BOC to Vote on $300M River View Road Development

The Cobb County Board of Commissioners will vote on the plan for a new residential and commercial development that will cost more than $300 million today at its 9 a.m. meeting.

At their Feb. 1 meeting, the county planning commission members unanimously recommended approval of the request for zoning change if their recommendations are met. Six of those who came to the meeting supported the proposed development on River View Road in Mableton, and 28 opposed it.

Green Street Properties is hoping to develop the 82-acre tract of land near the Chattahoochee River, currently zoned for mostly heavy industrial use, into a multi-use residential and commercial area, with 32 acres of that being used as green space.  They are seeking to have the zoning changed to a Planned Village community zoning classification, which would allow for structures with residential and/or commercial uses.

The development, which is being called River View on the Chattahoochee, would include 155 single-family homes, 335 townhomes, 165 condo flats, 850 apartment units and about 200 senior housing units.

“What helps me is that Green Street and Jamestown have a track record,” said Planning Commissioner Bob Hovey.

Green Street also recently developed the Glenwood Park property near Grant Park, which was originally mostly industrial.

Since 2008, Green Street Properties has been a subsidiary of Jamestown Properties, a real estate investment and management company. Jamestown owns the Chelsea Market building, a 1.2 million square foot mixed-use retail/office facility that houses Google, The Food Network and others, and also owns One Times Square in New York City.

Atlanta Regional Commission, which named the Glenwood Park the Development  of Excellence Award in 2005, found the development proposal suitable and so did the Georgia Regional Transit Authority.

Garvis Sams, representing Green Street Properties and Jamestown, said that once they have filled at least 500 of the residential units, they will begin to develop the office and retail space of the area. However, in the changes that Green Street agreed to in order to have their request approved, once 300 residential units are filled, office and retail space development must begin.

Just to ensure that owners understand that they would be living near heavy industrial areas, each owner would be required to sign an agreement stating that they understood the possibility of noxious odors, loud sounds and other possible residential inconveniences. Also, a third party management company would be hired to handle homeowner associations and other organizations, Sams said.

The developers, partnering with Cobb County, have applied for an environmental grant which will help them restore the river bank and create a trail that will “meander along the riverbank,” said Sams.

Robin Meyer, chair of the Mableton Improvement Coalition said that the development fits the vision of the River Line Master Plan and “appears to support the outcome we’ve been looking for.”

However, there were concerns voiced by those opposing the development.

Mary Rose Barnes said she came as a representative of Anne Stevens, who owns two properties near the possible development, and that she and Barnes had “unresolved concerns” about the property, like there being no architectural renderings.

“It is disconcerting that the ARC would accept such an embryotic plan.”

Members of the Chattahoochee Industrial Business Association want to make it clear that they don’t intend on going anywhere, and Karen Barton, president of the CBIA, voiced her concerns to the board.

 “We’ve been there for generations. We aren’t leaving,” Barton said.

“Our main concern is coexistence,” she continued.

She listed her concerns regarding traffic and possible flooding. Many of the heavy industrial vehicles will come right through the main part of the development, Barton explained.

Also, one of the projects included in the four-year 2011 SPLOST, a special one-cent sales tax, is the $4 million River View Road improvement project of, which would include turn lanes at key intersections and sidewalks.

Sams agreed that if SPLOST does not pass its March vote, Green Street will make the necessary roadway improvements themselves.

As for her flooding concerns, the only available way for them to get out would be Dickerson Drive, which Barton said was under water for three days during the last flood in 2009.

“When they’re under water, how do these people get in and out? That should be a concern. These people, they’re landlocked. They’re stuck,” Barton said.

The lowest floor would be three feet above the flood plain and no buildings would be located in the 150-foot river setback, Sams explained.

Though she said not all her concerns were satisfied, Barton was relieved that the board proposed additional stipulations “to make sure that we were protected. They knew that was a big thing,” Barton said. “Protect us. We were first.”

The letter containing Green Street’s agreeable conditions was shared the night before the last meeting, and the planning commission requested the following be added to the letter: grade raising of the intersection between River View Road and Dickerson Drive to allow access for emergency vehicles during flood situations, agreement that the property will revert to its original zoning classification if no development takes place within two years from rezoning approval date. They also recommended that Green Street create a buffer that is at least 40 feet wide, as is required by PVC zoning, with adequate berm and landscaping to protect the second and third floor residents.

“With those changes, I think I can support that,” said Hovey.