Bells Ferry Civic Association

Bells Ferry Road senior living development approved by Cobb commissioners

by
Bells Ferry Road senior living development
OpenStreetMap

A Bells Ferry Road senior living development was approved Tuesday by the Cobb Board of Commissioners, on a chunk of green space that’s been eyed for a variety of uses over the years.

They voted to rezone 35.8 acres of low-density residential land on Bells Ferry Road and North Booth Road at I-575 for 155 single-family, detached homes for seniors 55 and older. Here’s the agenda item packet.

The vote was 4-0, with commissioner Bob Ott absent.

It was one of two major zoning cases on Tuesday’s agenda that asked for the Residential Senior Living (RSL) category, which is becoming a more frequent request from developers in Cobb.

There was no formal opposition to the application by Jim Chapman Communities Inc., which had initially proposed 178 units. The homes will range between 1,600 and 2,400 square feet and will have an attached two-car garage. The request was supported by the Bells Ferry Civic Association.

District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell of Northeast Cobb wanted to have the case heard due to some e-mails she had received.

Before making a motion to approve the request, she noted that the land had drawn the interest of developers for other types of development, including commercial, which she opposed to due nearby residential communities.

The land is located across North Booth Road from Chalker Elementary School. She also said the property had been nominated to be purchased as county parkland, but that use was rejected.

“The applicant asked for what we wanted,” Birrell said of the Jim Chapman proposal. “RSL is the best fit for this area.”

Among the stipulations as part of the rezoning include a right turn lane to be built from Bells Ferry Road southbound onto North Booth Road, and for sidewalks to be constructed along the frontage for both roads.

Before that case, commissioners approved a similar rezoning near Powder Springs, for 123 senior homes on 53 acres on Old Lost Mountain Road, that drew opposition from nearby residents for traffic and density reasons.

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

EAST COBB THIS WEEK: Garden tour; tax help; Holocaust exhibit; Coffee with a cop; library events and more

by

Spring break is over, school students are diving into Milestone testing and a beautiful (and warm) week is in the forecast in East Cobb. Some early-week events will be culminated by a Cobb Master Gardeners spring tour, but here’s what’s coming up in the community that you can dive into as you get back back into the swing of things:Kitty Weichherz, In Her Father's Eyes, East Cobb Library exhibit

  • A month-long Holocaust exhibition, “In Her Father’s Eyes,” continues at the East Cobb Library Monday-Saturday from 11-6 through May 2. It’s the story of Kitty Weichherz (in photo), a Czech girl born in the same year as Anne Frank, and told through family photographs and the diary of her father, who survived the Sobibór death camp. Holocaust Remembrance Day is Thursday;
  • Two public libraries in the community are holding free AARP tax assistance sessions this week. On Monday, from 10-2, you can bring your forms to the Gritters branch (880 Shaw Park Road); on Tuesday, the hours are from 10:30-2 at the East Cobb Library (4880 Lower Roswell Road);
  • Cobb Police are holding two more Coffee With a Cop sessions this week: On Monday at 6 p.m. at the Chick-fil-A Lassiter (3046 Shallowford Road), and on Thursday at 8 a.m. at Chick-fil-A Eastlake (2105 Roswell Road). Precinct 4 community officer Nathalie Jegg and colleagues will be on hand to answer your crime and public safety concerns;
  • On Monday night, a Republican candidates’ debate for Georgia Secretary of State takes place at Lassiter High School (2601 Shallowford Road), and while the event is free, you’ll need to sign up;
  • From 6-8 Tuesday there’s going to be an open house for information about the new draft master plan for Cobb Greenways and Trails. We posted about recommendations to expand the Johnson Ferry Trail and the Noonday Creek Trail, and that link has more information about the Cobb DOT project. The open house will be at the Cobb Civic Center (548 S. Marietta Parkway);
  • On Wednesday, the East Cobb Library is holding a chair yoga wellness session for adults 18 and over, and you’ll need to sign up for that;
  • More health tips at the library: From 7-8 Wednesday at the Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road) you can Ask a Chiropractor about what’s ailing you, but you’ll also need to register first;
  • On Thursday morning, stop and smell the azaleas and other wildflowers at the Cobb Master Gardeners spring tour from 9-12 at the Wright Environmental Education Center (2661 Johnson Ferry Road). The tour is free, but if you like what you see, they are accepting donations.
  • On Thursday afternoon, step back in time and enjoy Classic Movie Thursday from 2-4 at the Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center. It’s John Frankeneimer’s “The Manchurian Candidate” from 1962, starring Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury and Frank Sinatra. You can bring your own food and drink to the black box theater;
  • If you live in the Bells Ferry Road corridor and want to keep up with what’s happening in the community, the Bells Ferry Civic Association is holding its annual meeting Thursday night from 6:30-8 at the Shiloh Hills Baptist Church (75 Hawkins Store Road). The guests include Angie Jenkins of the Noonday Creek Trail wildlife group, Eric Meyer of Cobb DOT; Cobb Police Precinct 1 community officer Fernando Pharr and District 3 Cobb Commissioner JoAnn Birrell. The meeting will take place in the church’s student center;
  • Thursday begins a three-day run of the Wheeler Theatre presentation of “Shrek the Musical.” The other shows are Friday and Saturday, all of them starting at 7 p.m. at school’s performing arts center (375 Holt Road).

Check out our full calendar listings for more, this week and beyond. Send us your event information and we’ll post it! E-mail us at: calendar@eastcobbnews.com.

Whatever your plans are for this week, make it a great one!

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click the button below to sign up, and you’re good to go!

Bells Ferry Road cleanup project includes Cobb police chief

by
Bells Ferry Road cleanup
Cobb Police Chief Mike Register (third from left) and commissioner JoAnn Birrell (center) with members of the Bells Ferry Civic Association at Saturday’s Keep Cobb Beautiful project. (Cobb Police Department photo)

Press release:

Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, Police Chief Mike Register, and about a dozen of his officers joined a group pounding the pavement to clean up the Bells Ferry Road corridor on Saturday.
 
The county leaders joined members of the Bells Ferry Civic Association in the effort. The Association keeps tabs on the stretch of Bells Ferry near I-575 as part of the “Adopt-a-Mile” program. Keep Cobb Beautiful runs the “Adopt-a-Mile” program.
 
The group spent several hours cleaning up the shoulders and curbs, finding everything from cigarette butts to car parts to bottles and cans.  In the end, they filled nearly 30 bags of trash.
 
This was the second time Chief Register brought his officers to a community cleanup. “It’s not all about catching criminals,” Register said.  “It’s that partnership with the community that is very valuable and very precious and doing things like this brings us closer together as a community.”
 
“It means a lot to the community to keep our county clean, and we’re happy to show we’re willing to contribute to that,” said Commissioner Birrell.