Powers Ferry Road hotel developer withdraws land-use request

The attorney for a proposed suites hotel next to the Hilton Garden Inn at Powers Ferry Road and Windy Hill Road has withdrawn an application for a special land-use permit.

Garvis Sams, who represents Milestone Hotel Management, wrote a letter to the Cobb Zoning Office dated Sept. 10 about the withdrawal without prejudice, which means it can refile the application anew.

Milestone’s request is listed on the agenda (main case file here) as a continued case for Tuesday’s meeting, which begins at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

In addition to zoning cases, the commissioners also consider land-use permits and changes to site plans and stipulations in previously approved zoning cases under the category Other Business (OB).

The Cobb Zoning Office had continued the Milestone hotel case, which has been delayed before, until October. Milestone had sought to build a five-story, 95-suite Homewood Suites by Hilton next to the Hilton Garden Inn on 1.9 acres.

Currently the land includes an accessory parking lot for the existing hotel, and it’s zoned for office mid-rise (OMR). The Future Land Use category is listed as Regional Activity Center.

Milestone was proposing 95 parking spaces, but the required minimum under the current zoning category is 105. In late August, Sams filed a continuance letter with numerous stipulations.

Opposition to the application came from from ML Wildwood Holding LLC, which owns the land at 3045 Powers Ferry Road where the Hilton Garden Inn is located. David Kirk, an attorney with Troutman and Sanders, which represents ML Wildwood, cited parking and traffic issues, along with density and other factors, including the possible impact to The Flats at Riverwalk, a nearby condominium complex.

Another East Cobb Other Business case we’ve noted before is being continued until the Oct. 15 zoning hearing. That’s a request by request by Poag Shopping Centers, LLC, owners of The Avenue East Cobb, to change stipulations and a site plan amendment (case file here).

Poag wants to change the appearance and location of the monument sign at the entrance to the shopping center, and to alter opening hours for a fitness center from 7 a.m. to 5 a.m. The closing hours would remain at 11 p.m.

The nearby East Hampton neighborhood has objected on both counts, asking for a smaller sign and saying there’s no need for a fitness center to open at 5 a.m.

The East Cobb Civic Association has filed a letter in support of East Hampton.

A few items on Tuesday’s agenda in East Cobb have drawn opposition:

• OB-47, Geneva Roswell, LLC, 4905 Alabama Road, which is seeking to change a site plan and stipulations for a now-vacant LA Fitness Center space at the Indian Creek Shopping Center. The proposal would subdivide the space for a smaller fitness center and neighborhood retail uses and allow for a truck dock to be installed behind the building (see case file);
• OB-51, Danesh Roshan, who wants to reduce the minimum lot size for R-20 zoned land at Holt Road and Emory Lane. He wants to tear down an existing home there and build two homes; the East Cobb Civic Association is opposed, saying it would set a bad precedent because it would reduce zoning to R-15, a higher category, than what surrounds it (see case file);

On the consent agenda (which includes items that have no stated opposition) are the following cases in East Cobb:

• Z-48, SAW Holdings, 4076 Ebenezer Road, from neighborhood shopping to neighborhood retail on 1.7 acres that had generated previous opposition;
• Z-54, Kay Porter, owner of Perfect Reflections, a hair salon and home boutique business at 4781 Alabama Road. She’s retiring, and is seeking rezoning of a building on a half-acre from general commercial to neighborhood retail center;
• OB-50, Michael Clarke, who wants to amend a site plan at a home at 2875 Brandl Cove Court to allow for a gazebo;
• OB-54, J.D. España, who is seeking to amend a site plan for the development of four houses on 1.98 acres 4648 Steinhauer Road, reducing it to one house and removing stipulations from a 2014 zoning case;
• OB-56, Waldron and Lee Dentristy, LLC, which is seeking flag-style entrance signage as a change to a 2018 zoning case that allowed for a dental building under construction on Roswell Road, next to the Bank of America at East Piedmont Road.

The full agenda is listed here; case files can be found here.

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