Olde Towne townhome proposal

A proposal that would allow a 43-unit townhome complex adjacent to the Olde Towne Athletic Club is the latest high-density rezoning case in East Cobb.

The request by Pulte Homes (here’s the agenda item packet) goes before the Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday. The Cobb zoning staff says the site plan (above) is too dense and is recommending denial.

That’s one of several East Cobb zoning cases on the docket that staff is recommending for denial, for density and future land use reasons.

The four-acre Olde Towne property houses a four-story office building at 5000 Olde Towne Parkway, and the end of a cul-de-sac, and is zoned planned shopping center (PSC).

Pulte is seeking the RM-12 multi-family residential zoning category, which would allow 10.5 units an acre. The land is designated for potential community activity center (CAC) in the Cobb future land use plan.

Although there are nearby multi-family homes in the Olde Towne development, most of the surrounding land is commercially oriented. Those homes also are zoned at a lower density and are detached. Pulte’s proposal would build townhomes of around 3,000 square feet each and they would include garages.

The zoning staff, in its denial recommendation, said that RM-12 is ideally compatible with surrounding high-density development should match nearby residential categories.

Other East Cobb cases to be heard Tuesday by the planning commission include:

• Another high-density townhome development at Windy Hill Road and Wildwood Parkway, by Ashton Atlanta, which was held by the Cobb Board of Commissioners in February;
• A personal-care home proposal on less than an acre on Sandy Plains Road and north of Ebenezer Road, by Green Park PCH, which Cobb zoning staff also is recommending for denial since it would include 32 units and would be close to a single-family neighborhood;
• A eight-unit single-family residential proposal by Duncan Land Investments on East Piedmont Road at Cajun Drive, on three acres zoned for low-density residential. Staff also recommends denial;
• A 20-unit residential application by Loyd Development Services, on six acres on Shallowford Road near Shallow Ridge Drive. Right now the land is zoned low-density residential and staff also recommends denial, saying it’s too also too dense.

Here’s the link to all of the cases on Tuesday’s planning commission schedule. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the 2nd floor board room at the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., in downtown Marietta.

Planning board recommendations are advisory. The Cobb Board of Commissioners will make final decisions on March 20.

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