Dental office proposed for former Mt. Bethel Community Center

Mt. Bethel Church Community Center rezoning

For the second time in a year, the former Mt. Bethel Community Center is being eyed for professional use.

A rezoning request was withdrawn without prejudice last summer when the Cobb Zoning Office recommended that the building at 4608 Lower Roswell Road be granted designation for a limited professional services permit (LPSP).

MRE Properties, the applicant, sought a low-rise office (LRO) designation, but zoning staff said an LPSP would be more appropriate to the residential neighborhoods surrounding the site.”

A different applicant wants to convert the 6,060-square-foot building into a dental office. Marianna Kovitch, who has a practice in Buckhead, initially sought LRO rezoning and has hired noted zoning attorney Kevin Moore, who represented MRE Properties.

An initial hearing is scheduled before the Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday in the first zoning hearings of 2024.

The land has been zoned residential because its owner is Mt. Bethel Church, which has been putting up selected properties for sale since departing the United Methodist Church in 2022.

A preliminary staff analysis of Z-5-2024 (you can read it here) also is recommending deletion to LPSP.

Such a use “will minimize impact to residential neighbors while allowing continued use of the existing site,” the analysis said, adding that the LRO category on that 1.13-acre parcel does not conform to the Cobb County Comprehensive Plan

It also indicates that no new major modifications or additions are being planned for the building, which would be open for dental services Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

In a stipulation letter dated Jan. 29 (you can read it here) Moore wrote that his client was in agreement with the staff recommendation of LPSP specific to dental, medical and administrative use. He also is seeking a waiver that LPSP is specific to the property owner.

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

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

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

The Planning Commission recommendations will be considered by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Feb. 20.