This week, those imaginations are being brought to paper as residents are encouraged to work with a world-renowned city planning firm to develop plans for the future development of the community.
Tuesday night was the kick-off presentation. About 90 residents met at Mableton Elementary School and listened to Galina Tachieva, a principal with the Miami-based design firm Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co., speak about options that could revitalize the community, such as creating a town square and turning blighted retail centers into locally owned boutiques with retail on the first floor and apartments above.
Tachieva and Cobb County Planning Manager Dana Johnson encourage residents to come to the school, at Clay Road and Church Street, through Saturday to view designs the planners are developing and provide input. Events will be conducted each night to keep residents updated. The final presentation will be Monday night from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Board of Commissioners meeting room on the Marietta Square.
"The county has been hearing for quite some time now from Mableton residents that they would like to see some change here, so this would not have been possible without the support of the community, and without them saying this type of concept, a full-out zoning tool, is something they want," Johnson said.
Johnson said the weeklong workshop is the first of its kind in Cobb, and was paid for through an almost $1 million grant given to the South Cobb Development Authority by then-Gov. Roy Barnes. The grant money was specifically given to use for Mableton improvement efforts and the workshop cost somewhere around $220,000 to $250,000, Johnson said.
Mableton Improvement Coalition Chairwoman Robin Meyer said she would like to see a town square created near Clay and Floyd roads, near community fixtures such as the Mable House Complex, the community library and the elementary school. She said the community of 30,000 residents is ready for an area "where you can go to dinner and see people you know, and you know that this is the place to go to come together with your neighbors."
Meyer said Mableton doesn't have the infrastructure in place that naturally creates a town center, such as the historic Marietta Square, but would not need to completely start from scratch as Smyrna did with its Village Green. Mableton is "somewhere in the middle."
"Mableton needs this kind of enthusiasm and expertise, and I'm so happy to see so many people here really excited about the possibilities we could create," Meyer said. "We have great neighbors, and the people, location and assets to create something special."
Meyer added that the design firm hired by the county is the "pioneer of the new urbanism movement," and that having them here will create a stronger map for the future of Mableton.
"Just today, I was here looking at everything and there was a debate going on about Floyd Road, so they went out there and looked at the road and the area, physically measured some things, and used that in their discussions to come up with a solution. It's on-the-ground-planning," Meyer said.
Tachieva said her company has had 26 communities across the country approve plans using DPZ's methods, with 66 communities in the process for approval.
Bruce Reeks, of Marietta, owns four homes in the Mableton community and would like to see more mixed-use developments created to increase property values.
"I'm thrilled to see so many people here and their genuine interest in this. And I was really pleased to hear about potential plans for a light rail system in Cobb. In order for Mableton to thrive, I think there really needs to be some changes," Reeks said.
Tachieva said the current economy could only support a development system done in stages, such as building one or two-story buildings instead of larger, taller ones, and that the company will show proposed developments of Mableton's own streets, including revitalized renderings of currently dilapidated shopping centers and what a Mableton town center could look like with shops and restaurants.
"You now have the chance to decide what your future will be here and make decisions about what will happen," Tachieva said. "What do you want for the next 50 years?"
The workshop continues today at the school with a "lifelong communities" outreach program at 2 p.m., an open house and cookout from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., where residents can speak with community leaders and planners, a midterm presentation Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., another open house program Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the final presentation Monday night.
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Gulfport, MS. used him last year and his plan was 2 and 3 story buildings on a jetty out into the Mississippi Soundnext to Jones Park then high rise condos and shops on the bottom floors along Beach Rd. Now this whole area was wiped clean by Katrina right down to and including some slabs.
I call that great planning especially since you cannot give a condo away down here and the insurance if you are in the V-zone is either not available or you cannot afford it.