former Mountain View Elementary School site

Publix GreenWise Market to make Georgia debut in East Cobb

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Publix GreenWise Market

The first tenant in a new shopping center on the site of the former Mountain View Elementary School will be the first location in Georgia for the Publix GreenWise Market concept.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reported that the store will have 25,000 square feet as the anchor of a 103,000-square foot development on 14 acres on Sandy Plains Road at Shallowford Road.

The still-to-be-named complex is being developed by East Cobb-based Brooks Chadwick Capital and Fuqua Development and will include “chef-driven” restaurants, retail and service shops and a self-storage facility.

Rezoning for the complex was approved by Cobb commissioners last fall, and they signed off on the self-storage building this spring despite complaints from nearby residents.

According to a report in ToNeTo Atlanta, which covers the metro retailing scene, Publix is rolling out its GreenWise Market organic foods concept in other Southern markets. They include Tallahassee, Boca Raton and the Charleston, S.C. area.

The East Cobb store will be right down the street from a Publix supermarket at the Highland Plaza Shopping Center. The ABC quoted an Atlanta real estate observer that:

“The target market for GreenWise is those areas that have a strong Publix presence already. GreenWise could function as a complementary destination for a core Publix location, helping to spread out customer density in their busiest markets.” 

GreenWise is eyeing a competitive East Cobb organic grocery market, with Whole Foods and Sprouts nearby, in the Johnson Ferry-Roswell area.

The Shallowford-Sandy Plains area also was a target of Lidl, a German-based supermarket chain, which wanted to locate a store on the site of the Park 12 Cobb movie theater on Gordy Parkway. But its zoning application was rejected by commissioners last fall following intense community opposition.

ToNeTo said the East Cobb Public GreenWise Market could open by next summer.

 

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Self-storage facility approved at former Mountain View ES site; Canton Road ‘blight’ case held

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The Cobb Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to approve a request for a self-storage facility at the former Mountain View Elementary School site, despite opposition from some nearby residents.

The three-story building will be part of a mixed-use development on the 14-acre site on Sandy Plains Road that will include restaurants, shops and other retail businesses.

Some residents of the adjacent Cutters Gap subdivision complained that their privacy would be diminished, and there would be noise and other issues.

They also accused the developer of a “bait and switch” by not including the self-storage plans when the zoning for the full project was granted in October. However, the developer, Brooks Chadwick Capital, had to get a special land-use permit, which is required for self-storage facilities to be approved.

Kevin Moore, an attorney for Brooks Chadwick, reiterated that point, saying his clients still would have to have applied for the SLUP even if they had known at the time there was interest from a potential storage facility builder.

Additional stipulations proposed since the Cobb Planning Commission recommended approval earlier this month include a 42-foot height limit for the nearly 100,000-square-foot building, down from 45 feet.

Other restrictions include no overnight parking or vehicle idling, and limited hours for unloading, including none during overnight periods.

Brooks Chadwick also agreed to keep a 50-foot buffer between the development and nearby homes as part of the original zoning.

When some residents pointed out that there were more than a dozen storage facilities in the area, District 3 commissioner JoAnn Birrell said: “It’s free enterprise,” a subject that is “not what we’re here to consider” in a zoning matter.

The East Cobb Civic Association also spoke in favor of the SLUP, as it had for the redevelopment in general.

The commissioners agreed to hold another zoning case in Northeast Cobb, this one involving a proposal to improve a blighted property in the Canton Road corridor (previous East Cobb News coverage here) that has been delayed before.

Canton Road

PetroPlex ventures wants to rezone 0.87 acres at 2120 Canton Road, near the Canton Road connector, for a low-rise office building. It’s on the site of a gas station that closed in 2003 and has become increasingly deteriorated.

Tom Mitchell, an attorney for the applicant, presented revised plans for remodeling the building, including architectural and other changes recommended by the planning commission.

But Carol Brown of Canton Road Neighbors said the revised proposal doesn’t meet Cobb development standards and guidelines set forth in the Canton Road Corridor project.

Specifically, she objected that a canopy that was part of the gas station would remain, but the only proposed improvement to it would be a repainting.

The structure, she said, “needs more than a fresh coat of paint. . . . Please don’t ignore 13 years of community planning and investment” for improving what she called “one of the most blighted properties” on Canton Road.

Another contested East Cobb zoning case was withdrawn Tuesday. Robert Licata, a pediatrician, had proposed converting empty office space at Johnson Ferry Road and Lassiter Road for a restaurant, gym, medical offices and retail shops.

The planning commission recommended denial, saying that 37 proposed parking spaces wouldn’t be enough, and there was no rear loading space. Residents at the adjacent Lassiter Walk subdivision and the East Cobb Civic Association also were opposed.

 

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Proposed self-storage facility at former Mountain View Elementary School site clears first hurdle

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Over the objections of nearby residents, the Cobb Planning Commission Tuesday recommended approval of a climate-controlled self-storage facility at the former Mountain View Elementary School site (previous East Cobb News post here).

The vote was 4-1, with planning commissioner Thea Powell opposed.

The 105,340-square foot building has been added to a mixed-use development approved in October that would call for “high-end” restaurants, shops and other retail uses.

A special land-use permit must be obtained for self-storage facilities (agenda item information here).

Residents living in the Cutters Gap neighborhood accused the developer, Brooks Chadwick Capital, of a “bait and switch” in proposing a three-story building at the southwest corner of the 14-acre parcel at 3448 Sandy Plains Road.

Others said they feared the building, which one called “a monster,” would tower over their neighborhood, and suggested a two-story limit.

Kevin Moore, an attorney for Brooks Chadwick, said among the stipulations included with the request would be a 45-foot height limit on the self-storage building, which would include 13 parking spaces.

“It’s the quietest possible use there could be in this location,” Moore said.

The planning commission recommended denial of another East Cobb rezoning request to convert empty office space into a mixed-use development at Johnson Ferry Road and Lassiter Road.

Dr. Robert Licata, a pediatrician who’s long had a practice at 3000 Johnson Ferry Road, wants to move his office to 2863 Johnson Ferry Road and get an acre currently zoned for low-rise office (LRO) to neighborhood retail commercial (NRC).

The request included the possible use for a restaurant and gym as well as other shops. Two empty buildings have sat vacant at that property, but residents in the nearby Lassiter Walk neighborhood are opposed (agenda item information here).

Planning commission chairman Mike Terry said “there are issues that are problematic,” including 37 parking spaces (the county zoning staff is recommending at least 52) and the lack of loading access behind the buildings.

Licata later deleted the restaurant from the rezoning request, but the planning board voted 5-0 to recommend denial.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will decide on both cases on Feb. 20.

 

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Self-storage facility proposed on former Mountain View Elementary School site

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MVES Self Storage rendering

Last fall the former Mountain View Elementary School site was rezoned for a major mixed-use development (previous East Cobb News post here) that is to include restaurants, shops and other small businesses.

Now, the developers are coming back through the rezoning process to request that a self-storage facility be allowed on the nearly 14-acre tract at 3448 Sandy Plains Road.

Brooks Chadwick Capital, LLC is seeking a special land use permit to construct a three-story facility that would be located at the southwest corner of the property and adjacent to the East Cobb Senior Center and the The Art Place-Mountain View.

The application will be heard Tuesday by the Cobb Planning Commission, which meets at 9 a.m. in the second floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.

Brooks Chadwick has submitted a revised site plan and renderings for the facility (agenda item packet here), which would contain 105,340 square feet of space and 13 parking spaces.

The above rendering, which features a brick Colonial style to the exterior of the building, was worked out between the developer and nearby residents and was submitted in December.

The Cobb zoning staff is recommending approval of the application with several conditions, including final architectural and landscaping plan approval coming from the district commissioner, and continuing existing stipulations that were part of the rezoning case last year.

The planning commission is an advisory board appointed by members of the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which will decide this and other rezoning, land use permit and related business on Feb. 20.

The rest of the February zoning schedule can be found here.

 

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