Bob Corker
Bob Corker
slideshow
Isakson, Corker to headline forum
by Lindsay Field
Jun 18, 2013 | 0 views | 0 0 comments | 0 0 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Bob Corker
Bob Corker
slideshow
MARIETTA — A symposium targeting the redevelopment of south Cobb near Six Flags Drive and Franklin Road in Marietta is scheduled for September with U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) scheduled as the keynote speakers. Corker was the mayor of Chattanooga during that city’s downtown renaissance, said Cobb Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman Amy Selby. Co-unty Chairman Tim Lee said the Six Flags Drive and Franklin Road areas were selected for the first of what is expected to be an annual forum because they have the potential to present the biggest returns on investment for redevelopment opportunities due to their proximity to the interstate. “It just so happens that there are opportunities because they’ve had some problems in the past because of law enforcement issues, high transiency rates, quality of life and code enforcement problems,” Lee said. The idea for the symposium came from lobbyist Michael Paris, president and CEO of the Council for Quality Growth. Paris’s group is hosting the event along with the Cobb Competitive Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) nonprofit on Sept. 16 at the Marietta Conference Center. The event will be open to the public and members of the business community who have an interest in the development of the county should attend, Selby said. The South Cobb Redevelopment Authority’s board learned about the session Monday during its monthly meeting from the county’s planning division manager, Dana Johnson. Board member Doug Stoner, a Democrat who was ousted from his state senate seat last year by Republican Hunter Hill, asked who would be the target audience, to which Johnson replied elected officials and developers. Board member Ed Richardson, owner of Richardson Management Group in Smyrna, asked who they are targeting to assist with fundraising for the symposium. “It’s a two-pronged approach,” Johnson said. “One is different companies that are involved in some aspects of redevelopment, like engineering companies, in addition to some of our local governments because it’s also an opportunity for our local governments to highlight the properties that they would like to redevelop back to the private sector.”
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Public invited to give input on land use along Austell Road
by Lindsay Field
Jun 18, 2013 | 0 views | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend | print
MARIETTA — The public is invited to an open house tonight to learn what recommendations the county is making on how land may be used along Austell Road. Cobb County government is hosting the session between 6 and 7:30 p.m. in the Board of Commissioners chambers at 100 Cherokee St. in Marietta. The goal of the meeting is to get feedback from property and business owners along Austell Road, between South Cobb Drive and Maxim Road, who could be affected by a change to the land-use policy, said Dana Johnson, the county’s planning division manager. Johnson will ask the Cobb Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners in July to approve his staff’s recommendation to reduce the scale of future commercial development from a Community Activity Center category to a Neighborhood Activity Center category. He said it could impact about 300 property owners. “The Community Activity Center is more geared toward your large office or big-box developments,” he said. “The Neighborhood Activity Center is more about residential developments or strip malls.” The properties that will be touched by the zoning change are generally smaller tracts where it would be difficult to build a big-box development, he said. “This is more fitting for what properties are there. It’s the best chance for them to move forward with investing in their properties and development,” he said. The county has sent letters to everyone in the area and no one has opposed the idea, he said. “They just want more information,” Johnson said. “This will be a great time to try to talk to each person individually and try to address their concerns or questions.” The future land-use plan was developed in the 1990s. Every year the planning department comes before the Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners with similar changes. The Planning Commission is scheduled to consider approval of this recommendation on July 8. The Board of Commissioners will consider it July 23.
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Bob Corker
Bob Corker
slideshow
Isakson, Corker to headline forum
by Lindsay Field
Jun 18, 2013 | 0 views | 0 0 comments | 0 0 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Bob Corker
Bob Corker
slideshow
MARIETTA — A symposium targeting the redevelopment of south Cobb near Six Flags Drive and Franklin Road in Marietta is scheduled for September with U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) and Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) scheduled as the keynote speakers. Corker was the mayor of Chattanooga during that city’s downtown renaissance, said Cobb Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman Amy Selby. Co-unty Chairman Tim Lee said the Six Flags Drive and Franklin Road areas were selected for the first of what is expected to be an annual forum because they have the potential to present the biggest returns on investment for redevelopment opportunities due to their proximity to the interstate. “It just so happens that there are opportunities because they’ve had some problems in the past because of law enforcement issues, high transiency rates, quality of life and code enforcement problems,” Lee said. The idea for the symposium came from lobbyist Michael Paris, president and CEO of the Council for Quality Growth. Paris’s group is hosting the event along with the Cobb Competitive Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) nonprofit on Sept. 16 at the Marietta Conference Center. The event will be open to the public and members of the business community who have an interest in the development of the county should attend, Selby said. The South Cobb Redevelopment Authority’s board learned about the session Monday during its monthly meeting from the county’s planning division manager, Dana Johnson. Board member Doug Stoner, a Democrat who was ousted from his state senate seat last year by Republican Hunter Hill, asked who would be the target audience, to which Johnson replied elected officials and developers. Board member Ed Richardson, owner of Richardson Management Group in Smyrna, asked who they are targeting to assist with fundraising for the symposium. “It’s a two-pronged approach,” Johnson said. “One is different companies that are involved in some aspects of redevelopment, like engineering companies, in addition to some of our local governments because it’s also an opportunity for our local governments to highlight the properties that they would like to redevelop back to the private sector.”
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Public invited to give input on land use along Austell Road
by Lindsay Field
Jun 18, 2013 | 0 views | 0 0 comments | 1 1 recommendations | email to a friend | print
MARIETTA — The public is invited to an open house tonight to learn what recommendations the county is making on how land may be used along Austell Road. Cobb County government is hosting the session between 6 and 7:30 p.m. in the Board of Commissioners chambers at 100 Cherokee St. in Marietta. The goal of the meeting is to get feedback from property and business owners along Austell Road, between South Cobb Drive and Maxim Road, who could be affected by a change to the land-use policy, said Dana Johnson, the county’s planning division manager. Johnson will ask the Cobb Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners in July to approve his staff’s recommendation to reduce the scale of future commercial development from a Community Activity Center category to a Neighborhood Activity Center category. He said it could impact about 300 property owners. “The Community Activity Center is more geared toward your large office or big-box developments,” he said. “The Neighborhood Activity Center is more about residential developments or strip malls.” The properties that will be touched by the zoning change are generally smaller tracts where it would be difficult to build a big-box development, he said. “This is more fitting for what properties are there. It’s the best chance for them to move forward with investing in their properties and development,” he said. The county has sent letters to everyone in the area and no one has opposed the idea, he said. “They just want more information,” Johnson said. “This will be a great time to try to talk to each person individually and try to address their concerns or questions.” The future land-use plan was developed in the 1990s. Every year the planning department comes before the Planning Commission and Board of Commissioners with similar changes. The Planning Commission is scheduled to consider approval of this recommendation on July 8. The Board of Commissioners will consider it July 23.
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