East Cobb Zoning & Development Archives

Residents divided as Sprayberry Crossing rezoning vote looms

June 12, 2021 4:20 PMJune 12, 2021 3:30 PM by Wendy Parker

Sprayberry Crossing revisions — *Some residents living near Sprayberry Crossing say multi-family housing, even for seniors only, is not appropriate for their community.*

It’s been more than three years since residents pushing for a redevelopment of the Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center organized a town hall meeting to press county officials to address the long-standing blight in their community.

The sentiment was nearly unanimous on that March evening at Sprayberry High School that the eyesore taking up a corner of Sandy Plains Road and East Piedmont Road needed an overhaul.

Two years later, an Atlanta apartment developer filed a rezoning request to do just that, proposing to convert Sprayberry Crossing into a multi-use development with apartments, town homes, a major grocery store, retail space and community trails.

Over the last year, Atlantic Realty Acquisitions LLC has made numerous site plan changes, especially as opposition grew to apartment dwellings.

Before the May Cobb Planning Commission hearing, Atlantic Realty dropped market-rate apartments altogether, but kept senior living (55 and older) in their plans.

That hasn’t been enough to appease opponents who fear the developer could convert senior-living apartments to market-rate apartments, and who also have concerns over traffic.

Those issues were addressed earlier this month by the Planning Commission, which issued a stunning no-recommendation on whether the Sprayberry Crossing rezoning should be approved or not.

That’s where the matter stands as the Cobb Board of Commissioners is scheduled to take up the case on Tuesday.

The latest Sprayberry Crossing site plan, filed in late May, reduces the number of senior apartments to 132 and increases the number of townhomes to 102.

The divisions among some residents who’ve organized for and against the Sprayberry Crossing plan run deep, and after the Planning Commission vote East Cobb News contacted parties on both sides for their perspectives.

*Sprayberry Crossing opponents have crafted t-shirts to fight the rezoning case.*

Tim Carini is among the vocal opponents of the Sprayberry Crossing request, whom Atlantic Realty attorney Kevin Moore has described as being part of a “mob” to derail what he says is a badly needed redevelopment in the area.

Carini and others have proudly worn “Rod Mob” t-shirts (the case number for Sprayberry Crossing is ROD-1, which stands for Redevelopment Overlay District).

He said the Planning Commission vote is “a disservice to the community and residents of Cobb County, especially with the way it was done and the timing.”

There were only three of the five Planning Commission members in attendance at the June 1 meeting, and Carini says he has been told by a County official that Planning Commissioner Deborah Dance and “[Cobb] Commissioner [JoAnn] Birrell are hellbent on getting this passed.”

He says the site plan doesn’t conform to the ROD code, and “now the County is throwing out significant portions of the ROD code to get this to pass. It’s now zoning at will in Cobb County, and it’s clear it’s at will for the developers and not the community, taxpayer, or voters.”

Moore said at the June 1 meeting that his client wants a vote, saying that contracts with the property owner and Lidl, the prospective grocery retailer, are nearing an end.

“If this was so time sensitive, why did the applicant continue this case for seven months?” Carini said. “Now, with known and publicly criticized traffic and safety concerns from the Planning Commission, this is urgent and had to be pushed through on a Tuesday after a holiday without a full Planning Commission Board.”

Carini and other opponents have created a Facebook page and are pressing for a big turnout at Tuesday’s commission meeting.

*Residents demanded county action at the blighted Sprayberry Corners Shopping Center during a 2018 town hall.*

One of the leaders of a group of citizens who’ve wanted to clean up Sprayberry Crossing for years is optimistic about Tuesday’s vote.

Shane Spink is a facilitator of the Sprayberry Crossing Action group and has said those in opposition may be vocal, but he thinks they’re a vocal minority.

He said the Sprayberry Crossing case “has basically come down to a traffic/in and out of the property issue that I think should be able to be resolved because frankly, these issues would exist with any development that goes into this particular property.”

Spink noted that Atlantic Realty has worked extensively with the community “to try to meet all of their concerns and demands, including dropping an apartment building and adding more for sale townhomes. So to think it comes down to just an ingress/egress issue is pretty amazing.”

He said his impressions speaking with others in the community—the Sprayberry Crossing Action group has more than 6,000 members—as well as other citizens and business owners in the area is that “the majority of the folks want to see this development go through and are ready for 25 years of blight to finally be over with.

“They want to have a quality development go in and continue the improvement of the Sprayberry area right along with the rebuild of the high school. And look, some opposition will always be there, but in this case I don’t believe they, from what I have seen, reflect the overall sentiment of the community.”

The Cobb Commission rezoning hearing begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday. There will be limited in-person attendance due to COVID-19 protocols, but the hearing will be aired on the Cobb County government’s Facebook and YouTube pages, as well as on the CobbTV public access outlet, Channel 23 on Comcast.

*Most portions of the Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center have sat in disrepair for years.*

Planning Commission punts on Sprayberry Crossing rezoning

June 1, 2021 11:41 AM by Wendy Parker

After hearing the complicated Sprayberry Crossing rezoning case for the third month in a row, the Cobb Planning Commission decided on Tuesday to make no recommendation about whether rezoning should be approved or denied.

After hearing the latest site plan revisions and being briefed about last-minute meetings to create a signalized main entrance to the proposed mixed-use development on Sandy Plains Road, the three members of the planning board who were in attendance voted unanimously not to forward a recommendation to approve or deny.

Instead, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will be asked to make a final decision on June 15 with a number of issues pending, including traffic concerns that were the focal point of questions by planning commissioners.

While saying that “everyone ought to be commended for the great attention that’s been shown to this matter,” planning commissioner Deborah Dance said that “challenges remain.”

Yet “time is of the essence and there is a time for taking action,” she noted, in reference to comments by Kevin Moore, the attorney for the developer, Atlantic Reality Acquisitions LLC, that his client wants no further delays in rezoning decisions.

The redevelopment proposal for the blighted shopping center on Sandy Plains Road, between East Piedmont Road and Post Oak Tritt Road, has been underway for nearly two years by Atlantic Realty Acquisitions, LLC.

Atlantic Realty, an Atlanta-based apartment builder, has revised the site plan several times for more than a year.

In what went before the planning commission Tuesday, the developer would build a senior apartment building, townhomes and a retail grocery center on property that’s been the site of a run-down shopping center.

The latest Sprayberry Crossing site plan, filed last week, reduces the number of senior apartments to 132 and increases the number of townhomes to 102.

It was the latest attempt by the developer to alleviate community opposition to rental residential units, after Atlantic Realty dropped plans in April to build a market-rate apartment building.

“There could not be a greater candidate for redevelopment” than the Sprayberry Crossing property, Moore said, while acknowledging that his client’s proposal “does have some challenges.”

On Friday, the developer met with Brij Patel, owner of the Sprayberry Bottle Shop, which sits on an outparcel along Sandy Plains across from Kinjac Drive, where the main entrance would be located.

In order to align the traffic signal at Kinjac into Sprayberry Crossing, the developer is proposing to cut through what’s now the front parking lot of the liquor store and relocate parking to the other side of the building.

Moore and Shaun Adams, an attorney for the liquor store, said they’re confident they can continue discussions before county commissioners meet in two weeks.

Other traffic access challenges include Post Oak Tritt Road, and planning commissioner Fred Beloin fretted that Atlantic Realty hadn’t done much to address it.

“The applicant doesn’t want to spend any money to fix the problem on Post Oak Tritt,” he said, referencing a Cobb DOT recommendation to provide right-out-only access from Sprayberry Crossing.

While he said his preference would be to hold the case again, Beloin, serving in his first meeting as chairman, voted for Dance’s motion.

Planning commissioners Tony Waybright and Michael Hughes, appointed last week, were not in attendance.

East Cobb Church rezoning request put on hold until July

May 29, 2021 2:57 PMMay 29, 2021 11:49 AM by Wendy Parker

Another last-minute request for a major rezoning case before next Tuesday’s Cobb Planning Commission meeting involves North Point Ministries.

The Atlanta-based religious organization wants another month to finalize design changes for its proposed East Cobb Church-townhomes-retail multi-use development at the southwest corner of Shallowford and Johnson Ferry roads.

Kevin Moore, an attorney for North Point Ministries, asked for the request on Wednesday, the deadline for cases to be automatically continued without a vote of the planning board.

The applicant has also filed a new site plan (above, click here for a larger view) with the Shallowford-Johnson Ferry intersection in the top left.

In his letter, Moore said another month was needed due to the “detailed nature” of the design updates, and that the extra time “will allow circulation of these designs to the community well in advance of a public hearing.”

The North Point request has twice been heard by the Planning Commission, which has voted to hold the case both times.

Planning commissioner Tony Waybright said in April that he was concerned about proposed high-density housing when the JOSH Master Plan calls for medium density residential as a transition between commercial zoning and low-density residential in the surrounding community.

The new site plan has 70 townhomes and 59 single-family detached homes. The revised Cobb Zoning Staff analysis submitted April 26 indicates density levels of nearly 6 units an acre.

Also delayed until July is a request to turn the former Park 12 Cobb movie theater into a self-storage facility, more than four years after community opposition shot down a proposed Lidl grocery store on the site at Gordy Parkway and Shallowford Road.

As we noted earlier this week, the Sprayberry Crossing rezoning request, also held for the last two months by the Planning Commission, remains on Tuesday’s agenda, and some more changes were submitted after a community meeting.

The number of senior units have been dropped by 40 to 132 and 102 townhomes are in a revised site plan, up 40 from the April hearing.

The Planning Commission meeting is at 9 a.m. Tuesday and it has a loaded agenda.

In-person seating will be limited due to social distancing protocols, but there also will be commenting for those watching online. They can sign up to speak by clicking here.

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

More Sprayberry Crossing changes made after community meeting

May 27, 2021 2:28 PM by Wendy Parker

Just days before a third hearing before the Cobb Planning Commission, the developer of the proposed Sprayberry Crossing mixed-use project has revised the site plan again and made other changes.

Atlantic Realty Acquisitions submitted the changes with the Cobb Zoning Office after a meeting on Tuesday arranged by Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell that involved the developer, county staff, and citizens both for and against the rezoning request.

The Cobb Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the request again on Tuesday, June 1.

The senior apartment building would have 132 units, which is 40 less than what was presented in May, and it would be reduced from five to three stories.

The new plans call for 102 townhomes and a maximum of 34,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. Here’s the new site plan that was submitted Wednesday, and the developer’s latest tipulation letter.

Traffic issues have also been a major concern, in particular the main entrance to Sprayberry Crossing on Sandy Plains Road, and attempts to align it with a traffic light at Kinjac Drive.

Here’s what Cobb DOT is recommending, noting that a final traffic study revision was submitted on May 20.

Sprayberry Crossing site plan — *For a larger view of the latest site plan **click here**.*

Not all of those new documents were available for the Tuesday meeting, according to resident Tim Carini, who’s led opposition to the project, mostly for traffic reasons as well as the apartments.

He reiterated that one reason he’s still opposed to senior apartments is a federal housing law that says age-restricted facilities that fall below 80 percent of the units occupied by that designated age group (Sprayberry Crossing would have 55 and up) lose that exemption.

“Once that happens the apartments become open to all ages,” Carini said in a message to a Facebook group opposed to the Sprayberry Crossing rezoning. That group has several hundred members, many of them proud to have been called part of a “mob” fighting the case by Atlantic Realty’s attorney.

The county disputes that interpretation, but Carini insists that “we are just a few steps away from having apartments in East Cobb that could become low income and open to all ages at some point in the future.”

The townhome units originally numbered 44 and were raised to 62 after another apartment building was dropped in April. The 102 units now being proposed would be at least 2,000 square feet and no more than 10 percent could be rented at any given time.

The Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook group, which organized several years ago to push for redevelopment of the blighted shopping center, was also posting updated information for its nearly 6,000 members.

Group leader Shane Spink, who’s been one of the group’s leaders said “hope to see this resolved by Tuesday.”

The Planning Commission meeting is at 9 a.m. Tuesday, it’s a loaded agenda that includes another hearing for the delayed East Cobb Church-townhome proposal in the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford area.

In-person seating will be limited due to social distancing protocols, but there also will be commenting for those watching online. They can sign up to speak by clicking here.

Sprayberry Crossing townhomes — *The Sprayberry Crossing proposal now calls for 102 for-sale townhomes.*

Storage facility proposed for closed East Cobb movie theater

May 24, 2021 5:36 PM by Wendy Parker

Park 12 Cobb Cinema, closed East Cobb movie theater

A developer who is seeking to convert the former Park 12 Cobb Cinema in East Cobb into a storage facility wants some additional time to prepare its case.

On Monday, Stein Investment Group sent a letter to the Cobb Zoning Office seeking a delay in the proposal’s initial hearings to July.

Stein’s request for a special-land use permit is listed on the Cobb Planning Commission agenda for next Tuesday, June 1.

The zoning staff has recommended approval with some conditions. but Garvis Sams, an attorney for Stein, wrote in the letter that the delay is needed “in order to fully complete all tasks with which are charged.”

He wasn’t more specific than that.

In addition to a SLUP (site plan here), which is required for self-storage facilities in unincorporated Cobb, Stein also is amending a previous zoning decision for the general commercial category that had been approved for the theater.

The SLUP would be heard by the Planning Commission on July 6, and the “Other Business” item would be heard by Cobb commissioners on July 16.

Park 12 Cobb closed at the end of 2020, more than three years after a community fight to keep it open as a movie theater.

Nearby residents opposed a rezoning case to turn the property on Gordy Parkway at Shallowford Road into a Lidl grocery store. Some wanted to have movies nearby, and others were concerned about traffic, and the Cobb Board of Commissioners turned down the rezoning request in September 2017.

At the time, Lidl attorney Parks Huff said that “this is not a difficult decision. This is technically a property rights issue and needs to be approved.”

The cinema owner, Georgia Theatre Company, had expressed a desire at the time to sell the property.

Park 12 Cobb briefly reopened last fall after COVID-19 closures, but GTC made the decision to permanently shutter that cinema as well as others in its Georgia and the southeast region.

Another self-storage facility sits nearby, as part of the Sandy Plains MarketPlace retail center on the former site of Mountain View Elementary School.

Meanwhile, a Lidl store not far down in the Sandy Plains Road corridor would anchor the proposed Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment, that’s slated to be heard yet again by the planning board in June.

The Planning Commission voted to hold the case for further traffic details after a second full hearing in as many months.

The East Cobb Church proposed mixed-use development also was delayed to June.

The full agenda for next Tuesday’s Planning Commission meeting can be found here.

It begins at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.

There will be limited in-person seating due to social distancing protocols, but the meeting will be live-streamed on the county’s Facebook Live and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.

Sprayberry Crossing, East Cobb Church rezonings held again

May 4, 2021 1:00 PM by Wendy Parker

Sprayberry Crossing rendering

For the second month in a row, the Cobb Planning Commission has voted to hold two complex redevelopment cases in East Cobb, saying the proposals are improved but have not resolved issues over density, traffic and land use.

By unanimous 5-0 votes Tuesday, the Planning Commission is delaying the Sprayberry Crossing and East Cobb Church proposals until June, after last-minute revisions were submitted by the applicants last week.

Concerns by Cobb DOT over traffic changes at the Sprayberry Crossing proposal on Sandy Plains Road were enough for Planning Commissioner Deborah Dance and her colleagues to support another delay.

Atlantic Realty, which wants to redevelop the current blighted retail center on Sandy Plains between East Piedmont Road and Post Oak Tritt Road, dropped a proposed 125-unit apartment building for townhomes but is keeping a senior apartment building and grocery space.

The traffic changes include a proposed “offset” traffic signal into the development on Sandy Plains that would not align with the nearby Kinjac Drive intersection.

“Access is the No. 1 issue here,” planning board chairman Galt Porter said at the end of a discussion that lasted more than an hour. He also said the layout of the newly added townhomes “leaves a lot to be desired—it looks like a bowling alley.”

Porter also said making the senior apartment building—for renters ages 55 and up—from three to four stories, reflecting an increase from 125 to 172 units, is an issue.

Before that case, planning commissioners said plans by North Point Ministries for a campus of the new East Cobb Church, single-family homes and townhomes and retail at the intersection of Johnson Ferry Road and Shallowford Road are improved from the first hearing in April, but still need work.

Tony Waybright, who represents that area of East Cobb on the planning commission, said he was concerned about proposed high-density housing when the JOSH Master Plan calls for medium density residential as a transition between commercial zoning and low-density residential in the surrounding community.

“I don’t see a reason to go above” the master plan’s medium-density guidelines, he said in making his motion for another delay. The developer has not explained any hardship in making a request for high-density.

“This plan deserves a little more time,” Waybright said.

This story will be updated.

Sprayberry Crossing proposal drops apartments for townhomes

May 2, 2021 3:55 PM by Wendy Parker

Just a few days before going back before the Cobb Planning Commission, the Sprayberry Crossing developer has produced another new site plan, and it’s a major change.

Atlantic Realty is dropping plans for a 125-unit apartment building as part of the mixed-use redevelopment and is adding 62 townhomes to the 44 previously proposed.

A senior apartment building that originally called for 125 units now is proposing 172 units.

While keeping 34,000 square feet for a grocery store, the new site plan also has eliminated other retail space and green space.

The Cobb Planning Commission, an advisory body to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, voted in April to hold the application for a month. Kevin Moore, an attorney for Sprayberry Crossing, also submitted a new stipulation letter on Wednesday.

Reaction to the last-minute revisions have been mixed on social media channels devoted to the Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment issue.

Joe Glancy, creator of the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook page, said he’s been told “the developer made this change because they were told by Commissioner [JoAnn] Birrell last week that she would not approve the apartments.”

Participants on another Facebook group, ROD-1 Residents Against Apartments at Sprayberry Crossing (named after the zoning application number) said they’re still opposed because of the senior apartments, as well as for traffic and density concerns.

Tim Carini, a leader of that group, told East Cobb News “the new site plan still has apartments, and several other unresolved items, so we will be speaking on Tuesday.”

At the April Planning Commission meeting, Deborah Dance, Birrell’s new appointee, asked Moore if the developer would be “open to [consider] more ownership opportunities” instead of rental units.

She also said she had been getting slightly more messages opposed to the previous site plan than those in favor.

The Sprayberry Crossing case is one of two major applications in East Cobb to be held to Tuesday’s meeting.

The other, involving North Point Ministries’ request for East Cobb Church and residences at the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection, also has a new site plan that was submitted last week.

That includes 59 single-family homes and 72 townhomes.

The Tuesday Cobb Planning Commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. and can be seen on CobbTV, the county’s government access channel, as well as its Facebook and YouTube channels, and on Comcast Channel 24.

The full agenda and individual items can be found by clicking here.

East Cobb Church launches ‘Revitalize JOSH’ rezoning campaign

April 23, 2021 4:45 PMApril 21, 2021 4:00 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb Church Revitalize JOSH — *A new rendering of the proposed East Cobb Church parking area includes greenery fronting Shallowford Road.*

With its rezoning case held until May, East Cobb Church has launched a new website to advocate for its redevelopment plans that have changed yet again.

“Revitalize JOSH” is the name of the renewed effort supporting plans for a church, residential and retail complex at the southwest corner of Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads.

The Cobb Planning Commission voted to hold the case until its May 4 meeting. The new proposal alters the residential mix. Initially most units were to have been townhomes, but they’re now with 55 percent of the 110 units, with the other 45 percent being single-family detached homes bordering an adjacent subdivision.

East Cobb Church is planning to sell the residential portion of the 33-acre tract to a developer if the rezoning is approved, and both entities would work together to create community space that includes a park on Shallowford Road, greenspace around a proposed creek where a lake once stood, and jogging trails to connect the adjoining Marlanta neighborhood.

There’s also a parking deck and area for 900 spots, which East Cobb Church says will be mostly below street level (rendering at top of this post) and will be shielded by a wall and greenery.

At the April Planning Commission meeting, several nearby residents objected to density and traffic issues, and commission members voted to delay for more updated information.

The new website has outlines of those plans along with renderings and links to a traffic study, but as of yet there’s nothing new in the Cobb Zoning Office files.

Kevin Moore, an attorney for the applicant, said through a spokeswoman for the East Cobb Church plans that a new site plan was submitted on Tuesday.

Marietta City Council denies Powers Ferry rezoning requests

April 15, 2021 2:39 PMApril 15, 2021 8:28 AM by Wendy Parker

After months of delays and a torrent of opposition from nearby residents, the Marietta City Council on Wednesday quickly nixed two proposed redevelopment projects in the Powers Ferry Road with little discussion.

By unanimous 7-0 votes, the council rejected rezoning requests by Nexus Gardens and Nexus Marietta for a mixed-use and housing developments, respectively, along either side of the South Marietta Parkway.

The projects would have been built by Macauley Investments, an Atlanta developer, on assembled land parcels owned by real estate investor Ruben McMullan and his related interests.

Several times the rezoning requests were tabled or otherwise delayed, including last month, after the Marietta Planning Commission voted to recommend denial.

Residents who turned out for the meeting implored the council beforehand to reject the rezonings, saying they’re too dense, provide access through their narrow neighborhood streets and will devastate their quality of life.

The Nexus Gardens project, according to Anna Holladay, a resident of nearby Virginia Place, “will ruin the lives of everyone in this neighborhood.”

Cloverdale Heights resident Brian Peters, who lives near the proposed Laurel Park residential project, said he moved from Buckhead a decade ago to to escape “runaway development” and was aghast he was fighting it in Marietta.

“We’ve had enough,” Peters said, referring to the constant delays in the rezoning case. “We’re pushing back. End of story.”

Before Wednesday’s council meeting, Kevin Moore, an attorney for both projects, submitted a revised plan for Laurel Park, scaling down what had been a mainly townhome project of 204 units to 134 units, with 84 townhomes and 50 single-family homes.

He said the Loop corridor between Roswell Road and Interstate 75 hasn’t seen new development in 50 years. The Nexus Gardens project, Moore said, is an opportunity that “would be fantastic for the city and fantastic for the nearby community.”

In addition to the density of the Nexus Marietta project—two five-story apartment buildings totalling 280 units served by a three-story parking deck, a five-story senior-living building with 160 units, 39 townhomes and restaurants and retail space—nearby residents in unincorporated Cobb objected to a single point of access, along Meadowbrook Lane.

City council members were unconvinced of Moore’s claim. Michelle Cooper-Kelly, whose district includes the Nexus Gardens land, told residents that “you guys came together as a community. You’re doing exactly what democracy is designed to do.”

After acknowledging the heavy amount of e-mails she received about that rezoning case, Cooper-Kelly said that “I don’t think this project is right for this community.”

She made a motion to deny the request, and the vote was unanimous with no further discussion.

Council member Joseph Goldstein, whose district includes the Laurel Park property, said even less, commenting that the rezoning proposal was inappropriate” as he made a motion for denial.

None of his other colleagues offered comments before the vote.

After first hearing, Sprayberry Crossing rezoning held again

April 15, 2021 2:39 PMApril 6, 2021 3:27 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb zoning changes

The Cobb Planning Commission is holding both of the major East Cobb redevelopment cases on that were on its rezoning agenda in April.

Not long after voting to delay the East Cobb Church mixed-used project at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford, the planning board voted to do the same thing for Sprayberry Crossing.

Both got their first hearings Tuesday after many months of delays and continuances. They’re tentatively scheduled to go back before the Planning Commission in May, but numerous questions remain, and plenty of opposition surfaced during lengthy presentations.

The Sprayberry Crossing case took up two hours before the Planning Commission, which voted 5-0 to get more updated information for its May meeting.

In making a motion to hold the request by Atlantic Realty for apartments, townhomes, a grocery store and retail and greenspace at Sandy Plains and East Piedmont, planning commissioner Deborah Dance said “it’s hard to mesh all the information that’s coming in at once.”

She referred to a late traffic study that was submitted by the developed on March 31, and comments on them by Cobb DOT that were made only Monday.

Traffic issues include a signalization at Sandy Plains at Kinjac Drive, the main access point for the proposed development, and creating a median at Post Oak Tritt Road to limit access into and out of the project.

Other concerns are over stormwater and water and sewer issues.

Perhaps the most divisive issue, however, is the proposal for apartments. Atlantic Realty is an Atlanta-based developer of upscale apartments, but opponents of the Sprayberry Crossing plans said Tuesday they’re convinced multi-family housing will hurt a community dominated by single-family neighbornoods.

Its proposal includes 125 apartments, 125 senior apartments and 44 townhomes.

Craig Blafer, who lives near Sprayberry Crossing, said that “we think this builder is building badly. This is not the right plan for the property. We can do better.”

Apartments, resident David Stafford said, would attract “transient, lower-income individuals who would bring crime and other problems” to the area.

“This is not the East-West Connector,” he said. “This is Sandy Plans and East Piedmont.”

Kevin Moore, an attorney for Atlantic Realty, was asked by Dance to address that point.

“I don’t believe that to be the case at all,” he said, adding that most of the apartments would be one-bedroom units starting at $1,400 a month.

Atlantic Realty also has asked in its rezoning request to waive a requirement for the redevelopment category it is seeking to earmark 10 percent of residential units for affordable housing purposes.

In his initial presentation Tuesday, Moore said that after a two-year-long process of working with the community, his client has worked to produce a plan with “meaningful” components, including what would be a Lidl grocery store, to make redevelopment on the property successful.

Some residents who have long wanted to see the existing blighted shopping center redeveloped concurred.

Sally Platt, president of the Autumn Ridge homeowners association, said while not everything is perfect about Atlantic Realty’s request, “it’s a wonderful compromise” and that outstanding issues are “not deal-breakers.”

Sprayberry Crossing, Moore said, needs to be redeveloped “badly.” He later said that after nearly two decades of sitting as an eyesore, this may be the last chance to do something about it.

“If we miss this opportunity, we miss it,” Moore said emphatically. “I can’t imagine missing this.”

But Dance, a former Cobb County Attorney who was appointed by Commissioner JoAnn Birrell in January, said that she’s received 145 e-mails in favor of the rezoning and 165 against, with more petitions coming in.

She also asked Moore if the developer would be “open to [consider] more ownership opportunities” instead of rental units.

Cobb Planning Commission holds East Cobb Church rezoning

April 7, 2021 1:34 PMApril 6, 2021 1:24 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb Church site plan

The Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday voted to hold a mixed-use development anchored by the proposed East Cobb Church for a month, saying it lacks critical information to make a decision.

The advisory board on county rezoning cases voted 5-0 to push back the application, which has already been delayed several times, until May.

That means that the Cobb Board of Commissioners will not be hearing the case later this month.

(UPDATE: Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson will be holding an online informational meeting about the case Thursday at 6 p.m., and you can register at this link: https://staff315236.typeform.com/to/J9g7pewB.)

Planning commissioner Tony Waybright, who represents the area at the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection where the development would be built, said there are concerns about traffic, stormwater issues, residential density and a “sense of place”—a key component of a recently approved JOSH master plan—that need to be addressed.

North Point Ministries, Inc. wants to use 11 of the 33 assembled acres for the East Cobb Church, which began in 2019 and is currently meeting at Eastside Baptist Church.

The remainder of the property would be used for commercial space, a greenspace and park area on the site of a drained lake and 110 residential units, most of them townhomes.

Among the changes from the original site plan in October is relocating Waterfront Drive, which is located off Johnson Ferry Road and provides primary access to the adjacent MarLanta subdivision.

Some residents there spoke in opposition to the project for those reasons, and for the fee-simple townhome category that the applicant is seeking.

That’s among the initial changes to the original application by North Point Ministries, which operates East Cobb Church.

During an extended presentation session Tuesday, county staffers acknowledged that there isn’t a finished traffic study, nor can they address floodplain and wetlands issues because of incomplete information about density.

“We should have that information by now,” Planning Commission chairman Galt Porter said, who suggested that if the board doesn’t have more details by next month, it’s possible there could be a recommendation of denial.

North Point Ministries attorney Kevin Moore said rezoning isn’t required for the church, and that the nature of the community “is not a single-family area under any circumstances.” He pointed to nearby commercial development in the JOSH area, saying that “all of that is this neighborhood and brings it to bear on this property.”

He also said that the JOSH master plan is “not the law. It’s a guide.”

While there were a few residents who spoke in favor of the project, several others spoke against it, including Jill Flamm of the East Cobb Civic Association. That organization listed five objections to the application that she said were not addressed, including traffic, the church renderings not consistent with the master plan and residential density.

A resident on Waterfront Circle showed photos of water runoff issues, saying it’s been “a nightmare” since the lake was drained.

Referring to the applicant, she said that “they want it all, and leave us with nothing.”

Other residents took issue with differing staff analyses of the application, wondering how it could have gone from a strong denial in October to a general recommendation of approval.

They also questioned how residential density calculations have gone down when the latest site plan calls for only 15 fewer units from the original proposal.

zWaybright is scheduled to have a virtual town hall meeting Thursday with Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson, with details to be announced.

Zoning update: Sprayberry Crossing, East Cobb Church changes

April 1, 2021 11:40 AM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb zoning update, Sprayberry Crossing site plan — *The latest Sprayberry Crossing site plan expands green space around the Mayes family cemetery and includes a “town green.” For a larger view **click here**.*

With just a few days before their first public hearings, two major rezoning cases in East Cobb are getting some last-minute changes.

Kevin Moore, the attorney for the proposed redevelopment of the Sprayberry Crossing and the proposed East Cobb Church mixed-use development, filed stipulation letters in both cases on Wednesday.

He also filed a new site plan for Sprayberry Crossing, the latest of several renditions for a mixed-use plan to replace a long-blighted shopping center.

After several months of delays, they’re slated to be heard Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission.

We’re still reading through everything, but will summarize what’s new.

The Sprayberry Crossing plans have undergone many revisions, the latest being filed late Wednesday afternoon, shortly before Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell held a public information session.

You can read through the new changes by clicking here; there’s a new Cobb DOT traffic analysis here; and the full agenda packet is here.

Atlantic Realty hasn’t changed the details for the residential component—125 apartments, 125 senior apartments and 44 townhomes—nor a proposed grocery store space.

The developer is asking for a waiver from a requirement of the Redevelopment Overlay District zoning category for at least 10 percent of the residential units be dedicated for “workforce housing.”

In addition, Atlantic Realty is proposing a property owners association for the overall development.

More green space has been added back into the new site plan, with a “town green” proposed near the Mayes family cemetery. That green space will be open to the entire community, not just those living in the development.

In addition, the developer listed a number of businesses in the retail portion that would not be allowed, from video arcades to adult retail to several kinds of automotive services.

East Cobb Church site plan — *The townhome units proposed near what would be the East Cobb Church have been reduced from 125 to 110. For a larger view **click here**.*

North Point Ministries Inc. has altered its mixed-use proposal anchored by East Cobb Church to include more low-rise office space at the southwest corner of Johnson Ferry Road and Shallowford Road.

A new stipulation letter (you can read it here), also filed Wednesday, would reduce the number of proposed townhomes from 125 to 110. The applicant is also seeking a new zoning category, Fee Simple Townhomes, instead of a multifamily residential category.

Among the stipulations are to designate that no more than 10 of the townhomes could be rentals at any given time.

North Point Ministries’ plan is to sell that 18.11 acres (out of more than 33 overall) to Ashwood Development, an upscale builder with projects in the city of Atlanta and Florida.

During Wednesday’s public information session about Sprayberry Crossing, Birrell said she and county staff had not had time to look through the changes.

They answered questions from the public submitted in advance.

Birrell stressed to viewers of the virtual meeting to e-mail their commissioner and members of the Cobb Planning Commission.

“It is in my district and I will take the lead in the discussions,” she said. “But there are five votes. So you need to e-mail all of us.”

She said of the e-mails she’s received thus far about Sprayberry Crossing, there are 83 e-mails against the project, and 21 in favor.

The opposition is mostly over traffic concerns and having any apartments at all.

It’s been three years since area residents held a town hall meeting at Sprayberry High School to jump-start a process that has led to a rezoning case of any kind.

“I know we’re all tired of looking at Sprayberry Crossing,” Birrell said of the retail center that’s been run-down for more than 20 years. “There’s nobody who wants to see this redeveloped than me.”

But she said it’s important to hear fully from the community to determine the best options.

The Cobb Planning Commission meets Tuesday at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb Government Building at 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta. You can read through the full agenda by clicking here.

There will be limited in-person attendance due to COVID-19 restrictions. The meeting can be seen on the Cobb County government’s Facebook and YouTube channels and Channel 23 on Comcast.

Sprayberry Crossing rezoning subject of virtual presentation

March 24, 2021 3:38 PM by Wendy Parker

Sprayberry Crossing virtual presentation

Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell is inviting the public to hear a virtual presentation about the Sprayberry Crossing rezoning case that’s scheduled to be heard in April.

Her event is next Wednesday, March 31, from 6-7 p.m., and anyone interested in attending must register by clicking here.

“This will be a presentation by staff to answer questions and address analysis and recommendations,” she said during remarks at Tuesday’s commissioners meeting.

“This will not be a public interaction meeting,” said Birrell, adding that persons wishing to have questions answered should e-mail her at joann.birrell@cobbcounty.org. Questions will be sent to “appropriate staff for response. . . Please put ROD-1 virtual meeting 3.31.21 in the subject line when submitting questions.”

That’s the case number assigned to the repeatedly delayed redevelopment of a blighted shopping center at Sandy Plains Road and East Piedmont Road (The agenda item overview can be found here; here is the staff analysis.).

The latest continuance was issued earlier this month by the Cobb Planning Commission. The developer, Atlantic Realty, continues to make changes to its site plan.

Whiile many area residents have wanted the blighted shopping center redeveloped for years, others have opposed the proposed 125 apartments. Sprayberry Crossing also would include 125 senior living apartments, 44 townhomes, 36,000 square feet of retail (mostly for a Lidl grocery store) and 8,000 square feet of office space.

Joe Glancy of the Sprayberry Crossing Action Group, which has pushed for redevelopment, said Wednesday he and fellow group leader Shane Spink have put together what they’re calling the Sprayberry Crossing Design Review Committee that met with the developer last week.

The committee includes nearby residents with experience in site plan design. Among its objectives are to improve community green space features and regard a family cemetery included on the property “as a cherished community and historic site.”

Glancy said the committee “is not advocating for county zoning approval of this project” but would advocate the “very best possible development IF the development is approved.”

More about that can be found here.

The Cobb Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the request on April 6 and the Cobb Board of Commissioners on April 20.

Cobb approves rezoning for subdivision on Childers Road

March 16, 2021 3:15 PMMarch 16, 2021 12:55 PM by Wendy Parker

Childers Road rezoning

A 2.24-acre infill lot on Childers Road that’s the site of an older ranch home will soon contain five single-family homes.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday approved by a unanimous 5-0 vote a delayed request by Galaxy Childers Land to redevelop the property at a higher density level for single-family use (revised site plan here).

Childers Road is located off Shallowford Road, near the Johnson Ferry Road intersection in northeast Cobb.

The request had been continued since December after some neighborhood opposition surfaced over density and stormwater issues.

Harry Joseph, the Galaxy Childers Land applicant, said the five homes are necessary to make the project feasible.

He said the R-15 category he was seeking (from R-30) would come close to the density of the nearby Coventry Green subdivision and is the same as that and other neighborhoods.

Among the stipulations presented by commissioner Jerica Richardson require the developer to maintain what would be a private road in the subdivision.

Other stipulations cover stormwater detention, tree replacement, landscape buffers and the creation of a homeowners association.

This was one of the few zoning cases in East Cobb that came before commissioners Tuesday.

The county continued the “JOSH” redevelopment plans for a church, townhomes and retail until April. Earlier this month, the Cobb Planning Commission voted to continue the Sprayberry Crossing rezoning case, also to April.

Both have been continued several times already. In moving to table Sprayberry Crossing, new planning commission member Deborah Dance said it was with the understanding this would be the final delay.

Marietta City Council tables Powers Ferry rezoning requests

March 10, 2021 7:08 PM by Wendy Parker

Powers Ferry rezoning cases

Just a few hours before its meeting Wednesday, the Marietta City Council tabled two rezoning requests in the Powers Ferry Road area that have drawn substantial opposition.

They’re for a mixed-use project and a townhome development by Macauley Investments, and the main property owner for the assemblages is real estate investor Ruben McMullan.

Kevin Moore, an attorney for the applicants, sought a delay before last Tuesday’s Marietta Planning Commission, after filing a revised traffic analysis with the city hours before.

But the planning board voted against tabling both, then voted to recommend denial of the requests in 7-0 votes in both cases.

Moore said he would seek another delay before Wednesday’s meeting, and the agenda was revised late in the afternoon to reflect that both requests were being tabled to the council’s April 14.

Residential opponents in both the city and unincorporated Cobb said the proposed developments are too intense and would have singular access via narrow streets in their neighborhoods.

Nexus Gardens would have apartments, senior living and restaurants on nearly 17 acres, mostly undeveloped and facing Interstate 75. Some of those parcels include 19 single-family homes.

The density of the project calls for two five-story apartment buildings totalling 280 units served by a three-story parking deck, a five-story senior-living building with 160 units, 39 townhomes and restaurants and retail space.

Laurel Park, with 204 townhomes, would be accessible via four residential streets in Cloverdale Heights, which residents said would be a traffic nightmare in their community.

Powers Ferry rezoning cases get first hearings in Marietta

March 3, 2021 2:42 PM by Wendy Parker

The Marietta Planning Commission on Tuesday recommended denial of two major rezoning cases in the Powers Ferry Road corridor, but the attorney for the applicants said he will appeal to the City Council next week for a delay.

The advisory planning board voted unanimously in both instances against a mixed-use project, Nexus Gardens, near Powers Ferry Elementary School, and Laurel Park, a townhome project in Cloverdale Heights.

Both projects would be developed by Macauley Investments, an Atlanta real estate developer specializing in mixed-use projects. The properties are owned by Ruben McMullan, a real esate investor with East Cobb ties, and his assorted entities.

Tuesday’s meeting was the first time the requests have been heard publicly after months of delays.

Nearby residents in both communities turned out to speak against the projects (see our weekend story), which they said are incompatible with their communities and would worsen traffic in the congested Powers Ferry area near the South Marietta Parkway.

“This will ruin the lives of everyone in the neighborhood,” said Anna Holiday, a resident of the Meadowbrook neighborhood, which is mostly in unincorporated Cobb.

Kevin Moore, the applicant’s attorney, wanted to table the Nexus Gardens case again after receiving comments from Cobb DOT on a traffic study on Tuesday afternoon. Meadowbrook Drive, the only access point for Nexus Gardens, is located in the county.

He also said Laurel Park, which would consist of 204 homes adjacent to Cloverdale Heights, is “not the plan we want to build, but we are working on it,” including a traffic study in progress.

The seven-member planning commission, however, voted twice against tabling the requests, which were first filed last fall.

The traffic issues stem from limited access to Powers Ferry in both Meadowbrook, which is mostly in Cobb County, and Cloverdale Heights, which is in the city of Marietta.

Nexus Gardens would have apartments, senior living and restaurants on nearly 17 acres, mostly undeveloped and facing Interstate 75. Some of those parcels include 19 single-family homes.

Laurel Park would be accessible via four residential streets in Cloverdale Heights, which residents said would be a traffic nightmare in their community.

“These are small homes, but they are our homes,” said Cloverdale Heights resident Brian Peters, describing his neighbors as “solid, working-class folks.”

Many of them are first-time homebuyers in a neighborhood with homes costing around $200,000.

“Clo-Hi is that American dream, and we feel it’s now under threat,” Peters said, adding that he’s not against development, but “reckless, poorly thought development.”

The land tracts—nearly 17 acres for Nexus Gardens and 30 acres for Laurel Park—are mostly undeveloped and front I-75.

Moore said the land proposed for Nexus Gardens was rezoned by the city for “more intense purposes” in the 1980s, although development plans then fell through.

“You will hear that this doesn’t reflect the neighborhood,” he said. But “this proposal is a far better use than what is currently zoned.”

To say the property should not be developed for a mixed-use purpose, Moore said later, would be tantamount to “taking the owner’s property.”

Lily Reed, a Cloverdale Heights resident, urged the planning commission to consider the “cumulative effects” of both rezoning requests on the community.

James Rosich, who lives near Meadowbrook in the Hamby Acres neighborhood, said due to the lack of a completed traffic study, “there’s no reason [Nexus Gardens] should go forward.”

If it does, he said, “it’s a travesty.”

Among the issues are the close proximity of Meadowbrook Drive to the Powers Ferry-Loop intersection, the traffic impact on Powers Ferry Elementary School and the amount of general traffic that would use a small residential street for access to a large mixed-use project.

“Please deny this,” Rosich said. “They need to start over again.”

Planning commissioners didn’t discuss the Nexus Gardens case before voting unanimously against it, and only one member made brief traffic remarks about the Laurel Park project before the vote to recommend denial.

The Marietta City Council will meet next Wednesday, March 10, to consider the rezonings.

Sprayberry Crossing rezoning request granted continuance

March 2, 2021 3:24 PMMarch 2, 2021 11:04 AM by Wendy Parker

Sprayberry Crossing zoning case

The Cobb Planning Commission voted 5-0 Tuesday to grant another continuance to the developer of the proposed redevelopment of the Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center.

As we noted over the weekend, Atlantic Realty, an apartment developer that first filed for rezoning in September, asked for another continuance last week after the deadline for a delay to be automatic.

The planning commission, whose members are appointed by county commissioners and whose recommendations are advisory, had to take a vote on whether to grant a continuance.

A few people turned out in person and online to speak against the mixed-use project, which has been the subject of vocal community support and opposition.

“Word must have gotten out that the applicant wanted a continuance on this one,” Planning Commission chairman Galt Porter said. “I expected to have a whole lot more here in opposition.”

Deborah Dance, the newly appointing planning board member from District 3, where Sprayberry Crossing is located, moved to grant the delay, but just for one more month.

She said a revised site plan submitted in January (above) hasn’t been fully analyzed by the Cobb zoning staff, which last fall recommended tentative approval of the project.

“My observation is that the applicant has been working in good faith with staff and has been responsive to the concerns that have been presented,” said Dance, a former Cobb County Attorney, who was reading from prepared remarks.

“At present there exists at least one critical issue affecting [transportation] access that’s in the process of being addressed by county staff and with the applicant’s expert.

“This case is not ready for consideration at the present time,” Dance added. “I believe there are good grounds for the continuance, and it’s in the best interests of all concerned that it is continued.”

She said she wanted her motion to be stipulated that “there would be no further continuances.”

In the latest renderings (above), the height for the residential buildings has been reduced from five to three stories. But a previous site plan included community green space that is not part of the latest version.

Traffic concerns also have been raised, and in particular Cobb DOT is looking at the impact on Sandy Plains Road at Kinjac Drive, what would be the main access point for the development.

Porter said additional information from Cobb DOT about the latest revision “is pretty key to looking at this case. It’s not a minor issue. It’s a major access issue, so I fully agree with a continuance.”

Another major East Cobb rezoning case, involving another proposed mixed-use development, is being continued by the Cobb zoning staff.

That’s North Point Ministries’ application for the East Cobb Church and 125 townhomes at Johnson Ferry Road and Shallowford Road.

Both of those delayed cases will be scheduled to be heard by the Cobb Planning Commission on April 6.

More delays likely for East Cobb mixed-use rezoning cases

February 27, 2021 2:13 PM by Wendy Parker

East Cobb Church rezoning case delauyed — *A rendering of East Cobb Church, including a parking deck, fronting Shallowford Road.*

The Cobb Zoning Office on Friday said the East Cobb Church mixed-use zoning request won’t be heard on Tuesday.

It’s been pulled from the Cobb Planning Commission agenda and is being continued (you can view the agenda here).

There wasn’t any further explanation in the case filings for the continuance.

The proposal for a church, retail and townhomes at the southwest corner of Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads has drawn community opposition as well as support.

East Cobb Church, which is run by Northpoint Ministries, is planning to sell a portion of the 33-acre assemblage to Ashwood Development for 125 townhomes.

That’s the part of the mixed-use proposal that’s drawn most of the opposition, as well as for traffic concerns.

The zoning staff recommended denial of original application in October, but site plan revisions have been underway.

As we noted on Monday, another major East Cobb redevelopment project was also to finally be heard, several months after being proposed.

The Sprayberry Crossing case is still scheduled for Tuesday, according to the meeting agenda, but the developer has asked for another continuance until April.

That’s according to the Sprayberry Crossing Action, a citizens group on Facebook that has been pushing for the blighted shopping center to be redeveloped for years, as well as a group opposed to the project.

Atlantic Realty, an apartment developer, made the request for a continuance on Thursday, a day after the deadline for getting an automatic delay.

When that happens, the planning commission must vote whether to grant a continuance or not.

If the planning commission denies a continuance, the Sprayberry Crossing case would be the first item to be heard following the consent agenda.

Those against the project are strongly opposed to apartments coming to an area dominated by single-family subdivisions.

Atlantic Residential has reduced the number of apartments and townhomes in the project, which includes a grocery store, other small retail and event space.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday and can be seen on the county’s Facebook Live and YouTube channels, as well as Channel 23 on Comcast Cable.

Limited in-person attendance is available in the meeting room, the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

Powers Ferry Road communities oppose mixed-use proposals

February 27, 2021 3:39 PMFebruary 27, 2021 11:19 AM by Wendy Parker

Residents in two older neighborhoods along the Powers Ferry Road corridor have been organizing for several months to fight mixed-use proposals filed with the City of Marietta.

After several delays, both of those cases are scheduled to go before the Marietta Planning Commission Tuesday night (you can view the agenda here).

Both proposals are on either side of the South Marietta Parkway, on land that’s in the city of Marietta, and both projects would be developed by Macauley Investments, an Atlanta firm that specializes in mixed-use projects.

The Nexus Gardens project we’ve written about before would have apartments, senior living and restaurants on nearly 17 acres, mostly undeveloped and facing Interstate 75. Some of those parcels include 19 single-family homes, as seen above on Meadowbrook Drive, and all of the land is owned by Ruben McMullan, an East Cobb resident, or his related entities.

Sole access to Nexus Gardens would be via Meadowbrook Drive, which is in unincorporated Cobb. That’s one of the major objections, in addition to the density of the project, which calls for two five-story apartment buildings totalling 280 units served by a three-story parking deck, a five-story senior-living building with 160 units, 39 townhomes and restaurants and retail space.

A group called Save Marietta has been created to oppose the project, and includes residents of the Meadowbrook neighborhood that’s partly in the city and also in the county.

McMullan’s real estate interests also include an assemblage of 22 parcels on 30 acres, mostly undeveloped but some with single-family homes, also off Powers Ferry and across the Loop.

That’s being proposed by Nexus Marietta for a 204-unit townhome development called Laurel Park.

Like the Nexus Gardens project, this one also has singular access via a residential street on Crestridge Drive, in the Cloverdale Heights neighborhood.

That’s entirely within the city of Marietta, and a community group has formed to oppose that project.

The full agenda packet for the Marietta Planning Commission meeting, with proposal details, maps and traffic information, can be found here.

The Marietta Planning Commission meeting starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday and will be streamed live on the city’s website.

The Marietta City Council make final decisions on March 10.

Zoning update: Sprayberry Crossing, East Cobb Church filings

February 27, 2021 2:00 PMFebruary 22, 2021 4:43 PM by Wendy Parker

Sprayberry Crossing zoning case — *For a larger view **click here**.*

After months of delays, the Sprayberry Crossing rezoning case has been placed on the March zoning calendar and the Cobb Zoning Office has conducted a formal analysis of the redevelopment project.

The office released its March agenda on Monday, ahead of next Tuesday’s Cobb Planning Commission meeting.

The zoning staff is recommending approval of the retail, townhome and apartment proposal by Atlantic Realty, an apartment developer, with conditions.

The proposal was first revealed last year, and included a virtual town hall meeting with the community.

But it’s a community that’s been divided over the project, with some citizens adamantly against apartments, and concerns about increased traffic.

The latest site plan (at the top) calls for 125 apartments, 125 senior living apartments, 44 townhomes, 36,000 square feet of retail and 8,000 square feet of office space. Most of the retail space would be for a supermarket, which on the latest map indicates a Lidl store.

The apartment numbers have been reduced from nearly 200 and the story height has come down from five to three, but community green space and a buffer around an existing cemetery that were on earlier site plans have been eliminated.

ROD projects are “site plan specific,” meaning that there aren’t minimum lot sizes, setbacks and buffers that are required in most rezoning cases.

At least 10 percent of the housing units in an ROD project must be set aside for residents making no more than 80 percent of an area’s average median income.

Last month Cobb commissioners voted 5-0 to eliminate the category, which stands for Redevelopment Overlay District.

That action doesn’t affect the Sprayberry Crossing case. The agenda item overview can be found here; here is the staff analysis. The full packet can be found at the first link in this post, pages 45-131.

Also on the agenda after two months of delays is another proposed redevelopment, for a campus of the new East Cobb Church and townhomes at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads (summary here).

North Point Ministries wants to purchase 33 acres at the southwest corner of that intersection to build the new East Cobb Church and an accompanying parking deck (latest site plan here).

North Point would sell the back portion of the property to Ashwood Development for 125 townhomes. There also would be some retail use.

The Cobb zoning staff has recommended denial for density, traffic and land-use reasons. Opponents are calling for low-density single-family housing. Citizens opposed to the project have made similar arguments, while others have applauded the addition of a new church to the community.

Kevin Moore, North Point’s attorney, said the single-family category is economically unfeasible; a 2016 rezoning case seeking a single-family development on the same property was withdrawn.

He repeated that claim during a virtual town hall earlier this month with Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson and Cobb Planning Commission member Tony Waybright, who offered a “conceptual plan” incorporating changes he said were suggested by community members.

Full packet information can be found on pages 244-271 of the meeting agenda.

Next Tuesday’s meeting will be the first for new Cobb Planning Commission member Deborah Dance. She’s formerly the Cobb County Attorney and was appointed by Commissioner JoAnn Birrell to represent District 3, which includes the Sprayberry Crossing property.

Dance succeeds longtime planning board member Judy Williams, who died of COVID-19 in January.

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