Applicant might shelve rezoning request for Mableton film studio

Oct. 3—A proposed movie studio in Mableton was scheduled for its first full hearing at Tuesday's Cobb Planning Commission meeting, but the applicant was considering withdrawing her rezoning request as of Monday morning.

Dawnette Lounds-Culp told the MDJ Monday she is in discussions with her lawyer about whether to shelve the application for her company, Angel Eyes Studio 5, Inc., to build a movie production studio with retail spaces, restaurants and multi-family homes at Factory Shoals Road and Factory Shoals Drive in Mableton.

Lounds-Culp said the future land use of the site where her business would be located does not fit her application, something Cobb zoning staff focused on in their recommendation that the Planning Commission deny it.

The future land use for the site would allow for 2.5 to five residential units per acre.

The proposal has already drawn opposition from residents in the area. At her July 12 town hall in south Cobb, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid heard briefly from residents concerned about the project, though she was not aware of the proposal's specifics.

The Mableton Improvement Coalition advised planning commissioners in a July letter to recommend denial of the project to county commissioners.

In the letter, Robin Meyer, the coalition's zoning committee chair, said they "do not believe this is an appropriate location for a development of this size or intensity."

Meyer wrote that the proposed development "is too large and intense to be adjacent to nearby homes in this majority residential corridor," noting it would back up to six homes on Susan Place and is opposed unanimously by the residents of those homes.

Should Lounds-Culp move forward with her application, planning commissioners will hear the case in the commission room at 100 Cherokee Street in Marietta on Tuesday, Oct. 4 beginning at 9 a.m.