An Olde Towne townhome development that nearby residents have said is too intense for the area was approved Tuesday the Cobb Board of Commissioners.
By a 5-0 vote the commissioners approved RM-12 rezoning (high-density residential) for a four-acre tract at 5000 Olde Towne Parkway, adjacent to the Olde Towne Athletic Club.
The applicant, Pulte Homes, wants to build a John Wieland residential community with four-story units at a minimum of 3,000 square feet. The townhomes would be priced from $700,000 and up.
Here’s the agenda item packet information.
The case has been held for a couple of months as Pulte revised a landscaping plan and made other changes from its initial proposal. An empty one-story office building is currently on the site.
The approval by the commissioners is conditioned on the submission of a revised site plan and District 2 commissioner Bob Ott approving that, along with the relocation of several units for better landscaping as well as a final landscaping plan.
James Bailli, an attorney representing Pulte, said residential development would result in a traffic count of around 250 trips a day, lower than the present estimate of more than 1,000 trips under the current planned shopping center category.
He also said that Olde Towne Athletic Club supported the rezoning. The land is located next to the new Northside Hospital East Cobb Medical Center, where another medical office building is being planned.
But opposition came from the East Cobb Civic Association, which said the Pulte plans were too intense. Sarah Patterson, a nearby resident with an architectural degree, said she and other residents aren’t opposed to new residential development in Olde Towne, “but what’s being proposed does not fit” what already exists.
She also said the proposal was too intense, and pointed out that the proposed 50-foot height for the townhomes would surpass the 40-foot treeline for all development in the community.
During her presentation, she showed photos of what the Pulte project would look like as presented, saying it “looks like a brick wall” that would stand out even more in the winter. “This will be very visible.”
By contrast, Patterson said other other homes in Olde Towne do not face Olde Towne Parkway, but the Pulte homes would.
The roundabout where the Pulte townhomes would go is the highest point of the Olde Towne complex, she said, so anything built there is going to stand out dramatically.
“We will see this every day, head on,” Patterson said in response to questions from commissioners.
The commissioners incorporated her suggestions on relocating seven units for landscaping, although they admitted the height issues remain a concern.
Chairman Mike Boyce said that “what’s going to go in there is a lot better than what’s there now,” and commended Patterson for her input: “You did make a difference by your participation.”
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