Isakson Living to Sue County Over Senior Living Complex Denial

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The battle over a proposed senior living community in East Cobb has entered the next phase.

Development company Isakson Living and land owner Wylene Tritt plan to file a lawsuit against the Cobb County Board of Commissioners in Cobb County Superior Court on Thursday, according to a release from the developers.

The lawsuit will make the claim that the 20-year-old R-20 zoning on the 54-acre property owned by Tritt and her family for over 100 years is “unconscionable” in light of the rapid pace of development in Cobb County, and will claim that Tritt’s constitutional rights to make the most of her property were violated when the board of commissioners refused to re-zone the property to accommodate Tritt Walk, a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) planned by Isakson.

“We are filing suit on behalf of Mrs. Tritt in order to protect her rights as an individual property owner and to preserve the right seniors should have to access appropriate residential options in the communities in which they live,” said Isakson Living’s Director of Sales and Marketing Kevin Isakson in a statement. “We are willing to fight for those rights and with the support we have seen from Cobb seniors, we know that we won’t be fighting alone.”

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Isakson also said that despite the wishes of those who want to see the property become a park, there will inevitably be a development on the land. Isakson said that their plans for the site would, “generate the least traffic, would not put additional burdens on our schools and would fill a needed void for seniors in our community.”

In an editorial penned the day after the board of commissioner’s decision to deny the re-zoning application, Tritt Walk supporter Susan Phillips wrote, in part:

Instead of taking the bold action Chairman Lee told the audience he was noted for, he voted against what would have been a bold move on behalf of Cobb’s seniors. We seniors are not going away. Our ranks are growing. We can be patient, but if the stalling...drag[s] on as long as consideration of this proposal, some of us may have to make the disheartening decision to leave the community we love to find the senior living option we have been denied.

Citing data from the Atlanta Regional Commission, Isakson Living said that East Cobb already has the highest density of senior residents in Cobb County at 16.6 percent, with the Atlanta region being one of the fastest-aging in the country. Roughly 78,000 East Cobbers, or ten percent of area residents, are already over 65, with that percentage expected to grow as the Baby Boomer generation enters its golden years.

Kevin Isakson said last month that 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.

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 on March 17, while 164 people showed up to support the proposal. Many CCEC members would prefer the land remain undeveloped.

Earlier in March, 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.