County balks at Marietta annexation of Bells Ferry property
Nov. 16—Beazer Homes wants its 600-home rezoning proposal on nearly 170 acres off Bells Ferry Road to become part of the city of Marietta.
But ahead of planned hearings with the city next month, Cobb County is expected to file an objection to the annexation that could hold up Beazer's sprawling project.
All five commissioners have already signed onto a letter against the annexation and will vote Thursday on giving formal notice.
Beazer and its attorney, Kevin Moore, originally presented the development to the county earlier this year. But before it received a hearing, they scrapped that plan and brought it to the city instead.
Moore declined to comment on behalf of Beazer on the reason for the change of venue. But Marietta Mayor Steve Tumlin said the city welcomed the project because a portion of the property is already within the city limits, and the new homes will boost attendance at schools in the area like Sawyer Road Elementary.
"The word was out that I'd be happy if they came to Marietta with it," he said.
Originally a nearly 700-home development, the project has since been reduced by about 100 units. The massive site — one of the largest privately own tracts of land remaining in Cobb, per Moore — sits between Bells Ferry Road and I-575.
Owned by the Montgomery family, the property also sits adjacent to an 87-acre parcel the family deeded to the county two years ago. That parcel contains Laura Lake and its accompanying dam.
Per county documents, Cobb has taken issue with the development's overall density of 3.4 units per acre, which is above the county's acceptable threshold of 3 units per acre.
Other concerns outlined by county staff include the traffic impacts of such a significant development, and possible historic sites or cemeteries located on the property.
The Bells Ferry Civic Association has opposed the development and encouraged the county to formally object to the annexation. And at a Board of Commissioners meeting last week, area resident Carol Brown raised several concerns of her own.
"The application lowered the number of homes from 699 to 596. This is still a staggering volume of traffic to be absorbed by the narrow, two-lane Bells Ferry Road, that is already congested," she said.
"We all hope that Beazer can be persuaded to submit a revised, more reasonable site plan to the city," Brown added.
Roth said even if the objection from Cobb is approved, Marietta can continue to move the proposal through its rezoning process, with a Planning Commission hearing currently scheduled for Dec. 6.
But if the differences aren't resolved by the time the development lands in front of the City Council, Roth added, "they could not vote to approve or deny. Everything will move forward up until that point."
The Board of Commissioners will vote on the objection at its regular meeting Thursday at 7 p.m., at 100 Cherokee Street in Marietta.
