The lawyer representing Mt. Bethel Christian Academy in its request to allow a sports stadium on its campus at 2509 Post Oak Tritt Road has withdrawn the application.
The letter sent to the county zoning office on Tuesday by attorney Jim Ney did not give a reason for the withdrawal (you can read it here), but it had been strongly opposed by nearby residents.
Cobb commissioners were scheduled to hear the Mt. Bethel application next Tuesday at their monthly zoning hearing. The case has been delayed since it was first scheduled to be heard in December.
The letter by Ney beat the deadline for having the application withdrawn without the commissioners having to vote on whether to do so. That deadline is the Wednesday before the following Tuesday.
Mt. Bethel operates grades 9-12 on what it calls its Upper Campus (with K-8 classes on the Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church grounds on Lower Roswell Road).
When Mt. Bethel purchased the Post Oak Tritt property from the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta in 2013, it said it had no intention of building out a stadium. Some neighbors were concerned then about noise and lighting, and those concerns were raised anew when Mt. Bethel applied for the land-use permit revision last fall.
In an e-mail letter sent to the county zoning office and commissioners the same day as Ney’s withdrawal letter, Becky Carlin, a resident of nearby Marneil Drive, complained that if a stadium is allowed, “I will be able to hear every single word announced at every game played there, as I already can hear noise from Sprayberry High School which is further away.
“This is was one of my concerns when it was first proposed that Mount Bethel purchase this property. The church essentially lied to us, saying they wanted to be part of the community and they would minimize the impact to the neighbors nearby.”
She said the area around the high school, which opened in 2014, has become a nuisance due to increased traffic. (Read her letter here.).
Another resident told East Cobb News she was upset that the stadium would include a 90-foot light tower and loudspeakers “less than 200 feet” from homes.
She was among several who said they intended to speak against the Mt. Bethel request on Tuesday.
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