative Rob Hosack, the former Cobb County Manager, showed slides on Tuesday indicating Pulte’s agreement with some community concerns and with previous input from the Planning Commission.
He also noted how the density of the Pulte development would be in line with nearby neighborhoods at around two units an acre.
But John Stuetzer, a nearby resident speaking on behalf of neighbors, and the East Cobb Civic Association said that despite Pulte’s agreement to make changes at community meetings, there’s nothing in the case file indicating that.
Stuetzer said “99 units are too dense” and said there were too many variances being requested “and that’s unacceptable.”
Another resident, Veronica Little, who lives across from the property on Ebenezer Road, said her home would “wash away” without some protection.
She said the dams on the lakes haven’t been looked at since the 1970s: “Do you think these dams are any good? Probably not.
“If one thing happens to this lake, my neighbor’s house is gone,” said Little, asking for the request to be delayed.
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Nothing new has been added to the case file since then, but last week an online petition was started by Tom Dilbeck and called “Cobb Citizens Against Pulte Overdevelopment of Ebenezer Road Z-31.” Thus far is has nearly 250 signatures.
The property is currently zoned R-20 OSC, the latter meaning “open space community” overlay, a special preservation designation.
The Planning Commission is a five-member advisory board appointed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners, who make final decisions on zoning cases.
Tuesday’s meeting starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday (you can read the full agenda here) in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta. It also 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 meeting also will be the first for David Anderson, a new Planning Commission member who was appointed last month by District 2 commissioner Jerica Richardson. He’s a resident of East Cobb with a background in commercial real estate investment and development and urban planning.
The application by North Point Ministries to build the East Cobb Church and sell land for homes and townhomes in the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford corridor was delayed in August at the behest of Richardson.
There were only four commission members present at the August zoning hearing and two of them said they could not support the request. Commission chairwoman Lisa Cupid was absent due to a death in her family.
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!
With a split vote looming, the Cobb Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to delay the East Cobb Church rezoning request yet again, until September.
District 2 commissioner Jerica Richardson made motion to hold the application of North Point Ministries after her earlier motion to approve the mixed-use plan for Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads failed to gain enough support from her colleagues.
The five-member commission was down to four due to the absence of chairwoman Lisa Cupid, whose grandmother passed away earlier Tuesday.
Commissioners JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb and Keli Gambrill of West Cobb said they couldn’t vote to approve the rezoning because of the RA-6 residential category that’s part of the rezoning request.
North Point Ministries wants to build a 130,000-square foot East Cobb Church on part of the 33-acre assemblage and sell 22 acres to Ashwood Atlanta, a residential developer, for 71 townhomes and 59 single-family detached homes.
That portion of the development has generated substantial community opposition from residents who are still supportive of a church. They’re concerned about density, traffic and stormwater issues, and dozens of variances.
The Cobb Planning Commission recommended approval of the North Point Ministries request earlier this month on its fourth hearing, but the first time the case went before county commissioners drew just as many issues in a 90-minute discussion.
“This application has gone on for the length of a pregnancy,” mused commission vice chairwoman Monique Sheffield to some chuckling, noting it’s been eight months since first being filed.
Richardson’s motion was contingent on North Point Ministries submitted a new residential category and site plan.
Kevin Moore, the North Point Ministries attorney, said “we’d be happy to take a look . . . This applicant has done that the entire time.”
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