UPDATED, Nov. 9:
Marietta mayor Steve Tumlin vetoed the rezoning approval on ‘Thursday, the day after the City Council voted 6-1 to approve it.
The council can override the veto with at least five votes at its monthly meeting in December.
ORIGINAL REPORT:
It’s been more than six years since Harry’s Farmers Market closed on Powers Ferry Road in the East Cobb area, in a former retail center that has sat virtually empty since then.
On Wednesday, the Marietta City Council approved a rezoning request to use that property for a mixed-use developement featuring luxury apartments and townhomes.
The long-delayed request for what’s being called Accent Marietta Crossing got a vote of 6-1.
But Mayor Steve Tumlin, who has been adamantly opposed to new apartment construction in the city in recent years, said right after the vote that he may veto the measure.
During a discussion after the rezoning presentation, he said that “I just can’t support these numbers. This just isn’t right. I can’t support this as presented.”
Westplan Investors of Atlanta had been seeking some changes to the conditional mixed-use zoning designation to build more than 200 apartments, 28 townhomes, and 14,389 square feet of retail space in an $80 million investment.
The property was zoned for a specific site plan when Studio Movie Grill came in in 2017, as Harry’s was set to close, so the Council was being asked to approve a new site plan.
(You can read the filing by clicking here.)
Parks Huff, Westplan’s attorney, said in a presentation to the Council that the project would transform an area that for “the last 30 years has looked the same.
“This is something that will invigorate this area,” he said, noting that the Marietta Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval and that there’s no community opposition.
“That’s because it fits.”
The Studio Movie Grill and an outparcel on Powers Ferry with existing businesses will remain, but the rest of the nearly 20-acre center—including the former Harry’s and adjacent empty space—would be demolished.
Westplan is envisioning the new development as a critical part of an effort by Marietta officials to redevelop Roswell Road eastward from Cobb Parkway. A CobbLinc transit station is being planned for the former Sear’s property across from the Big Chicken.
Westplan’s plans call for “rehabbing” a vacant retail building of nearly 15,000 square feet that fronts Powers Ferry Road, and will keep the existing parking lot that serves the Studio Movie Grill.
Brian Schultz, the Studio Movie Grill owner, said “this property needs a spark.” He addressed also Tumlin’s reluctance.
“I’m literally imploring you to let us bring this community together,” he said. “Please don’t stand in the way of progress.”
In April, Tumlin vetoed a mixed-use project at the former Kroger store on Powers Ferry Road and Delk Road that called for more than 300 apartments, after the council voted 5-2 to approve it.
The council tried to override the veto, which needed five votes, but the vote to override passed only by a 4-3 count.
Several other citizens spoke in favor of the Westplan project, citing the need for quality rental residential space.
The 236 apartments (down from an initial 300), spread out over five buildings, and the townhomes would form a density of 16.93 units per acre. Amenities call for a leasing office, swimming pool, two gazebo/grill areas and patio space.
The two apartment buildings to face Powers Ferry would have commercial/office space on the ground floor.
The total parking would come to 844 spaces, both in surface spaces and two-level parking deck. A total of 13 percent of the site is deemed for recreational purposes, including walking trail areas and a dog run.
Westplan also has agreed to construct new sidewalks along Powers Ferry and Roswell Road to increase pedestrian connectivity.
“If this doesn’t get approved, we have to question what mixed-use is, because this is it,” City Council member Cheryl Richardson said before the vote.
Council member Andre Sims noted that his own children, in their late 20s and early 30s, “can’t afford to buy a $300,000 house” and that younger generations are struggling to afford to become homeowners.
Harry’s was once the anchor of a shopping center that opened in the 1990s, featuring Builders Square and Sports Authority stores and a Revco/CVS drug store. But after those businesses closed, Harry’s became the lone occupant of what was later named Harry’s Crossing.
Harry’s downsized its original space following the opening of the East Cobb Whole Foods store at Merchants Walk in 2012.
Whole Foods, which acquired Harry’s in 2001 but allowed the farmers market concept to retain its name, decided to close the Marietta store and open a Whole Foods in Kennesaw.
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