A large residential development in Mableton was approved unanimously Dec. 19 by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners. Meritage Homes of Georgia will develop 154 residences on 47.5 acres at the southwest intersection of Floyd and Glore Roads. Those residences will include three house styles, including 22 detached bungalows with rear garages that would face Floyd Road, townhomes and single-family residences, according to Meritage Homes’ attorney Kevin Moore. Price points would range from $200,000s to $450,000s, Moore added.
Meritage had proposed a 15 percent cap on rental units which was opposed by Commissioner Lisa Cupid who said, “I’ve never approved a rental cap beyond 10 percent.”
On behalf of the Cobb County School District, Dennis Campbell said CCSD was opposed since Mableton Elementary is “extremely overcrowded.”
In response to Campbell’s frequent comments of CCSD opposition to residential development due to the impact on already overcrowded schools, Commissioner Bob Weatherford said CCSD staff should be studying the areas that already are zoned for development, “plan for growth at the schools and not throw it back on us.”
In this case, the land already is zoned for residential that could have been developed without commissioner approval but needed board approval since the zoning classification changed. As for concerns expressed by five speakers about traffic, Commission Chairman Mike Boyce, Commissioner Bob Ott, Weatherford and Cupid all agreed that traffic signals should be installed - even when the traffic numbers do not justify the signals according to traffic studies by the Cobb Department of Transportation.
Moore said Meritage Homes would be willing to contribute financially for traffic signal installation near the subdivision.
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