Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center

East Cobb indoor entertainment center gets approval from commissioners

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Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center, East Cobb indoor entertainment center

A proposed indoor recreation and entertainment center at Sandy Plains Village in East Cobb was passed by the Cobb Board of Commissioners at their Tuesday zoning hearing.

By a 5-0 vote on the consent agenda, the commissioners followed the Cobb Planning Commission’s recommendation to keep the existing neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) category, with use-specific conditions for the 67,000-square-foot space that will become Ignite Adventure Park.

(Read the case file here.)

DDR Sandy Plains LLC had sought community retail commercial zoning (CRC) for the entire shopping center it owns because the entertainment center uses didn’t fit the NRC category.

Ignite Adventure Park will include a variety of indoor activities, including go-karts, bumper cars, trampolines, mini-golf and rock-climbing, as well as a restaurant and cafe.

It’s slated to go in the former space of the Walmart Neighborhood Grocery, which closed in 2017.

Planning commissioner Andy Smith of East Cobb—who represents the area of the shopping center on Woodstock Road between Sandy Plains Road and Mabry Road—incorporated several special-use conditions to keep the shopping center NRC.

The commissioners also agreed to planning commission recommendations to mandate that the go-karts and bumper cars be operated on either battery power or electricity (no gasoline-driven engines).

Construction will be limited from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Saturday construction is indoors only (no nights, Sundays or holidays).

Commissioner Bob Ott noted that the case “started as a contentious zoning” and was moved to the consent agenda by the collaborative efforts of the applicant, Smith (his appointment to the planning commission) and nearby residents who initially were opposed.

Also approved on the consent agenda was a residential rezoning for eight farms-style homes on seven acres on Shaw Road (case file here).

As reported late last week, Mt. Bethel Christian Academy withdrew its request to amend a special land use plan for an athletic field at its Upper Campus on Post Oak Tritt Road.

The case was to have been heard Tuesday, but generated strong opposition from some nearby residents.

 

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Proposed East Cobb indoor recreation center gets initial approval

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Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center, proposed East Cobb indoor recreation center

The Cobb Planning Commission voted Tuesday to recommend approval of a proposed indoor recreation center at the Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center that the developers’ attorney says will be a “cutting edge” facility.

The board voted 5-0 to retain the current neighborhood retail commercial (NRC) category for the retail center, with several stipulations to govern what would be called Ignite Adventure Park.

DDR Southeast Sandy Plains, LLC had sought a community retail (CRC) category for its entire property because the rec center doesn’t fit in NRC (here’s the case file).

But planning commissioner Andy Smith of East Cobb—who represents the area of the shopping center on Woodstock Road between Sandy Plains Road and Mabry Road—incorporated several special use conditions to keep the shopping center NRC.

The rec center would have go-karts, bumper cars, wall and rock climbing, indoor trampolines, mini-golf and other features, mostly for kids. Garvis Sams, an attorney for DDR Southeast Sandy Plains, said there also would be a restaurant and cafe.

Among the stipulations added by Smith include mandating that the go-karts and bumper cars be operated on either battery power or electricity (no gasoline-driven engines) and that construction be limited from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday (no nights, weekends or holidays).

The Cobb Zoning Staff had recommended denial of the application in part due to concerns over noise and fumes. Sams said the go-karts and bumper cars were always intended to be battery-powered, and that any noise inside the rec center will be at decibels below the county ordinance.

“They’re as silent as the cars you see” on the roads, he said.

Sams also said in his presentation that the developer will not expand square footage or extend building height for the rec center. The 67,000-square-foot space was originally a Kroger and later housed a Walmart grocery, which closed in 2017.

No one spoke in opposition to the rezoning request.

Sams also represented an applicant in another East Cobb case that got a 5-0 recommendation for approval.

The property owner is Tracey Coker, whose family has owned land on Shaw Road for more than 50 years. The rezoning would go from R-20 to R-15 for eight farm-style single-family homes on nearly seven acres.

(Here’s the case file.)

Z-16 Shaw Road rezoning

A site plan submitted last week would preserve natural habitats including an orchard, flower garden, a community garden and a bird habitat.

“We’re protecting the watershed,” Sams said. Among the stipulations are to have the natural amenities to be maintained in a mandatory homeowners association.

The access road will front the homes, which will all be facing Shaw Road between Woodrush Drive and Oak Creek Drive. The land also is across Shaw Road from the home of District 3 Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell.

“I like the plan,” said planning board chairwoman Judy Williams, who represents District 3. “It’s well-thought out and it will be an asset to the neighborhood.”

Two other East Cobb cases were withdrawn Tuesday.

The owner of a shopping center on Canton Road near Kingston Drive withdrew an application with prejudice for an event center that drew neighborhood opposition (case file here).

Also withdrawn without prejudice was an application to rezone land for six homes on Paper Mill Road near Gateside Place. Last month the planning commission voted to hold it, also after nearby residents spoke against it.

The planning commission recommendations go to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which is scheduled to take final action March 19.

 

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Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center owner proposing indoor rec center

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Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center

The former Walmart grocery at the Sandy Plains Village Shopping Center would become an indoor recreational center if the owners can get rezoning for the entire retail complex.

That’s on the Cobb Planning Commission agenda for Tuesday, but the county’s zoning staff is recommending denial, saying noise is a major factor, and that it’s activity that’s better suited for a more intense commercial area.

DDR Southeast Sandy Plains, LLC, wants to rezone the complex on Woodstock Road—between Sandy Plains Road and Mabry Road and which includes the Movie Tavern—from neighborhood retail (NRC) and neighborhood shopping (NS) to community retail (CRC).

Ignite Adventure Park would contain nearly 67,000 square feet of space and is proposed as a family-oriented center with go-karts, bumper cars, wall and rock climbing, indoor trampolines, mini-golf and more.

(View the case file here.)

Cobb zoning staff, in addition to concluding that the proposed zoning is incompatible with the surrounding community, said noise and fumes are the biggest issues:

“Staff is concerned that the proposed go-karts will increase noise and fumes for the adjoining residential properties due to the venting requirements gasoline engines may require. “

The retail center’s attorney, Garvis Sams, submitted stipulation letters here and here since the initial application.

Also on Tuesday’s agenda is a rezoning in the Canton Road corridor that has drawn community opposition.

H & I Real Estate wants to rezone part of an existing shopping center at 3920 Canton Road from neighborhood shopping to neighborhood retail at the Kingston Drive Extension for a retail center with a special events facility.

(View the case file here.)

Essentially, the applicant is asking for additional use of a nearby assembly hall that’s been operating there for around five years. Zoning staff, which is recommending approval with some conditions, said the application came about because of complaints that were taken to Cobb Code Enforcement.

But the Canton Road Neighbors civic group said it objects to an event hall, which isn’t a permitted use under the proposed rezoning category.

Canton Road Neighbors said it also was concerned about the impact on the nearby Emerson Unitarian congregation and the Canterbury Glen subdivision, whose residents have complained about late-night noise.

“To date, this has not been a neighborhood-friendly business,” the civic group wrote in a letter submitted to county zoning staff

(Read it here.)

Other zoning cases to be heard Tuesday can be found here.

The planning commission meeting starts at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the 2nd floor board room of the Cobb government building, 100 Cherokee St., downtown Marietta.

Its recommendations will be forwarded to the Cobb Board of Commissioners, which will conduct a zoning hearing March 19.

 

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