East Cobb zoning update: King's Hawaiian plans delayed again

King's Hawaiian plans NE Cobb

The Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday continued a long-delayed request for a King’s Hawaiian restaurant in Northeast Cobb and turned down a request for a self-storage facility off Johnson Ferry Road.

At their monthly zoning hearing, commissioners voted 5-0 to hold a proposed site plan amendment on Gordy Parkway near Shallowford Road to April due to community opposition.

Stein Investment Group Inc., which converted the former GTC Cobb Park 12 movie cinema into a self-storage facility, wants to build the fast casual King’s Hawaiian on a 1.1-acre portion of the property, featuring a double drive-through and 29 parking spaces (agenda item here).

But residents from the adjoining Highland Park and Highland Terrace neighborhoods objected to increased traffic and safety. In 2017, commissioners rejected a Lidl grocery store on the site for those reasons.

King’s Hawaiian wants to have opening hours from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, and possibly extending to 11 p.m.

“I walk the intersection daily, and find the area very dangerous, as drivers do not pay attention to anyone except to other drivers,” Highland Park resident Denise Fissell said.

She noted that other restaurants in the area are in shopping centers with better access and parking capacity.

“We’re not opposed to King’s Hawaiian becoming a part of the Cobb County community. However, we feel that the corner they chose creates more danger to our community,” Fissell said.

“A fast food restaurant is too intense for this small piece of property.”

The East Cobb Civic Association also was opposed, citing the reduction of a 40-foot tree buffer between the property and Harrison Park to just a few feet.

Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell said she had several issues that needed to be addressed before she could support the site plan request, which was recommended for approval by the Cobb zoning staff.

“Traffic is a concern and the storage facility is there,” Birrell told Garvis Sams, an attorney for Stein Investment Group. “What the applicant is trying to do is too intense for one acre. . . I can’t support eliminating a 40-foot buffer next to a Cobb County park.”

Sams agreed to a 30-day delay proposed by Birrell.

Noble Storage LLC rendering

Commissioners also voted 5-0 to deny a request for a self-storage facility on Freeman Road, near the Johnson Ferry Road intersection (agenda item here).

Noble Storage LLC wanted to rezone an acre of wooded land from low-rise office to neighborhood retail to build a 57,668-square-foot, four-story storage building.

Adam Rozen, an attorney for the applicant, said the land has been marketed for LRO purposes for years but has not found a buyer.

It is surrounded by some commercial property, including the La Strada restaurant and a small retail center, but also is next to a residential community.

A storage facility would be too intense for the area, the Cobb zoning staff concluded in recommending denial.

Clifton Goodman, president of the Breckenridge neighborhood association, said he and his neighbors aren’t opposed to a business being built on the property.

But “you have to draw the line somewhere,” he said.

He said the Cobb land use map dictates that NRC zonings should be located in the middle of a neighborhood activity center.

The Noble Storage proposal would be on the edge of that area, and that such a usage “is completely inappropriate for that property,” Goodman said.

He noted that commissioners in 2011 rejected a rezoning request for an automotive use under NRC and approved the LRO category instead.

Goodman also said there are no three-story buildings in the vicinity (the bottom floor of the storage building would be underground), and what’s proposed would be the only commercial use in that area that wouldn’t have direct access to Johnson Ferry Road.

“Noble Storage is asking the county to pretend there is no Cobb County code,” he said.

The East Cobb Civic Association also opposed the rezoning.

Commissioner Jerica Richardson said the LRO zoning was meant to be a “step down” commercial use to protect nearby residents, and made a motion to deny.

Birrell noted the 2011 case and “many of the same people who are here” were in opposition then, when the area was in her district.

“This is too intense for the property and the impact to the neighborhood surrounding it,” she said. “It was zoned LRO for a reason.”