Cobb to hold town hall on proposed Unified Development Code

Cobb Unified Development Code town hall — *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.

He’s spoken at public comment sessions at commission meetings and written to local media saying the UDC proposal would alter the suburban nature of Cobb communities that have attracted residents.

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.)

“We don’t want cookie-cutter Soviet-style high-rises forced into Cobb neighborhoods,” Barton wrote.

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.