Ebenezer Road rezoning case delayed by Cobb commissioners

Ebenezer Road rezoning case hold

A proposal to build a 92-home development on Ebenezer Road is being delayed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which voted Tuesday to hold the application for 30 days.

The 5-0 vote came at the behest of Commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb, who asked a group of nearby residents to form a committee to work with the developer and county staff on traffic, density, design and stormwater issues.

Pulte Homes had initially proposed 99 homes on nearly 50 acres on the west side of Ebenezer between Maybreeze and Blackwell roads. Last week the developer submitted a new site plan with a reduced number of units and the R-15 residential zoning category.

That would include building in a stormwater runoff area near a lack at the back of the property and which has concerned residents on Catalina Circle.

One of them, Veronica Lilley, said she and her neighbors have endured runoff issues for years, especially after the Blackwell Chase subdivision was built in the 1990s.

“Water is the great destroyer,” she said, adding that at a Sept. 11 meeting with the developer, issues she wanted to raise were denied. “We are in danger of being washed away.”

One of the main issues is that the county can’t manage a retention pond that isn’t on a county road—the streets proposed by Pulte would be private.

Another concern is traffic, and specifically coordinating a new proposed entrance for the subdivision with Maybreeze Road.

While the East Cobb Civic Association spoke in support of the proposal with some conditions, other nearby residents are still opposed.

They include John Stuetzer, who said that while the R-15 category and no variances are acceptable, 92 homes is too dense. He suggested no more than 85 homes with a minimum size of 3,000 square feet.

He and Lilley were asked to serve on the committee by Birrell, who told Rod Hosack, the former Cobb County Manager representing Pulte, that she thinks “a lot of this can be worked out.”