Developer looks to build 130 homes on Roy Barnes' south Cobb farm

Jul. 5—MARIETTA — The Cobb County Planning Commission put the brakes Tuesday on a plan from Marietta developer David Pearson to build some 130 homes on a sprawling south Cobb farm owned by former Gov. Roy Barnes.

The decision to delay the proposal came at the insistence of nearby residents who pledged to redouble their opposition if the case was advanced without their demands being met.

Spanning across Brown Road near Stout Park, Barnes' total spread encompasses some 190 acres. Public records indicate Barnes purchased 123 acres of the farm a decade ago to the tune of $750,000.

Pearson, a Marietta-based developer, has been behind a number of previous subdivisions in Cobb and recently introduced a 670-home subdivision proposal in Paulding County, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle.

The development on the Barnes farm would keep most of the houses toward the Stout Parkway end of the property on lots of at least 10,000 square feet. A combined 140 acres, meanwhile, would be set aside as open space under the county's "open space community" (OSC) zoning category, which allows developers to put houses on smaller lots in exchange for providing common green space to their residents.

Kevin Moore, attorney for Pearson, said that open space backs up to Sweetwater Creek and is in the creek's floodplain. The green space would be crisscrossed by a series of trails, Moore added, providing for "tremendous opportunity for conservation."

The western portion of the development would include a clubhouse and pool backing up to Stout Park, the site plan indicates.

Moore said the property presented a unique opportunity to build the type of expansive subdivision which used to dominate development in Cobb, but has waned as such expanses of land have steadily been gobbled up.

But some residents in the area argued the development would exacerbate existing flooding problems, particularly at the density requested by Pearson.

"When it rains hard, it floods every time. Not some of the time, every time," said Clithon Rice of the neighboring Browns Crossing subdivision. "...We're being overwhelmed with developers. They want the zoning — I mean, it's just too much going on in our area. If they want to build, build what it's zoned for: R-30."

Jerry Seagraves, whose property is surrounded by the Barnes farm, said the flooding problems had been exacerbated by Barnes' removal of existing forest on the site.

"It's a floodplain. They sugarcoat it saying it's going to be an area for kids to play or whatever, nature trails, but it's a floodplain. It's a mess," said Seagraves.

(Moore later told the MDJ he couldn't speak to the tree removal issue.)

Rice promised that were the project advanced without significant changes, the next hearing would be "flooded with the neighbors" who would be "highly pis----."

Perhaps heeding that warning, Planning Commissioner Michael Hughes, who represents the area, initially moved to approve the proposal at a lower density than that requested by Pearson. But at the suggestion of his colleagues, he instead delayed the case for a month to allow Moore and the opponents to try and work out their differences. The vote to delay the case was 3-0, with commission members David Anderson and Deborah Dance absent.

Moore told the MDJ after the hearing that he and Pearson were open to drawing up a plan under a lower density that could meet the concerns of the neighbors.