112-acre property could boast movie theater, restaurants, housing

Saturday, September 25, 2004 3:04 AM EDT
E-mail this story to a friend | Printable version

By Alex P. Joyner

Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer

WEST COBB - Plans to build what is perhaps the largest land development in west Cobb were filed with the county's planning and zoning office earlier this week, records show.

"The Village at West Cobb," is a proposed mixed-use development on 112.4 acres located on Dallas Highway across from The Avenue West Cobb on land owned mostly by the Bullard Family.

The project's developer, West Palm Beach, Fla.-based Goodman Co., wants to build 403,000 square feet of retail - which includes a movie theater and seven restaurants - 55,000 square feet of office, single-family homes starting in the $400,000s, suburban condominiums tailored to seniors and townhouses, said Garvis Sams, attorney for the developer.

Density for the proposed single-family houses is less than one unit per acre; density for the suburban condos is 3.7 units per acre and density for the town houses stand at 7 units per acre.

"We are extremely excited about this," he said. "It will be the most upscale, the most diverse mixed-use development that the county has ever seen. The Bullard family has owned the property for well over a century; they have been good stewards and have been very careful in the selection of the developer."

However, the massive project can expect some resistance in the coming months before it is initially heard by the Cobb County Planning Commission on Dec. 7.

District 1 Commissioner Helen Goreham, who represents west Cobb and has already spoken out against the project because of its size, said Friday that the proposal is "extremely intense as far as the usage of the property."

"I also feel it's coming as a mixed bag of zoning requirements," she said.

The property is currently zoned single-family residential and low-rise office on the county land-use map, a measure used as a buffer between higher density commercial developments to the east of the property, Ms. Goreham said.

In addition, she said, there remains the question of "insufficient infrastructure" around the perimeter of the proposal, namely Bob Fleming Road, which is currently no more than a shaded country lane with two homes at the end of it.

"I want a project that is balanced, that provides the community with an asset rather than something that is going to hurt the quality of life out there," Ms. Goreham said. "-But also provide the land owners a reasonable economic use of their property.

"I don't want a project that is a burden to the community. We have to have a balanced plan, one that respects our land-use plan, one that respects our infrastructure."

Sams contends what was filed and what was originally proposed starkly contrast each other, especially in terms of density.

"The original density that we were looking at has been modified downward dramatically," Sams said.

The matter will appear first before the Cobb County Planning Commission on Dec. 7 and later on Dec. 21 before the Cobb County Board of Commissioners.

In addition, because of the size of the development, the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority and the Atlanta Regional Commission also must approve the project.

ajoyner@mdjonline.com