Cobb commissioners on Tuesday approved the development of one of the largest subdivisions in a decade for western Cobb County — 175 new homes that residents say will jam already overtaxed roads and classrooms.
Commissioner Helen Goreham, who represents the area, reduced by three the number of homes that can be built on the 131 acres before asking her fellow commissioners to approve the plan. Developer J.W. Homes had said it could build 178 homes on the site, while setting aside 50 acres of green space in perpetuity.
The vote to approve the project was 5-0, although the developer will have to come back to the commission for final approval of its site plan that shows three fewer houses.
The green space being preserved includes buffers around local waterways, and Civil War-era trenches that were built by Confederate soldiers during the Battle of Atlanta.
“I believe this is a reasonable compromise,” Goreham said. “I believe this is in the best interests of citizens in that area of Cobb County.”
The approximately 40 residents who showed up at Tuesday’s hearing don’t agree.
Melissa O’Brien, a resident of the nearby Woodbridge at Hamilton Lake subdivision near Kennesaw and a leading critic of the proposed development, said Goreham and the commission ignored everyone’s rights but the developer.
“They’re doing this at the expense of our community and our children,” O’Brien said. “It’s like we don’t have any rights at all. I take great issue with that.”
Opponents of the project came from nine subdivisions in the area.
Attorney Kevin Moore, who represented the developer and land owners selling to the developer, said the home builder still has to sign off on the lower number of homes. But he said he thinks it was a fair compromise.
“I think it was an excellent decision,” Moore said, adding that the home builder hopes to close on the land purchase by the end of the year.
Skip Gunther, who lives near O’Brien in the Woodbridge subdivision, said existing zoning would allow construction of only 152 homes. But, he said, neighbors thought building 167 homes, with the green space preservation, would be a fair compromise.
Goreham suggested 175 as a compromise, and said that the traffic issue will be solved because the developer will build turn lanes at the subdivision entrances.
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