Cobb Republican Party opposes East Cobb Church rezoning

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 Here’s an archived version.)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.

From a Sept. 30 social media message that was also repeated last week:

“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.