After nearly two hours of discussion that included heated opposition from residents in a nearby townhome complex, the Cobb Planning Commission on Tuesday voted to hold the long-delayed rezoning request for the proposed Terrell Mill Towne Center.
By a 3-2 vote, the Planning Commission—which is an advisory board to the Cobb Board of Commissioners—requested more time to sort out a major, complex application that was filed in January.
Traffic and density issues were the primary concerns raised by Thea Powell, Galt Porter and Skip Gunther, the three planning board members who opposed the proposal to rezone nearly 23 acres at Powers Ferry Road and Terrell Mill Road. The mixed-use project, which would be anchored by a Kroger superstore, was to have gone before Cobb commissioners Dec. 19.
The latest delay will push back a formal vote until at least February, since Cobb zoning cases are not heard in January.
The $200 million Terrell Mill Towne Center (agenda packet item) also would also contain restaurants, retail shops, and most controversially, a 310-unit luxury apartment complex abutting the Salem Ridge townhomes on Terrell Mill Road.
Related coverage:
- Terrell Mill Towne Center rezoning goes before Planning Commission
- Terrell Mill Towne Center plan to be discussed at community meeting
Cobb Planning Commission Chairman Mike Terry of East Cobb, who represents District 2, where the Terrell Mill Towne Center would be located, was in strong support of the development by Eden Rock Real Estate Partners. So was Judy Williams of District 3 in Northeast Cobb, who said the project “would be good for the neighborhood, but will have to be tweaked.”
While the Powers Ferry Corridor Alliance—formerly known as the Terrell Mill Community Association—overwhelmingly supported the rezoning, Salem Ridge homeowners expressed strong opposition, especially to the residential component they say is excessively dense for the area.
“Why do we have [zoning] codes at all if we are going to ignore them?” asked Amy Patricio, who represented the opposing Salem Ridge residents.
She argued that the multiple variances requested by developers amounted to “taking the code and rewriting it to serve their purposes.”
Although Terry and Garvis Sams, the attorney for the developers, pointed out that the full proposal is suitable under the Cobb future land use plan and Power Ferry Master Plan, it was the residential component and a self-storage facility that opponents objected to the most.
In particular, Patricio said the UC zoning category sought for the apartments—Urban Condominium—was far more dense than should be allowed, and that there were an “egregious” number of variances as part of the project.
Porter, of South Cobb, agreed about the density issue, pointing to the project’s proposed 60 units an acre, as compared to the current nearby maximum of five units an acre.
“This just doesn’t match Salem Ridge or anything else around here,” he said, calling it “the definition of spot zoning.”
