Church eyes East Cobb neighborhood for new worship facility Archives

A new faith community in East Cobb wants to build its own worship facility in a residential area, which isn’t unusual.

For the last three years, Grace Resurrection Methodist Church has leased a former church building at Roswell Road and Indian Hills Parkway.

But Grace Resurrection, which was formed by former members and a former senior pastor of Mt. Bethel Church in 2022, wants have its own facility.

Grace Resurrection is seeking to build a 15,000-square-foot building and a 286-space parking lot on 6.5 acres of undeveloped land surrounded by subdivisions.

The land, owned by the Barkis Family Revocable Trust, is located near the intersection of Oak Lane, Casteel Road and Bill Murdock Road. It contains a single-family home and like surrounding property is zoned R-30.

Grace Resurrection doesn’t need rezoning since houses of worship are zoned in residential categories.

But the Cobb County code requires that worship facilities in residential areas have “primary access” to and from major or arterial roads.

The point of access would be on Oak Lane, which is considered by the county to be a collector or neighborhood road.

The church will be requesting a waiver from that requirement at a Cobb Board of Zoning Appeals hearing on Dec. 10 (you can read the filing here).

The BZA is a five-member appointed body that hears such matters as zoning variances and appeals for waivers to county zoning ordinances.

The church also is requesting a variance to reduce a required 50-foot setback to eight feet for an accessory structure, a 6,200-square-foot playground.

In a statement, Grace Resurrection told East Cobb News that it is “exploring long-term options for a permanent church home to support its growing congregation. One of the properties under evaluation is a nearly seven-acre parcel on Oak Lane in East Cobb. This location is one of several being considered, and no decisions have been made regarding its future use.”

The statement didn’t identify any other properties, and indicated that its application before the BZA is a “request for clarification” as it does due diligence in the zoning process.

Grace Resurrection has hired noted Cobb zoning attorney Kevin Moore to handle the case. There’s been some concern expressed on social media channels, especially over traffic and environmental issues.

Applicants before the BZA are asked to “state what hardship would be created by following the normal terms of the ordinance.”

In its response, Grace Resurrection said that “to grant the requested variance and allow the development of the Church campus would in minimal impact upon adjacent properties and residences as the surrounding roads are arterials.”

The northwestern part of Barkis property is located at the curved intersection of the three roads, and is bordered on the south by the Blake Ford subdivision and on the east by the Greyfield neighborhood.

There is no other non-residential use of property in the area, and there are a number of other nearby larger parcels along Oak Lane that are also owned by family trusts.

Grace Resurrection initially was leasing the former Lutheran Church of the Incarnation site on Indian Hills Parkway from the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

In April 2023, the synod sold that property to the adjacent Congregation Etz Chaim synagogue for $1.1 million.

In its statement to East Cobb News, Grace Resurrection said it “remains committed to transparency, responsible planning, and being a good neighbor in the East Cobb community. We will continue to provide updates as our evaluation process moves forward and as additional information becomes available.”