Johnson Ferry-Shallowford proposal Archives

Johnson Ferry-Shallowford proposal

Zoning notice signs have gone up along the southwest corner of the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection, and the proposal is a major one that’s been placed on the December calendar.

A little more than 33 acres is being proposed for a mixed-use development that’s quite different than what came before Cobb commissioners before being withdrawn in early 2017.

That was for single-family homes and townhomes by CalAtlantic Group, a residential developer, and drew some vocal community opposition.

What’s been filed with the Cobb Zoning Office would include a megachurch, restaurant and retail space and 125 townhomes.

(You can read the initial filings by clicking here.)

The applicant is different, too: North Point Ministries, Inc., which has seven non-denominational churches in metro Atlanta. The founder is Andy Stanley, son of retired First Baptist Church of Atlanta pastor Charles Stanley.

Since its founding in 1995, North Point has added churches in Buckhead, Gwinnett County, Woodstock and Decatur.

This one would be what North Point is calling its “East Cobb campus.” According to an initial site plan filed with the county, it would be located right on the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford corner, with parking fronting both roads.

The site plan calls for a parking deck facing Shallowford, and parking along Johnson Ferry also is being designated for “future commercial” space that would have restaurant and retail uses; neither of those components have any further details for now.

Those filings also don’t indicate the proposed capacity inside the church—the flagship North Point Community Church in Alpharetta can hold up to 3,000 people, as does North Point’s Buckhead Church.

Z-72 large site plan — *For a larger view, **click here**. Shallowford Road is at the left; Johnson Ferry Road is at the top.*

The rezoning request also calls for 125 townhomes in the back of the development, on either side of Waterfront Drive, under the RM-8 zoning category. The townhomes would have a minimum size of 1,800 square feet.

Most of that land is currently zoned R-20 and is where single-family homes now exist.

The property would be divided by an existing stormwater management area that includes a dry lake. That’s been referred to as Maddox Lake—it was located behind the now-demolished home of former Gov. Lester Maddox along Johnson Ferry.

There aren’t any renderings, elevations or variance requests that are included for now in the rezoning request.

The North Point Ministries rezoning request comes three months after Cobb commissioners approved the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan.

In that plan, several redevelopment options for the southwest intersection of “JOSH” were detailed, most of them of the mixed-use variety.

None of them included a facility for religious worship. The request states that single-family residential use “is economically unfeasible” and that the zoning proposal comforms to the county’s future land use map.

Nearly 30 parcels of land making up the North Point request have been assembled by The ‘True Vine’ Experience Foundation, Inc.; Sara M. Sweeney and Hanna Land Company, Inc.

The latter is headed by Fred Hanna, an East Cobb resident who’s the founder of the Frederick J. Hanna & Associates debt-collection law firm.

The ‘True Vine’ Experience is a pastoral ministry founded by Hanna’s wife, Lynn Hanna, and he’s listed as its CFO and secretary in non-profit filings.

Sweeney is a chiropractor whose practice is at 4260 Shallowford Road, one of the parcels in the assemblage. Hanna interests have owned some of the parcels as early as 2004.

The Cobb Zoning Office hasn’t yet released a detailed analysis of the rezoning request with recommendations.

The Cobb Planning Commission is scheduled to hear the case on Dec. 1 and the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Dec. 15.