Plans to operate a mobile pop-up market in the Chimney Springs subdivision in East Cobb got a recommendation of denial on Tuesday.
The Cobb Planning Commission voted 4-0 Tuesday against a proposal by Thomas Fernandes, operator of the market, for a temporary land-use permit.
He wants to have the market in the subdivision’s clubhouse and amenities parking lot (2465 Hearthstone Circle) on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and submitted the request after being cited by Cobb code enforcement.
Fernandes had been selling frozen and packaged meats in the parking lot there, and wants to have up to five employees, a refrigerated truck and 3-4 small signs to advertise the business.
According to a Cobb Zoning Office agenda item, he estimated there would be 15-25 customers per day.
Chimney Springs, which has more than 700 homes is zoned residential. That was the main reason for a staff recommendation of denial: “Commercial use may disrupt the residential character of the neighborhood.”
Fernandes has lived in Chimney Springs for 20 years, and has been a farmer who has merged with a wholesaling business.
He said that for small farms to survive, “they have to go direct-to-consumer That’s our goal. Some of our neighbors were buying and said ‘why don’t you sell in the neighborhood?’ We didn’t understand that there was a land-use permit needed.”
Fernandes said there was a lot of support for the market in the neighborhood.
But opposition came from some the East Cobb Civic Association and some Chimney Springs residents, who said there was no notification to the community when the market began selling.
ECCA president Richard Grome said the case is larger than a single request to sell in a pop-up market.
“This is not a home-based business. This is a butcher shop on wheels” that brings increased concentration of activities and traffic to a residential area. “How is this any different from an ice cream truck or a fast food truck conducting business in a subdivision parking lot?”
Michelle Hutchinson, a Chimney Springs resident and former member of its homeowners association, said there are other opportunities for Fernandes to sell his meats at weekend farmers markets in the area.
Planning Commissioner Christine Lindstrom of East Cobb said the pop-up meat market is “inappropriate” for the location.
She said no subdivision could regulate how many customers may come to such a market, and that “there are other solutions to building a business.”
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