The River Line master plan addresses land use, preservation, recreation and non-vehicular transportation planning for the area that is bounded to the east by the Chattahoochee River and to the west by Buckner Road, and encompasses eastern portions of Veterans Memorial Highway and southern portions of Oakdale Road.
The idea behind the plan is to create a definitive character for the area, much like Vinings and Mableton, by creating more neighborhoods and attracting more businesses.
Some of the desired products of the plan include alternate land use scenarios to manage the area's growth, non-vehicular transportation enhancements, multi-use path and recreational trail connections to expand the county's trail network, potential new park facilities, preservation of existing historic features and development of recommendations.
Dana Johnson, planning division manager for Cobb County, said the final submitted plan comes after several meetings with residents and business owners within the confines of the plan.
"This plan tries to marrow all the varied interests of the community, and this draft is as close as we can get to serving everyone successfully," Johnson said.
But Karen Barton of the Chattahoochee Industrial Business Association said that the public meetings started "contentious," but have been more productive since the business community has been included in them.
"No one in the business community was represented on the steering committee, so that was a very big problem for us, but we're working together now and we support the approval of this plan," Barton said. "I said it two months ago, and I'll say it again - we're not going anywhere. We spent three days underwater and did everything on our own, but we're here to stay."
Chairman Murray Homan said he feels everyone's concerns have been addressed in the plan, and the plan will bring long-term benefits to residents and homeowners.
"But it's important to realize that the master plan is a process. The comments that are in the plan are those that assist the plan. This is not a re-zoning process, so the small things will have to be brought forth later, as we are simply here to discuss the overall plan," Homan said.
He then motioned to recommend to the board of commissioners that the plan be approved, with modifications to the plan's language that includes business owners in the process both now and in the future. The motion was seconded by commission member Mike Terry and passed with a 5-0 vote.
Also recommended for approval were: petition Z-29, which allows owner James Turner to build a warehouse on his property off of Atlanta Road for his restoration cleaning business; petition Z-30, which rezoned a quarter of an acre tract off of Canton Road for the purpose of allowing a light auto repair shop; and a land use permit that allows Holy Family Catholic Church in east Cobb's preschool program to continue operating out of the church for another 24 months.
Commission members unanimously recommended denying a permit that would have allowed Delano Dryden and Kolu Vezele to run a salon out of their basement off of Heritage Crossing Drive. Although Vezele said that she had available parking for the business and that neighbors had signed a petition saying they were in favor of the permit, Homan said that the commission normally denies these types of petitions and that he had actually received a petition in his e-mail from neighbors who object to the business.
LN Gordon Road, LLC asked that their petition be withdrawn from the agenda. The permit requested that a T-Mobile cell phone tower be built near Mableton Parkway and Gresham Road. The commission voted unanimously to have the petition withdrawn without prejudice.
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