Earlier this year, Traton Homes submitted a request to rezone 25 acres in Cobb County for a townhome development. Since the initial application, the development has been revised to reflect a less dense detached single-family development. The current zoning designation for the property located south of Linda Vista Drive and South Cobb School Road only allows light industrial uses. Therefore, rezoning the property would allow the construction of residential dwelling units at a higher density.
The Cobb Board of Commissions reviewed the development plans and approved a rezoning to the RA-5 zoning district, along with conditions that included required exterior housing materials, lighting specifications, and sidewalks on both sides of the road.
According to County documents, initially, the applicant proposed a rezoning to the FST zoning district to develop a 145-unit townhome community on the 25.1-acre site. However, the subdivision had since been revised, and 79 detached single-family homes were proposed to in order to be more consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and address density concerns raised by County Planners.
According to the Cobb 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the property is within the Low-Density Residential (LDR) Future Land Use category, which provides for areas that are suitable for low-density housing between one (1) and two and one-half (2.5) dwelling units per acre, and for non-supportive senior living housing that in certain circumstances may reach five (5) dwelling units per acre. Allowable residential density depends on factors, such as product type and mix, structure/building height, tract size, topographic conditions, and the like, to provide compatibility with adjacent residential uses.
Cobb County Planners were concerned that the initial rezoning request to FST would allow a use that is not suitable and is not consistent with the development of adjacent properties. Further, Planners concluded that existing and changing conditions affect the property’s use and development, giving grounds for denying the applicant’s rezoning proposal for the use as a Townhome community.
