East Cobb Church rezoning case delayed

More delays likely for East Cobb mixed-use rezoning cases

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East Cobb Church rezoning case delauyed
A rendering of East Cobb Church, including a parking deck, fronting Shallowford Road.

The Cobb Zoning Office on Friday said the East Cobb Church mixed-use zoning request won’t be heard on Tuesday.

It’s been pulled from the Cobb Planning Commission agenda and is being continued (you can view the agenda here).

There wasn’t any further explanation in the case filings for the continuance.

The proposal for a church, retail and townhomes at the southwest corner of Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads has drawn community opposition as well as support.

East Cobb Church, which is run by Northpoint Ministries, is planning to sell a portion of the 33-acre assemblage to Ashwood Development for 125 townhomes.

That’s the part of the mixed-use proposal that’s drawn most of the opposition, as well as for traffic concerns.

The zoning staff recommended denial of original application in October, but site plan revisions have been underway.

As we noted on Monday, another major East Cobb redevelopment project was also to finally be heard, several months after being proposed.

The Sprayberry Crossing case is still scheduled for Tuesday, according to the meeting agenda, but the developer has asked for another continuance until April.

That’s according to the Sprayberry Crossing Action, a citizens group on Facebook that has been pushing for the blighted shopping center to be redeveloped for years, as well as a group opposed to the project.

Atlantic Realty, an apartment developer, made the request for a continuance on Thursday, a day after the deadline for getting an automatic delay.

When that happens, the planning commission must vote whether to grant a continuance or not.

If the planning commission denies a continuance, the Sprayberry Crossing case would be the first item to be heard following the consent agenda.

Those against the project are strongly opposed to apartments coming to an area dominated by single-family subdivisions.

Atlantic Residential has reduced the number of apartments and townhomes in the project, which includes a grocery store, other small retail and event space.

The meeting begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday and can be seen on the county’s Facebook Live and YouTube channels, as well as Channel 23 on Comcast Cable. 

Limited in-person attendance is available in the meeting room, the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

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East Cobb Church, Sprayberry Crossing rezoning cases delayed

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East Cobb Church rezoning case delayed

After we posted details earlier this week about North Point Ministries’ plans for a church campus at Shallowford and Johnson Ferry roads, the Cobb Zoning Office is continuing the case until February.

The Cobb Zoning Office noted the continuance in updating the agenda for Tuesday’s Cobb Planning Commission meeting—which you can read here.

In its staff analysis posted earlier this week, the zoning office recommended denial of North Point’s application for land-use, density, traffic and school capacity reasons.

The Alpharetta-based church wants to build a 4-story building for what it’s calling East Cobb Church with close to 125,000 square feet, including a sanctuary seating capacity of nearly 1,300, along with a parking deck, parking lot and future retail space.

The back of the 33-acre assembly would contain 125 townhomes, which zoning staff contends is far too dense for an area with mostly single-family detached residential communities.

The land is owned by prominent attorney Fred Hanna and his wife’s outreach ministry, and which they tried to assemble for a residential project in 2016 that was withdrawn.

East Cobb Church was formed in January and has been meeting at Eastside Baptist Church on Lower Roswell Road.

We also noted earlier this week that another major rezoning request on Tuesday’s agenda—Sprayberry Crossing—also has been scratched again, until February.

Kevin Moore, an attorney for Atlantic Realty Acquisitions, LLC, which is submitting the mixed-use development request, filed for the continuance on Wednesday, the deadline for removing it from Tuesday’s agenda.

Moore said another continuance would give his client time to incorporate revisions to its site plan “in continued response to community concerns.”

While many nearby residents have pushed for redevelopment of the blighted shopping center for years, some are opposed to apartments that are a major part of Atlantic Realty’s proposal.

Cobb County does not hear zoning cases in January.

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