Cobb to hold Unified Development Code open houses in November Archives

The Cobb Community Development Agency will be holding open house sessions in November about the long-proposed Unified Development Code.

The UDC was proposed in 2022 to update and unify existing zoning, land use and development regulations and to make “the code clearer, easier to use, and better aligned with Cobb’s vision for the future,” according to county officials.

The open houses are designed to provide information and solicit public feedback. They will take place at the following locations and dates around the county:

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 6:30–8 p.m.
Ron Anderson Community Center
3820 Macedonia Road, Powder Springs

Thursday, Nov. 13, 9–10:30 a.m.
Cobb Board of Commissioners Meeting Room
100 Cherokee Street, Marietta

Thursday, Nov. 13, 6:30–8 p.m.
North Cobb Regional Library
3535 Old 41 Highway, Kennesaw

Monday, Nov. 17, 6:30–8 p.m.
Windy Hill Community Center
1885 Roswell Street, Smyrna

Tuesday, Nov. 18, 6:30–8 p.m.
Mountain View Community Center
3400 Sandy Plains Road, Marietta

The last time there was an update on the UDC was in February, when Cobb commissioners were briefed about a proposed planned development category, for large-scale mixed-use projects.

That didn’t require any action, and the county has been silent on the subject of the UDC for the last few months.

There were to have been public meetings this spring on the UDC initial draft that was released in November 2024, but those were not scheduled.

The draft is a 97-page document that includes general provisions, transitional provisions, definitions, terms of construction and related topics. Related documents can be found by clicking here.

The primary updates for the first installment cover administrative articles that establish procedures for the review of all development applications, including applications for rezoning, special land-use permits, for subdivisions and for zoning variances.

Some citizens have objected to the UDC, calling it “a war on the suburbs.” But county officials say an overhaul is long overdue, more than a half-century after Cobb first adopted a zoning code.

At that February work session, Commissioner Keli Gambrill complained that she and her colleagues didn’t have much time to absorb a significant amount of information, and further said that “we have a lot of animosity out there about this whole process and how it’s being handled.”

Cobb Community Development Agency director Jessica Guinn said at that work session that “ultimately, the document is adopted as a whole, as one big code amendment. We want to be sure that before we do that we’ve got something that the board will be comfortable adopting.”

She didn’t provide a timeline.