Cobb zoning board approves Mableton Parkway townhomes

Cobb’s zoning advisory board approved a 38-unit Mableton townhome project Tuesday that’s been held up for the better part of a year.

Planning commissioners voted 3-0 to advance the Mableton Parkway project, near Clay Harmony Leland Elementary School, from developer St. Bourke and builder Kerley Family Homes.

Two board members, Deborah Dance and Michael Hughes, were not in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting.

As in past meetings, St. Bourke’s project received strong pushback from the Mableton Improvement Coalition (MIC) and other residents. Opponents were unsparing in their criticism.

“Seven months of many, many, many twists and turns, omissions, contradictions, corrections, ambiguities, and misstatements have made this process … sheer torture for the neighborhood,” said Mary Rose Barnes, who lives in an adjoining neighborhood.

“This, to echo, has been torturous,” added Sonya Wheatley, representing MIC. Wheatley singled out the possibility of blasting during construction and a lack of progress on traffic issues in her remarks.

“We have worked hard to work with them to get this done. We’re not opposed to building. We’re not opposed to townhomes there, but after seven months we have a non-viable plan … If they aren’t prepared to bring in something viable in seven months of hard work, it’s time to throw the baby out with the bathwater,” Wheatley added.

One issue the opposition had previously raised — the inclusion of private streets in the development — had been remedied ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, but that failed to appease.

St. Bourke’s Dan Mason, however, asked the Planning Commission for some clarity, requesting a decision one way or another. Planning Commission Chairman Stephen Vault acceded.

“This is a tough one, because I came into this prepared to go a different way, just given the conversation and all the hard work that has been going on with the applicant and the Mableton Improvement Coalition,” Vault said. “It seems that something fell apart, something broke somewhere.”

Vault nonetheless moved to advance the project with a recommendation of approval, which carried unanimously.

The proposal will move in front of the Cobb Board of Commissioners at their zoning hearing on June 21.