Sprayberry Crossing

East Cobb Church, Sprayberry Crossing rezoning cases delayed

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East Cobb Church rezoning case delayed

After we posted details earlier this week about North Point Ministries’ plans for a church campus at Shallowford and Johnson Ferry roads, the Cobb Zoning Office is continuing the case until February.

The Cobb Zoning Office noted the continuance in updating the agenda for Tuesday’s Cobb Planning Commission meeting—which you can read here.

In its staff analysis posted earlier this week, the zoning office recommended denial of North Point’s application for land-use, density, traffic and school capacity reasons.

The Alpharetta-based church wants to build a 4-story building for what it’s calling East Cobb Church with close to 125,000 square feet, including a sanctuary seating capacity of nearly 1,300, along with a parking deck, parking lot and future retail space.

The back of the 33-acre assembly would contain 125 townhomes, which zoning staff contends is far too dense for an area with mostly single-family detached residential communities.

The land is owned by prominent attorney Fred Hanna and his wife’s outreach ministry, and which they tried to assemble for a residential project in 2016 that was withdrawn.

East Cobb Church was formed in January and has been meeting at Eastside Baptist Church on Lower Roswell Road.

We also noted earlier this week that another major rezoning request on Tuesday’s agenda—Sprayberry Crossing—also has been scratched again, until February.

Kevin Moore, an attorney for Atlantic Realty Acquisitions, LLC, which is submitting the mixed-use development request, filed for the continuance on Wednesday, the deadline for removing it from Tuesday’s agenda.

Moore said another continuance would give his client time to incorporate revisions to its site plan “in continued response to community concerns.”

While many nearby residents have pushed for redevelopment of the blighted shopping center for years, some are opposed to apartments that are a major part of Atlantic Realty’s proposal.

Cobb County does not hear zoning cases in January.

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New Sprayberry Crossing plans: 397 residential units; 30K SF commercial

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Revised Sprayberry Crossing plans
A sample rendering of other Atlantic Residential properties included in the company’s release on Friday.

On Friday afternoon Atlantic Residential, which is interested in redeveloping Sprayberry Crossing, released new details of a mixed-use project that includes nearly 400 residential units and 30,000 square feet of commercial space.

The revisions came after the developer recently met with citizen leaders who made suggestions. A four-page PDF released Friday is attached here, and here’s an overview of the specifics:

  • 12,000 square feet of neighborhood retail
  • 15,000 square feet of co-working space
  • 195 apartment units
  • 140 senior apartment units
  • 62 townhomes

Atlantic Residential is saying that of the 195 conventional apartment units, 75 percent will be one-bedroom and 25 percent two-bedroom.

The proposal includes 3- and 4-story buildings, with commercial activity on the ground floor and three floors of rental living space above. The townhomes would be three stories.

According to an aerial rendering of the proposal (below; click here for a larger view), the apartments would be in the front of the 15-acre property on the south side of Sandy Plains Road, just east of East Piedmont Road, with the townhomes in the back. Another 6,000 square feet of residential amenities would be included.

The senior living building would be on the eastern side of the property, along with 8,000 square feet of related amenities.

Revised Sprayberry Crossing plans

Joe Glancy of Sprayberry Crossing Action, a group of citizens pushing to rebuild the blighted property, said the developers “are ready to meet with the community at any time.” He said a community meeting would not take place until after the fall Cobb County School District break in late September. The group he helped, the Sprayberry Crossing Action Facebook page, which now numbers 5,000 people, has an active comments section.

Here’s also what he said:

“As always, I ask that everyone continue to be respectful in their dialogue and discussion. This page provides an opportunity to express you opinion, not to drown out or belittle so else’s. We have a really good history of respectful dialogue and expect that will continue. This is a wonderful community and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of it.”

Those opposed to apartments at the Sprayberry Crossing site recently created their own Facebook group.

The developer said the co-working space would be developed by Work at Thrive, which has facilities in Roswell, Milton, Alpharetta and soon in Canton. The senior apartments would be built by Evoq Town Flats and would be 1- and 2-bedrooms for those age 55 and older. Atlantic Residential would be building the 195 other apartments, and the townhome developer is still to be determined.

Here’s more from the Atlantic Residential brochure:

“While this project will not have the scale and impact of well-known mixed use projects like Avalon or Ponce City Market, it will be designed to be sustainable for the long-term and to be a spark for the redevelopment of adjoining and nearby properties that currently are not achieving their full potential for the community.“

We”ll update this story with more reactions and details when they become available.

 

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