In changing Powers Ferry Road corridor, citizens worry about community impact

A public hearing on Tuesday to consider amendments to Cobb County’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan turned into a plea of sorts by citizens in the Powers Ferry Road corridor.

They’re being affected by major development changes all around them, and wonder what will happen to their community in transition, as higher-density commercial and residential projects are being approved or are being earmarked that way for the future.

The linchpin of the evolving corridor, the forthcoming MarketPlace Terrell Mill mixed-use development, was among those properties up for consideration Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission.

(Read them all here)

The board voted 3-1 to recommend amending the Cobb future land use map for the 24-acre tract at Powers Ferry and Terrell Mill roads for the Regional Activity Center with a high-density residential node that county commissioners approved last year.

Changing the future land use plan is typically a formality after rezoning, but some citizens who spoke Tuesday weren’t sure what the amendments meant.

“My area has gone through a lot of change,” said resident Kim Strickland, who got emotional as she spoke. “I would like to know how you’re going to change my community again.”

That was a reference to how she says the area has changed since SunTrust Park opened nearby two years ago.

The MarketPlace Terrell Mill project includes a Kroger superstore on the former site of Brumby Elementary School, as well as shops, restaurants, a nearly 300-unit apartment complex and a self-storage facility.

“Another storage unit in my backyard,” Strickland said. “I’ve got more storage units than Waffle Houses right now. We need to keep low- and medium-density homes that we love.”

That’s a concern that’s been echoed by other residents in the Powers Ferry corridor.

But the area, which includes some single-family homes among a wide array of condominium and apartment complexes, is being eyed for higher-density development, especially of the residential variety.

Just down Powers Ferry, on land known as Restaurant Row, commissioners also last year voted to rezone that property for a mixed-use development, also with multi-family and senior housing, shops and restaurant space.

Planning Commission member Andy Smith, whose District 2 includes the Powers Ferry area, said that the amendment process is simply “looking at matching the future land use to what the zoning already is.”

“We’re not zoning any property here,” added Planning Commission chairwoman Judy Williams.

Another proposed amendment by District 2 Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott, would change the future land use of 370 acres in the Windy Hill-Terrell Mill-Powers Ferry area from Community Activity Center, High Density Residential and Park/Recreation/Conservation (PRC) to Regional Activity Center/retail service, Regional Activity Center/high density residential, and Regional Activity Center/open space and recreation.

Dan Davids, who said he has lived in the area in a single-family home “for an extended period,” understands that “change is inevitable. But we ask the question: Where do we fit in? We’d like to continue to live in the area.”

Another resident, Nick Johnson, wanted to know why RAC designation was being sought: “What are the plans?”

Smith explained that there’s not a development proposal now, but “there is a vision for that area that it’s going to be developed in a denser way. What it does is allow a more unified development” in the future.

The community also is being affected by the planned Windy Hill-Terrell Mill Connector. A number of apartment and condo units have already being condemned, and commissioners on Tuesday approved a measure to allow Cobb DOT to condemn four more if negotiations with property owners fall through.

A woman wondered if the amendments would prompt her to move, but Planning Commission member Galt Porter said “this doesn’t mean anybody is going to be kicked out of their house.”

Strickland later apologized for the confusion and acknowledged efforts to “better our area” and “not tear down our homes.”

The Planning Commission voted 3-1 to recommend approval of Ott’s proposed land use change, with Fred Beloin, the appointee of new commissioner Keli Gambrill, opposed.

Cobb commissioners will have the final say, voting on the land use plan amendment proposals next Tuesday.

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