East Cobb Church rezoning held

The Cobb Planning Commission voted Tuesday to hold the East Cobb Church rezoning case after it had a third hearing.

The matter will be taken up again in August at the request of Planning Commission member Tony Waybright, who said that despite improvements in the proposal in some areas, there are still concerns about the residential portion of the development.

He urged the applicant, North Point Ministries, to incorporate continuing concerns over traffic, density, setbacks, buffers and other proposed variances after a new site plan and stipulation letter were submitted last week.

Those changes include a proposal for the RA-6 category to accommodate 71 townhomes and 58 single-family detached homes.

But the request comes with variances that nearby residents and civic leaders said are too many, are not in line with the suburban nature of the area and do not meet Cobb County Code.

The detached homes are three stories, and the applicant is requesting reductions in front and back setbacks, and is proposing the distance between homes be reduced from the minimum 15 feet to 8 feet.

The intensity of the development, said Jill Flamm of the East Cobb Civic Association, “is out of character with this community and belongs in an urban setting.”

She also noted that there’s not a sidewalk proposed for the community because there isn’t room.

The residential portion of the 33-acre proposal at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads has been the subject of most of the opposition.

North Point would purchase the full assemblage of properties, keeping roughly 10 acres for East Cobb Church and selling most of the rest of the land to Ashwood, an Atlanta-based residential developer.

A resident of nearby Chimney Lakes told the Planning Commission he’s not opposed to a church, but the residential proposal, saying that even the single-family detached homes are more like “townhomes, just detached.”

The revised site plan includes a multi-purpose trail that would surround the proposed 130,000-square foot church lining Shallowford Road, and North Point also has included a  park into the revisions that would be available to the larger community.

Kevin Moore, North Point’s attorney, said his client has gone far beyond what’s called for in the JOSH Master Plan to create “a sense of place,” and that the latest revisions “reflect the community of which [the church] is a part.”

The plans also called for reworking Waterfront Circle, an access point for a nearby subdivision, to align with a traffic signal on Johnson Ferry.

There were 41 people in attendance in support of the rezoning request and 27 in opposition, including a speaker who said the proposal would “urbanize East Cobb. That is not what we want.”

Waybright suggested the RA-6 category be revised to fee-simple townhomes, a medium-density zoning which would “provide a stepdown” from lower-density residential homes in the adjacent MarLanta subdivision.

The Planning Commission also was hearing on Tuesday two other major requests in East Cobb. One is for a 99-home residential development on Ebenezer Road that’s drawn community opposition.

The other would convert the closed Park 12 Cobb movie theater at Gordy Parkway and Shallowford Road into a self-storage facility.

Related stories

• Cobb commissioners approve Sprayberry Crossing rezoning
• Residents divided as Sprayberry Crossing rezoning looms
• Cobb Planning Commission punts on Sprayberry Crossing
• East Cobb Church rezoning delayed until July 
• More Sprayberry Crossing changes made after community meeting
• Storage facility proposed for closed East Cobb movie theater
• Sprayberry Crossing proposal drops apartments for townhomes
• East Cobb Church launches “Revitalize JOSH” campaign

 

The Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday voted to hold a mixed-use development anchored by the proposed East Cobb Church for a month, saying it lacks critical information to make a decision.

The advisory board on county rezoning cases voted 5-0 to push back the application, which has already been delayed  several times, until May.

That means that the Cobb Board of Commissioners will not be hearing the case later this month.

(UPDATE: Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson will be holding an online informational meeting about the case Thursday at 6 p.m., and you can register at this link: https://staff315236.typeform.com/to/J9g7pewB.)

Planning commissioner Tony Waybright, who represents the area at the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection where the development would be built, said there are concerns about traffic, stormwater issues, residential density and a “sense of place”—a key component of a recently approved JOSH master plan—that need to be addressed.

North Point Ministries, Inc. wants to use 11 of the 33 assembled acres for the East Cobb Church, which began in 2019 and is currently meeting at Eastside Baptist Church.

The remainder of the property would be used for commercial space, a greenspace and park area on the site of a drained lake and 110 residential units, most of them townhomes.

Among the changes from the original site plan in October is relocating Waterfront Drive, which is located off Johnson Ferry Road and provides primary access to the adjacent MarLanta subdivision.

Some residents there spoke in opposition to the project for those reasons, and for the fee-simple townhome category that the applicant is seeking.

That’s among the initial changes to the original application by North Point Ministries, which operates East Cobb Church.

During an extended presentation session Tuesday, county staffers acknowledged that there isn’t a finished traffic study, nor can they address floodplain and wetlands issues because of incomplete information about density.

“We should have that information by now,” Planning Commission chairman Galt Porter said, who suggested that if the board doesn’t have more details by next month, it’s possible there could be a recommendation of denial.

North Point Ministries attorney Kevin Moore said rezoning isn’t required for the church, and that the nature of the community  “is not a single-family area under any circumstances.” He pointed to nearby commercial development in the JOSH area, saying that “all of that is this neighborhood and brings it to bear on this property.”

He also said that the JOSH master plan is “not the law. It’s a guide.”

While there were a few residents who spoke in favor of the project, several others spoke against it, including Jill Flamm of the East Cobb Civic Association. That organization listed five objections to the application that she said were not addressed, including traffic, the church renderings not consistent with the master plan and residential density.

A resident on Waterfront Circle showed photos of water runoff issues, saying it’s been “a nightmare” since the lake was drained.

Referring to the applicant, she said that “they want it all, and leave us with nothing.”

Other residents took issue with differing staff analyses of the application, wondering how it could have gone from a strong denial in October to a general recommendation of approval.

They also questioned how residential density calculations have gone down when the latest site plan calls for only 15 fewer units from the original proposal.

zWaybright is scheduled to have a virtual town hall meeting Thursday with Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson, with details to be announced.

Related stories

• Zoning update: Sprayberry Crossing, East Cobb Church changes 
• Sprayberry Crossing request granted another continuance
• Cobb commissioners eliminate redevelopment zoning category
• Revised ‘JOSH’ conceptual plan unveiled at virtual town hall
• Cobb Planning Commission member from East Cobb dies
• Petitions created to support, oppose East Cobb Church zoning
• East Cobb Church zoning: ‘What we’re doing is ever-evolving’