East Cobb Zoning Update: PMV, Post Oak Tritt cases delayed again

Post Oak Tritt zoning case delayed — *The 14 acres owned by Kenneth B. Clary at Post Oak Tritt and McPherson roads (inside the blue lines) is the subject of a delayed residential rezoning request. Cobb Tax Assessor’s Office*

An early agenda for next Tuesday’s Cobb Planning Commission meeting shows that two cases in East Cobb that have been delayed several times in recent months are being continued again.

The summary agenda files indicated that an application by Kenneth B. Clary for a subdivision development on Post Oak Tritt Road has been continued to April.

The land is near McPherson Road (east of Tritt Elementary School) and is adjacent to the Clary Lakes neighborhood, and the case was first scheduled for a hearing in September.

The property is zoned R-30 and is designated as low-density residential in the Cobb future land use map; Clary is the landowner of what’s called a conservation tract with an appraised value of more than $2 million, according to Cobb property tax records.

There’s a small home on the property near the lake that was built in 1950.

More importantly, the land also contains the Power-Jackson Cabin, a one-room log home from the mid-1800s that’s a local and state historical landmark.

There’s nothing in the zoning filings that refers to the cabin.

In his letters seeking continuances over the fall and winter, attorney Parks Huff, who represents Clary, has made unspecified references to “some remaining issues which are scheduled to be addressed and resolved.”

The Cobb Historic Preservation Commission noted last fall that the cabin could be subject to demolition if the land is rezoned.

The five-member body appointed by Cobb commissioners has been working with Cobb Landmarks, a non-profit preservation group, and Cobb Parks “to see if preservation solutions could be discussed,” according to the minutes of a Sept. 12, 2022 preservation commission meeting.

If the cabin is torn down, the developer could be subject to a mitigation fee similar to one levied following the demolition of a Mabry Farm homestead on Wesley Chapel Road in 2018 to make room for a new subdivision.

The $7,500 paid by the developer was dedicated for historic preservation efforts in Cobb County.

Originally the Clary application sought an R-15 zoning category to build 20 homes with a single entrance from Post Oak Tritt.

That request has since been changed to R-20, which would reduce the number of homes to around 15, but a new site plan hasn’t been submitted.

Clary Lakes is zoned R-15 and according to an early site plan, part of the lake is in a federal 100-year flood zone. There also are state and county water buffers totalling 75 feet, as well as impervious setback considerations.

It’s been nearly a decade since a portion of some other Clary land across the road on Post Oak Tritt was developed by Brooks Chadwick into Hadley Walk, which has six homes on nearly 10 acres.

Those homes are currently valued at more than $1 million.

A proposal to expand the current Starbucks at Paper Mill Village into a two-story, 5,000-square foot standalone building also is being continued to April at the request of the applicant, S&B Investments.

Zoning attorney Garvis Sams said in a letter to the Cobb Zoning Staff on Tuesday that his group has met with nearby citizens groups and the shopping center over what he called “very minor tweaks” over architecture and various stipulations.

But he said his client wants more time to finalize them and to get “one hundred percent consensus.”

The Cobb Planning Commission hearing begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta), you can view the full agenda and individual case files by clicking here.

You also can watch on the county’s website and YouTube channels and on Cobb TV 23 on Comcast Cable.