Improvement Plans for 3 South Cobb Areas to be Presented at Thompson's Town Hall Meeting

South Cobb residents can voice their opinion and ask tough questions at a town hall meeting on Tuesday hosted by Cobb Commissioner Woody Thompson, who represents South Cobb.

Thompson said the town hall meeting will include a presentation of the South Cobb Implementation Strategy by Cobb Planning Division Manager Dana Johnson as well as a question-and-answer component.

The South Cobb Implementation Strategy is the result of cross-departmental team efforts from Commission Chairman Tim Lee, Thompson and other Cobb County government officials to assemble a tool that can be used to help revitalize the South Cobb area and to organize past improvement efforts and studies in one document.

The Strategy, attached to this article, is a vision incorporating the South Cobb area’s various improvement and development projects, with a major focus on the River View area, the Mableton Form-Based Code Redevelopment District and the opportunity zone initiatives for the Six Flags Corridor.

• The River View area: Commissioners granted the developers, Green Street Properties, which is a subsidiary of Jamestown Properties and Marthasville Development, The development, which is being called River View on the Chattahoochee, would include 155 single-family homes, 335 townhomes, 165 condo flats, 850 apartment units and about 200 senior housing units. A representative from Jamestown Properties will be present at the meeting on Tuesday.

• The nucleus of Mableton would be the town square, which essentially would be the area that incorporates the post office on Floyd Road, the Mable House complex including the Barnes Amphitheatre and the South Cobb Library. The hopes are to also add a town green, where the recently established farmer’s market as well as the town’s community garden.

• Six Flags Corridor is currently undergoing three significant improvement projects: an LCI study, a United Way opportunity zone program and a possible state-designation as an opportunity zone.

1. LCI Study: In March, the Atlanta Regional Commission awarded a $100,000 grant to study the Six Flags area as part of its Livable Communities Initiative. The award states, "The study is to develop a master plan that includes multi-modal transportation options with existing and new land uses, including mixed-uses and compatibility among the various uses. The study will result in recommendations to improve the bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure, access to public transit and efficient freight movement in the area."
2. United Way: In June, the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta awarded a $35,000 grant, designating the area an Opportunity Zone. Organizations like the Center for Family Resources and Georgia Power
3. State Opportunity Zone: If the GDA designates the area an "opportunity zone," businesses that develop in that area will qualify for Georgia's maximum job tax credit of $3,500 per job, which can be taken against the business' income tax liability and state payroll withholding. Opportunity Zones are typically areas with a poverty rate of 15 percent or greater.

Thompson said the main goal of improving the Six Flags area is to drive commercial activity there and could include redeveloping older apartment complexes or replacing the complexes with new structures.

"The core area of the Six Flags Drive node has a high concentration of apartment communities that are nearing the end of their life span. The property owners have not reinvested in their properties and as a result, the rents are low, vacancies are high, and crime is increasing," it states in the latest draft of the implementation plan.

The plan includes many detailed steps to bring this revitalization vision to fruition in South Cobb within the next 11 years. To learn more about the plan, attend the town hall meeting on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the at 620 Lions Club Drive in Mableton.