Sprayberry Crossing proposal drops apartments for townhomes

Just a few days before going back before the Cobb Planning Commission, the Sprayberry Crossing developer has produced another new site plan, and it’s a major change.

Atlantic Realty is dropping plans for a 125-unit apartment building as part of the mixed-use redevelopment and is adding 62 townhomes to the 44 previously proposed.

A senior apartment building that originally called for 125 units now is proposing 172 units.

While keeping 34,000 square feet for a grocery store, the new site plan also has eliminated other retail space and green space.

The Cobb Planning Commission, an advisory body to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, voted in April to hold the application for a month. Kevin Moore, an attorney for Sprayberry Crossing, also submitted a new stipulation letter on Wednesday.

Reaction to the last-minute revisions have been mixed on social media channels devoted to the Sprayberry Crossing redevelopment issue.

Joe Glancy, creator of the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook page, said he’s been told “the developer made this change because they were told by Commissioner [JoAnn] Birrell last week that she would not approve the apartments.”

Participants on another Facebook group, ROD-1 Residents Against Apartments at Sprayberry Crossing (named after the zoning application number) said they’re still opposed because of the senior apartments, as well as for traffic and density concerns.

Tim Carini, a leader of that group, told East Cobb News “the new site plan still has apartments, and several other unresolved items, so we will be speaking on Tuesday.”

At the April Planning Commission meeting, Deborah Dance, Birrell’s new appointee, asked Moore if the developer would be “open to [consider] more ownership opportunities” instead of rental units.

She also said she had been getting slightly more messages opposed to the previous site plan than those in favor.

The Sprayberry Crossing case is one of two major applications in East Cobb to be held to Tuesday’s meeting.

The other, involving North Point Ministries’ request for East Cobb Church and residences at the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection, also has a new site plan that was submitted last week.

That includes 59 single-family homes and 72 townhomes.

The Tuesday Cobb Planning Commission meeting begins at 9 a.m. and can be seen on CobbTV, the county’s government access channel, as well as its Facebook and YouTube channels, and on Comcast Channel 24.

The full agenda and individual items can be found by clicking here.