Sprayberry Crossing rezoning

After hearing the complicated Sprayberry Crossing rezoning case for the third month in a row, the Cobb Planning Commission decided on Tuesday to make no recommendation about whether rezoning should be approved or denied.

After hearing the latest site plan revisions and being briefed about last-minute meetings to create a signalized main entrance to the proposed mixed-use development on Sandy Plains Road, the three members of the planning board who were in attendance voted unanimously not to forward a recommendation to approve or deny.

Instead, the Cobb Board of Commissioners will be asked to make a final decision on June 15 with a number of issues pending, including traffic concerns that were the focal point of questions by planning commissioners.

While saying that “everyone ought to be commended for the great attention that’s been shown to this matter,” planning commissioner Deborah Dance said that “challenges remain.”

Yet “time is of the essence and there is a time for taking action,” she noted, in reference to comments by Kevin Moore, the attorney for the developer, Atlantic Reality Acquisitions LLC, that his client wants no further delays in rezoning decisions.

The redevelopment proposal for the blighted shopping center on Sandy Plains Road, between East Piedmont Road and Post Oak Tritt Road, has been underway for nearly two years by Atlantic Realty Acquisitions, LLC.

Atlantic Realty, an Atlanta-based apartment builder, has revised the site plan several times for more than a year.

In what went before the planning commission Tuesday, the developer would build a senior apartment building, townhomes and a retail grocery center on property that’s been the site of a run-down shopping center.

The latest Sprayberry Crossing site plan, filed last week, reduces the number of senior apartments to 132 and increases the number of townhomes to 102.

It was the latest attempt by the developer to alleviate community opposition to rental residential units, after Atlantic Realty dropped plans in April to build a market-rate apartment building.

“There could not be a greater candidate for redevelopment” than the Sprayberry Crossing property, Moore said, while acknowledging that his client’s proposal “does have some challenges.”

On Friday, the developer met with Brij Patel, owner of the Sprayberry Bottle Shop, which sits on an outparcel along Sandy Plains across from Kinjac Drive, where the main entrance would be located.

In order to align the traffic signal at Kinjac into Sprayberry Crossing, the developer is proposing to cut through what’s now the front parking lot of the liquor store and relocate parking to the other side of the building.

Moore and Shaun Adams, an attorney for the liquor store, said they’re confident they can continue discussions before county commissioners meet in two weeks.

Other traffic access challenges include Post Oak Tritt Road, and planning commissioner Fred Beloin fretted that Atlantic Realty hadn’t done much to address it.

“The applicant doesn’t want to spend any money to fix the problem on Post Oak Tritt,” he said, referencing a Cobb DOT recommendation to provide right-out-only access from Sprayberry Crossing.

While he said his preference would be to hold the case again, Beloin, serving in his first meeting as chairman, voted for Dance’s motion.

Planning commissioners Tony Waybright and Michael Hughes, appointed last week, were not in attendance.

Related stories

• East Cobb Church rezoning delayed until July 
• More Sprayberry Crossing changes made after community meeting
• Storage facility proposed for closed East Cobb movie theater
• Sprayberry Crossing, East Cobb Church rezonings held again
• Sprayberry Crossing proposal drops apartments for townhomes
• East Cobb Church launches “Revitalize JOSH” campaign
• Marietta City Council denies Powers Ferry rezonings

 

The developer of a proposed mixed-use project at the Sprayberry Crossing Shopping Center is requesting a category for the development that has never been sought before in Cobb County.

Atlantic Residential, an Atlanta-based apartment builder, has filed for what’s called an ROD designation, to go with existing neighborhood shopping and planning shopping district uses.

The request, case number ROD-1, scheduled to be heard in September, has been the subject of intense discussion in the community.

While many residents there have been seeking a solution for years to the blighted retail center that’s there now, others are opposed to apartments, the proposed five-story height of residential buildings seen in renderings by the developer and have expressed traffic concerns.

The Sprayberry Crossing proposal (rezoning filings here) would include 61,500 square feet of office and retail space (30,000 for a major grocer), 178 apartments, 122 senior-living apartments and 50 townhomes on more than 17 acres.

Atlantic Residential also wants to build an open-air entertainment and food hall and incorporate walking trails and greenspace around an existing family cemetery.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

During a virtual town hall meeting Wednesday organized by Cobb commissioner JoAnn Birrell, county zoning, community development and transportation officials explained more details about ROD and preliminary findings of a traffic study conducted by the developer.

The virtual town hall meeting was informational only, and Birrell and her Cobb Planning Commission appointee, Judy Williams, did not offer comments.

Birrell encouraged citizens to contact planning board and county commission members ahead of next month’s public meetings.

ROD has some other unique components.

Jason Gaines, the Cobb Community Development Agency’s planning director, said ROD projects are pedestrian-oriented and designed for traffic integration to meet the scale and variety of such developments.

They’re also “site plan specific,” meaning that there aren’t minimum lot sizes, setbacks and buffers that are required in most rezoning cases.

Atlantic Residential submitted a revised site plan below in late July that call for 10-foot front sidebacks and 5-foot setbacks to the side and rear of buildings.

To see a larger view, click here. Source: Cobb Zoning Office.

ROD projects also are not to set a precedent for the area surrounding a property that may be zoned that way.

At least 10 percent of the housing units in an ROD must be set aside for residents making no more than 80 percent of an area’s average median income.

Those opposed to apartments have said those are their biggest concerns in an area with classic suburban single-family neighborhoods.

Cobb DOT engineer Amy Diaz said during the presentation that her office received a copy of the developer’s traffic study last week, but showed some slides with preliminary information that’s subject to change.

She said much of the data is based on 2015 numbers. Due to COVID-19 business and school closures, “no doubt there have been traffic impacts” in a busy area at Sandy Plains and East Piedmont Roads that includes Sprayberry High School and other commercial activities.

Diaz said what she’s seen of the traffic study thus far is in line with what’s projected for that part of the Sandy Plains Corridor. “We do know there’s congestion in the area,” she said.

She said senior-living units have reduced traffic rates compared to single-family residential housing.

The traffic study is available by contacting her at amy.diaz@cobbcounty.org.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Cobb zoning office has conducted a preliminary analysis of the Sprayberry Crossing request (you can read it here), which means that it has received the initial filings and is conducting a full review of the proposal.

Once that process is complete, staff offers a recommendation before public hearings begin.

The Sprayberry Crossing case will be heard Sept. 1 by the Cobb Planning Commission, which will make a recommendation. The Cobb Board of Commissioners will hold a zoning hearing Sept. 15.

Related content

• Sprayberry Crossing rezoning case scheduled for September
• Sprayberry Crossing developer holds virtual town hall
• Wesley Chapel rezoning request continued to September 

 

Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!