Top East Cobb 2021 stories: East Cobb Church rezoning case

East Cobb Church rezoning held — *Residents opposed to the East Cobb Church rezoning application objected to high-density residences.*

The cornerstone of a proposed mixed-use project at the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford intersection was the least controversial component of a rezoning saga that took nearly a year to unfold.

While the proposed new home of East Cobb Church wasn’t an issue, residents living near the 33-acre assemblage said the residential portion of the application was too dense and would cause traffic and other quality-of-life concerns.

Cobb commissioners voted 3-1 in October to approve the rezoning, after months of delays and revisions that left residents reeling.

The final revision that was improved will allow for 44 townhomes and 51 single-family detached homes to be built near two single-family subdivisions whose primary access point, Waterfront Drive, is located in the heart of the newly approved residential area.

North Point Ministries, which operates several other megachurches in metro Atlanta, has plans to buy all of the 24 parcels that make up the 33 acres. The current owners of the properties, retired prominent attorney William Hanna and his wife’s ministry, have insisted on selling the land to a single buyer.

North Point has plans to sell 20 acres to Ashwood Atlanta, which will develop the homes.

What especially bothered some residents was a last-minute site plan unveiled at the commission meeting in October, without much time for zoning staff or public review.

“It is clear we need to vote in favor in the 2022 midterms [a] Cityhood vote to protect East Cobb’s interests and ensure we have a zoning board that listens to its taxpayers,” Rachel Bruce said after the vote.

(The properties involved in the East Cobb Church case are all included in the proposed City of East Cobb that will be considered in the 2022 legislative session.)

Other issues include stormwater concerns. What was once known as Maddox Lake has been dredged for several years, and federal officials must determine if that part of the land can be developed.

If it’s declared to be in a flood plain, North Point attorney Kevin Moore said the residential developer would reduce the number of units accordingly.

In her motion to approve the application, commissioner Jerica Richardson—in her first major rezoning case in the East Cobb part of her District 2—included provisions to cap the density at five units an acre.

East Cobb Church, which has been holding services at Eastside Baptist Church, has been promoting its campaign for a worship facility as part of the “Revitalize JOSH campaign.”

A year after commissioners approved the Johnson Ferry-Shallowford master plan, an underdeveloped corner of that intersection will be revived by a project that wasn’t contemplated during the lengthy master plan process.

For East Cobb Church, coming home means a commitment to its new community.

“We’ve been dreaming of a home, not just to go but, but to launch from, into the community, on a mission to love, where we live,” Pastor Jamey Dickens said in a church-produced video after the rezoning vote.