By a 3-2 vote, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners decided on Aug. 27 to lift their two-year moratorium on purpose-built student housing and to lift the suspension of the acceptance of rezoning applications for these projects.
Opposed were Commissioners Bob Ott and Keli Gambrill, with Chairman Mike Boyce and Commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Lisa Cupid in favor.
In part, Ott said, “I feel like we’re being forced by KSU to do their work. We are not supposed to be doing the Board of Regents job. It is not the county’s job to foot the bill.”
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“The growth of the student population has led to challenges in providing appropriate housing,” said Jessica Guinn, director of the Cobb Community Development Department.
The moratorium initially went into effect on Oct. 11, 2017 and was extended on three occasions (June 12, 2018; Oct. 23, 2018 and June 25, 2019) to its current expiration date of Sept. 1, 2019.
Now developers who would like to build purpose-built student housing will need to apply for a Special Land Use Permit for consideration by the county commissioners.
Information: CobbCounty.org
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