South Cobb development on Roy Barnes' farm, north Cobb townhomes on Tuesday's zoning docket

Nov. 14—A disputed south Cobb development that squeaked by the Cobb Planning Commission in August is scheduled for a hearing at Tuesday's Board of Commissioners zoning meeting.

The proposal by developer David Pearson is for more than 100 homes on a 190-acre farm near Stout Park owned by former Gov. Roy Barnes.

The Planning Commission delayed the project in July after residents voiced concerns about density and existing flooding problems they said the development would exacerbate.

"When it rains hard, it floods every time. Not some of the time, every time," said Clithon Rice of the neighboring Browns Crossing subdivision at the July zoning hearing.

More than 140 acres of the development would be open space under the "open space community" (OSC) category, which allows developers to put houses on smaller lots in exchange for providing common green space to their residents.

In July, 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."

In August, planning commissioners recommended approval for the development in a 3-2 vote, with Fred Beloin and Deborah Dance opposed.

At that meeting, another resident in the area, Edward Carter, echoed Rice's flooding worries.

"My concern is it's gonna cause worse flooding on all of us that have property that adjoins the flood plain," said Carter, who lives on Holloman Road, adjacent to the proposed development.

Since the August Planning Commission meeting, the proposal has been repeatedly held up as Pearson and nearby residents continued to meet to iron out the development's details.

Also at Tuesday's meeting, Cobb commissioners will consider a townhome development nearly a year in the making.

Last month, planning commissioners recommended approval for the proposal by KM Homes to build 32 townhomes on 8.4 acres along the 4000 block of Wade Green Road, across from Pitner Elementary. The vote was 5-0.

Unlike previous hearings for the KM Homes application, the October hearing saw no opposition present.

In an email shared with the MDJ, the Bells Ferry Civic Association told planning commissioners it had opted to stay home during the Oct. 4 zoning hearing.

"Frankly, the BFCA has never encountered a zoning case such as this one, that has continued for 9 months with very little, if any, progress made," the group said in the email.

The civic association said at the time that KM Homes demonstrated its unwillingness to further reduce the number of proposed units prior to the Oct. 4 hearing, a sticking point for the group. It said economics was the primary motivation for KM Homes keeping the number of townhomes at 32, adding, "That is their prerogative."

The Cobb Board of Commissioners meets Tuesday at 9 a.m. for its zoning hearing in the commission room at 100 Cherokee St. in Marietta.