The Cobb Planning Commission voted Tuesday to hold the East Cobb Church rezoning case after it had a third hearing.
The matter will be taken up again in August at the request of Planning Commission member Tony Waybright, who said that despite improvements in the proposal in some areas, there are still concerns about the residential portion of the development.
He urged the applicant, North Point Ministries, to incorporate continuing concerns over traffic, density, setbacks, buffers and other proposed variances after a new site plan and stipulation letter were submitted last week.
Those changes include a proposal for the RA-6 category to accommodate 71 townhomes and 58 single-family detached homes.
But the request comes with variances that nearby residents and civic leaders said are too many, are not in line with the suburban nature of the area and do not meet Cobb County Code.
The detached homes are three stories, and the applicant is requesting reductions in front and back setbacks, and is proposing the distance between homes be reduced from the minimum 15 feet to 8 feet.
The intensity of the development, said Jill Flamm of the East Cobb Civic Association, “is out of character with this community and belongs in an urban setting.”
She also noted that there’s not a sidewalk proposed for the community because there isn’t room.
The residential portion of the 33-acre proposal at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads has been the subject of most of the opposition.
North Point would purchase the full assemblage of properties, keeping roughly 10 acres for East Cobb Church and selling most of the rest of the land to Ashwood, an Atlanta-based residential developer.
A resident of nearby Chimney Lakes told the Planning Commission he’s not opposed to a church, but the residential proposal, saying that even the single-family detached homes are more like “townhomes, just detached.”
The revised site plan includes a multi-purpose trail that would surround the proposed 130,000-square foot church lining Shallowford Road, and North Point also has included a park into the revisions that would be available to the larger community.
Kevin Moore, North Point’s attorney, said his client has gone far beyond what’s called for in the JOSH Master Plan to create “a sense of place,” and that the latest revisions “reflect the community of which [the church] is a part.”
The plans also called for reworking Waterfront Circle, an access point for a nearby subdivision, to align with a traffic signal on Johnson Ferry.
There were 41 people in attendance in support of the rezoning request and 27 in opposition, including a speaker who said the proposal would “urbanize East Cobb. That is not what we want.”
Waybright suggested the RA-6 category be revised to fee-simple townhomes, a medium-density zoning which would “provide a stepdown” from lower-density residential homes in the adjacent MarLanta subdivision.
The Planning Commission also was hearing on Tuesday two other major requests in East Cobb. One is for a 99-home residential development on Ebenezer Road that’s drawn community opposition.
The other would convert the closed Park 12 Cobb movie theater at Gordy Parkway and Shallowford Road into a self-storage facility.
Related stories
- Cobb commissioners approve Sprayberry Crossing rezoning
- Residents divided as Sprayberry Crossing rezoning looms
- Cobb Planning Commission punts on Sprayberry Crossing
- East Cobb Church rezoning delayed until July
- More Sprayberry Crossing changes made after community meeting
- Storage facility proposed for closed East Cobb movie theater
- Sprayberry Crossing proposal drops apartments for townhomes
- East Cobb Church launches “Revitalize JOSH” campaign
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Some likely mistakes in the reporting here, first of all:
“41 people in attendance in support of the rezoning request and in opposition”
What was the breakdown? It would be nice to know.
Also I listened to the live stream on Cobb TV, and heard Commissioner Waybright say that the applicant should change to FST, not RA-6 for the property.
Second, the community has the right to push back against this development, it is not the Church per se but the way they’ve gotten in bed with a developer who ignored the JOSH guidelines that a lot of folks put hard work into, including former Commissioner Bob Ott.
The applicant seems to have gotten sloppy and just assumed that the Planning Commission would rubber stamp a poorly thought out project.
“…including a speaker who said the proposal would “urbanize East Cobb. That is not what we want.”
Who are the collective “we” this Karen is speaking for? I’ve lived in East Cobb for 25 years and I welcome some well-planned “urbanization”.
It’s no worse than the countless sprawling subdivisions of cookie-cutter homes owned by these NIMBY complainers. Or another corner filled with banks, pharmacies, self-storage units and quick-lube shops – which keep popping up without resistance.
While the church is useless to me and I’d prefer something more similar to Avalon in Alpharetta, this proposal is infinitely better than the eyesore of dilapidated homes that have occupied this parcel for the past two decades.
I have no desire for East Cobb to be another Sandy Springs. I’ve been living in East Cobb for at least ten years longer than you have, and it’s becoming more like Sandy Springs every day. It used to be a special area with lots of green space. Now, it’s just another concrete jungle. By most who have lived here for decades, “urbanization” of this area is not a good thing. Had you been here when that Wal-Mart went in, you’d know better than to say “without resistance”. Sometimes, we’re just okay with something because it’s the least of the evils (e.g., Lidl vs. the storage facility where the theater is). Others, it’s well worth standing our ground, as with this developer (who seems to not give a care for what the area is and has been or what will fit here and plays with the rules, expecting everyone to just accept it).
Instead of being a quiet neighborhood, Mar-Lanta will become a cut-through via that road which is now a cul-de-sac. I still think they’re using the size of the entire parcel, instead of the area they plan to sell off for the housing, as the basis for density. That is not the way the game should be played. That turning lane is already a nightmare as people juggle which lane they want to be in, along with cutting through or making a LH turn into the BP station. They’ll probably have gores painted near the entrances/exits for the church, which will shorten those lanes or make egress hazardous for people running through it the way they’re used to doing it.
It’s a LOT worse than the countless sprawling subdivisions (and the homes are not cookie-cutter in the more established ones – read that as having been built in the last century, not this one). That church has more offices in it than a church needs … what are they for? What about the runoff from all that pavement that used to be grass – in an area that used to be a lake?
Avalon or something like it is a no-go in this area. That’s what they’re trying to put in the old Sandy Plains shopping center near Sprayberry HS. Lots of existing residents there don’t like the idea, either – and that’d be in an existing asphalt jungle. Not all mid-century homes are “dilapidated” – and some “this century” homes are. If I see well-planned urbanization, then I’ll consider it. While this is definitely urbanization, it is not well planned.
You suppose anyone opposed the development of that cookie-cutter subdivision you live in? The effect it had on the schools and emergency services? Sewers and runoff? Traffic??? The loss of trees and your beloved “greenspace”?
Nah, you got yours, screw everyone else right?
In the 1970s my subdivision (around 200 houses) was a horse farm. I’m sure the locals were opposed to the “greedy” property owner selling out to developers. But it happened. End result was a decent place to live for 200 families. The humorous part is when some of my neighbors opposed the development of a very small subdivision (maybe 15 houses) in an overgrown field next to our subdivision. “It’s going to ruin the views!” and “Think of the extra traffic!”.
Hypocrites.