Trucking distribution center proposed in Kennesaw
Oct. 5—The city of Kennesaw is considering a commercial developer's proposal to build a 400,000-square-foot distribution center in the city.
Atlanta-based Oakmont Industrial Group is asking the city to rezone 27 acres of property at the corner of Cobb Parkway and Kennesaw Due West Road in order to build the warehouse, which would accommodate tractor-trailer operations, according to planning documents.
The city's Planning Commission, which advises the City Council on development matters, is scheduled to consider the proposal at its meeting Wednesday night.
The City Council, which twice has voted to postpone the matter, is scheduled to consider the proposal at its Oct. 17 meeting.
At its last meeting, Kennesaw Zoning Administrator Darryl Simmons recommended the council delay taking up the proposal because at earlier public input meetings, "there was a lot of questions and a lot of data that was requested from the city, from the applicant," which led the city to conduct further analysis on the project's traffic impact. The city was also seeking recommendations from the Cobb and Georgia departments of transportation, Simmons said.
At the last planning commission meeting, several nearby residents spoke about traffic concerns, according to the meeting minutes.
Oakmont has proposed building a warehouse with 400,000 square feet of space, 12,000 square feet of which would be offices.
The land, currently zoned for retail commercial development, would be rezoned to light industrial, if approved.
Much of the land is currently vacant. The north side of the property, however, includes a Culver's and a Dunkin'.
A mixed-use development called The Columns was previously proposed for the land, but never came to fruition. An office building was built at the southern end of the land but never occupied.
On behalf of the city, Croy Engineering conducted a traffic analysis that examined three possible development scenarios for the land — the warehouse proposal, The Columns (which was supposed to include several office buildings, a theater and a health club), or developing the land with a grocery store and retail shopping center.
While the warehouse would see an increase in tractor-trailers coming and going from the property, Croy found that The Columns proposal would have produced six times as much traffic, and that a grocery and retail development would produce more than eight times as much traffic.
"Based on this analysis, the development of the site with the proposed Light Industrial rezoning would yield significant less trips compared to the other two scenarios," Croy concluded.
The Kennesaw Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the council chambers at 2529 J.O. Stephenson Avenue.
