ICYMI: Board of Commissioners Denies Rezoning Request for East Cobb Senior Complex

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners has rejected a rezoning application made by a developer wishing to build a large senior living complex on undeveloped property in East Cobb.

According to Concerned Citizens of East Cobb (CCEC), 200 people turned out against the rezoning of the 54-acre Tritt property adjacent to East Cobb Park, while 164 people showed up to support the proposal. The property is currently zoned low-density residential, though many residents would prefer the land remain undeveloped.

Isakson Living had plans to build a 481-room continuing care retirement community on the property, but will first have to appeal the rezoning rejection handed down by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday morning.

Earlier this month, the Cobb County Planning Commission had unanimously recommended approval of Isakson Living’s rezoning request, but recommended lowering the overall heights of the buildings to two stories, reducing the number of units to 450, and removing seven homes from the plans which would have interfered with or destroyed stream buffers.

Kevin Isakson, Isakson Living’s Director of Sales and Marketing, told Patch that he was disappointed by the rejection, but added that the company was weighing its options and expected that they would determine their course of action “in short order.”

Isakson said that many of the 164 crimson-clad supporters of the project who packed the Cobb County government building on Tuesday morning were themselves hoping to become tenants of the development. Isakson said the community is meant to serve the area’s rapidly aging population, and added that the days of single-family homes on half-acre lots will need to give way to more affordable higher-density developments with high quality of services.

Isakson Living has made several compromises with nearby residents opposed to the plan during the past two years, compromises Kevin Isakson said he was proud of. Isakson cited the much-reduced house count, the preservation of more than 20 acres of the property, the donation of 9.5 acres to East Cobb Park, and the addition of cottages to the areas of the property immediately facing roadways as modifications the developers have taken on board in light of negotiations with community stakeholders.

Citing data from the Atlanta Regional Commission, Isakson said that East Cobb already has the highest density of senior residents in Cobb County, with the Atlanta region being one of the fastest-aging in the country. Roughly ten percent of area residents are already over 65, with that percentage expected to grow as the Baby Boomer generation enters its golden years.

Isakson said this data proves that there is a need for more senior living facilities in an area with a growing senior population.

“This development is great opportunity as community and county to prepare for and provide for an aging population,” Isakson said.