After hearing the complicated Sprayberry Crossing rezoning case for the third month in a row, the Cobb Planning Commission decided on Tuesday to make no recommendation about whether rezoning should be approved or denied.
After hearing the latest site plan revisions and being briefed about last-minute meetings to create a signalized main entrance to the proposed mixed-use development on Sandy Plains Road, the three members of the planning board who were in attendance voted unanimously not to forward a recommendation to approve or deny.
Instead, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will be asked to make a final decision on June 15 with a number of issues pending, including traffic concerns that were the focal point of questions by planning commissioners.
While saying that “everyone ought to be commended for the great attention that’s been shown to this matter,” planning commissioner Deborah Dance said that “challenges remain.”
Yet “time is of the essence and there is a time for taking action,” she noted, in reference to comments by Kevin Moore, the attorney for the developer, Atlantic Reality Acquisitions LLC, that his client wants no further delays in rezoning decisions.
The redevelopment proposal for the blighted shopping center on Sandy Plains Road, between East Piedmont Road and Post Oak Tritt Road, has been underway for nearly two years by Atlantic Realty Acquisitions, LLC.
Atlantic Realty, an Atlanta-based apartment builder, has revised the site plan several times for more than a year.
In what went before the planning commission Tuesday, the developer would build a senior apartment building, townhomes and a retail grocery center on property that’s been the site of a run-down shopping center.
The latest Sprayberry Crossing site plan, filed last week, reduces the number of senior apartments to 132 and increases the number of townhomes to 102.
It was the latest attempt by the developer to alleviate community opposition to rental residential units, after Atlantic Realty dropped plans in April to build a market-rate apartment building.
“There could not be a greater candidate for redevelopment” than the Sprayberry Crossing property, Moore said, while acknowledging that his client’s proposal “does have some challenges.”
On Friday, the developer met with Brij Patel, owner of the Sprayberry Bottle Shop, which sits on an outparcel along Sandy Plains across from Kinjac Drive, where the main entrance would be located.
In order to align the traffic signal at Kinjac into Sprayberry Crossing, the developer is proposing to cut through what’s now the front parking lot of the liquor store and relocate parking to the other side of the building.
Moore and Shaun Adams, an attorney for the liquor store, said they’re confident they can continue discussions before county commissioners meet in two weeks.
Other traffic access challenges include Post Oak Tritt Road, and planning commissioner Fred Beloin fretted that Atlantic Realty hadn’t done much to address it.
“The applicant doesn’t want to spend any money to fix the problem on Post Oak Tritt,” he said, referencing a Cobb DOT recommendation to provide right-out-only access from Sprayberry Crossing.
While he said his preference would be to hold the case again, Beloin, serving in his first meeting as chairman, voted for Dance’s motion.
Planning commissioners Tony Waybright and Michael Hughes, appointed last week, were not in attendance.
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- Sprayberry Crossing, East Cobb Church rezonings held again
- Sprayberry Crossing proposal drops apartments for townhomes
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As one commissioner said “this traffic plan will get someone killed.” Mr Moore should take his sad bs act back to the drawing board.
Give them one final opportunity to put together their best plan for the community – both the one they’re proposing and the existing community it’d become part of – and if it does not work, then kiss the project goodbye. They’ve had two years and still can’t get it right – they’re taking the focus of the commissioners off the ball of progress for the county as a whole with these neverending shenanigans.
The developer thinks he’s got us by the throat – his attorney’s “Yet “time is of the essence and there is a time for taking action,” she noted, in reference to comments by Kevin Moore, the attorney for the developer, Atlantic Reality Acquisitions LLC, that his client wants no further delays in rezoning decisions.” says to me that they’re tired of the commissioners yanking their chain and they’re not playing ball any more. Not a problem – shut off the lights, pack up the equipment, and go home – without approval on your pet project.