Cobb UDC page launches Archives

The Cobb Unified Development Code project has a new web address and two public meetings have been scheduled for early December as an independent consultant begins its work.

Cobb government said Monday that public meetings will take place next week—Monday, Dec. 5 at the North Cobb Regional Library (3535 Old Highway 41 Northwest, Kennesaw) and Tuesday, Dec. 6 at the Switzer Library (266 Roswell Street, Marietta).

Both meetings are scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Other meetings throughout the county will be announced at a later date.

The UDC is a project of the Cobb Community Development Agency, whose goal, according to a county release, “is to produce a document that encourages and enables development and redevelopment in identified centers while preserving the unique character of the county’s rural areas.”

Community development officials said it’s needed because development regulations in Cobb date back to the 1970s.

“The project,” according to the county, “also aims to protect existing neighborhoods, conserve natural and historic resources, support economic development and provide an opportunity for various housing types.”

Cobb commissioners in a split vote in August approved spending nearly $500,000 to hire Clarion Associates, LLC, a nationwide land-use and planning consulting firm which has provided services for a UDC in Hall County and design and development guidelines in Savannah.

Some critics of the UDC proposal in Cobb have called it “a war on the suburbs,” but agency officials said it’s an increasingly common approach to pulling together all components of development projects.

The consultant’s work will take place over an 18 to 24-month process, starting this winter with public meetings and feedback sessions and opportunities.

A code assessment process will start in the spring of 2023, followed by a draft UDC expected to be presented in the spring of 2024. Public hearings of that draft are slated from summer-fall of 2024.

The new Cobb UDC page includes a timeline of that process, along with zoning, development and design documents and project updates and other materials.

Citizens also can submit questions and sign up for project updates and other information, provide comments and review and comment on draft documents.