Office use request for Mt. Bethel Community Center withdrawn

Mt. Bethel Church Community Center rezoning

UPDATED, July 5, 4:30 p.m.:

The Cobb Planning Commission voted 5-0 today to allow the applicant to withdraw without prejudice, meaning the matter could be refiled at any time.

ORIGINAL REPORT:

A development company that applied to rezone land including the former Mt. Bethel Church Community Center for a small office building wants to withdraw that request.

We noted last month that the 1.13 acres at 4608 Lower Roswell Road includes a 6,250-square-foot building that has been vacant and that was one of several parcels owned by the church that has been put on the real estate market.

But the zoning signs have come down and the applicant’s attorney filed notice with the Cobb Zoning Office last Thursday that they’d like to withdraw without prejudice.

The application was scheduled to be heard by the Cobb Planning Commission on Wednesday, but the withdrawal request would have to be voted on by that board since it came after the deadline for doing so, which is a week in advance.

MRE Properties & Investments, LLC was seeking low-rise office (LRO) zoning, which would permit professional office uses. The current building, which housed various Mt. Bethel Church activities and non-profits, including Aloha to Aging, is a single story on land zoned in the RA-4 residential category.

The Cobb Zoning staff is recommending that the zoning stay at RA-4, with a limited professional services permit (full analysis here).

The land is bordered by an O & I designation at the corner of Lower Roswell and Woodlawn, where a Mt. Bethel Church day care center once stood, and a single-family subdivision.

The staff analysis concluded that “the applicant’s rezoning proposal is in conformity with the policies and intent of the Cobb County Comprehensive Plan, if deleted to RA-4 with a LPSP. Approval of an LPSP would be more appropriate to the residential neighborhoods surrounding the site.”

Kevin Moore, an attorney for MRE Properties, submitted a stipulation letter last Monday reiterating his client’s desire for LRO zoning,

His request to withdraw did not indicate a reason.

Another East Cobb case that has been delayed for months is being continued again. It’s for a standalone Starbucks at Paper Mill Village, and was to have been heard by the Planning Commission Wednesday.

But S&B Investments Inc. has asked for a continuance until August.

The applicant originally wanted to tear down a small building at 31 Johnson Ferry Road at Paper Mill Road where the current Starbucks is located and build a two-story structure.

That has been reduced to a single story, and attorney Parks Huff said his client continues to work on design.

The Cobb Planning Commission meeting Wednesday will take place starting at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building (100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta).

Here’s a summary agenda; you can read through the full agenda by clicking here.

The meeting will be live-streamed on the county’s website, cable TV channel (Channel 24 on Comcast) and Youtube page. Visit cobbcounty.org/CobbTV for other streaming options.

The Planning Commission recommendations will be considered by the Cobb Board of Commissioners on July 18.