Unfinished structure at Hawkins Store and Canton gets reprieve of one more month to finish

Link to Video Time: 01:22:48 - 01:33:48 Other Business Item 8

The applicant, Rex E. Horney, was given until the next  BOC zoning meeting, October 18, to get all permits needed. Commissioner Birrell gave the applicant another chance to complete the building. Homeowners near the property  expressed concern that the county would not be successful in litigation to tear the structure down, and said it was preferable to have a viable business in place.  The sticking point seems to be the property owner, who despite 3 zoning approvals in the past 6 years has yet to complete the building exterior, and the interior is unfinished.  The Commissioners did indicate that if the applicant does not fulfill all requirements by the hearing, that the County would enter into litigation to remove the structure.  

It first was approved by then-Commissioner Tim Lee in 2OO5 for a wedding chapel, no larger than 2,5OO square feet. Noonday Baptist Church had donated the historic Latimer family house to the Horneys, but the structure deteriorated and was never used.  The owner then put up the current structure, which is 8,OOO sq ft, with an additional concrete stub in front.  The structure was not legally permitted, and that launched the 6 year effort on the part of the county and community residents to get the building completed.  It was rezoned CRC with stipulations for use as an event hall in 2OO8, and then rezoned for use as an athletic center in 2OO9. The current planned use is to lease it to Volley One, an athletic trainer.

Activist Defeats Elevated Super Highway- 

"The public hearing had already begun when she arrived. After stopping to add her name to the list of people requesting to speak, she headed toward the front of the auditorium, acknowledging the applause that rippled up from the crowd as she passed, a flash of white hair bobbing along the aisle, thick black glasses perched on an aquiline nose. She took a seat at the front of the hall.", "The recipient of the applause was Jane Jacobs, a fifty-one-year-old author and activist, whose book had made her synonymous with efforts to fight urban renewal projects that destroyed existing neighborhoods. On this pleasant spring evening, about two hundred residents of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, Little Italy, Greenwich Village, and what would later be known as SoHo had gathered in a high-school auditorium for a public discussion of the proposed Lower Manhattan Expressway. They sat scattered in rows of fold-down seats, fanning themselves with pamphlets and craning to see the person who was speaking at a microphone in front of the stage.", "Manhattan Expressway would alleviate street traffic on clogged Manhattan streets and increase efficiency for drivers looking to cross from New Jersey to Long Island. The superhighway was to be elevated, providing ten wide lanes that would soar above the crowded city streets. But its foundation would cut through dense city blocks that had existed almost since the Dutch had settled Manhattan nearly four centuries before. Even the city officials knew that the price of this monument to progress would be steep: the government would have to evict twenty-two hundred families, demolish over four hundred buildings, and relocate more than eight hundred businesses to clear the way.",

excerpt from Wrestling With Moses, Flint, 2OO9

Weigh in on TSPLOST while there is time: Check out traffic congestion on I-75 for yourself using these GDOT links. Don't rely on someone else's opinion to make up your mind.  Check out the traffic cams on 75 northbound and southbound at different times of the day.

GDOT cameras          MARTA    MARTA ridership stats by month; 6.2 million in May. While MARTA is not coming to Cobb with the TSPLOST, it is useful to check out the Marta information to get some sense of its impact in the region. Some transit  opponents have said that Cobb DOT's estimate of twenty thousand boardings per day is  impossible and a lie.  Look at MARTA's total unlinked trips of 6.2 million in May alone.

MARTA Crime stats   Key to Marta Station numbers

GDOT real time traffic map     

View information on the challenges of adapting the CSX freight line for dual use as commuter rail 

Link to MDJ interview with Chairman Lee and Ms. DiMassimo, CDOT Director The article is followed by blogs, many of which are at least as witty and appealing as gangsta graffiti.

Link to AJC article on Smyrna TSPLOST Town Hall

LInk to MDJ article on Smyrna TSPLOST Town Hall

Link to Transportation Planner Anthony Downs' text on traffic congestion.  He discusses his theory of triple convergence or induced demand. It is true that constructing light rail will not solve traffic congestion, however, building or widening roads will only provide brief relief at a  high cost. A tool kit with multiple options is needed. More articles will be accessible by links on this site in the coming weeks.  Aside from congestion, there are other critical reasons to provide transportation choices to metro residents. These are health related concerns. Links to this topic coming soon.

Corridor Updates: Construction of Sigma Thermal's new corporate headquarters on Deen Road is underway. Does the Canton/Hawkins Store property have a new tenant? Will the building be finished? Well . .  we are waiting to see if Volley One is able to persuade owner Rex Horney to finish the building as agreed to in the last (and ONLY) permit the County plans to issue. The vacant property on Bells Ferry across from Arnold Avenue will finally be developed, pending a rezoning hearing in September. The large tree will be preserved.  Several new businesses have opened recently on Canton Hwy: Big Deals on the corner of Canton and Liberty Hill, and DanceMax, a  retailer for dance apparel, on the east side of Canton near McDonalds.  The metal scrap yard application on Canton, denied by the BOC, has moved into the discovery phase of litigation.  Attorney Garvis Sams, representing client Steven Stewart had filed a Motion for Summary Judgment, which was denied. Marietta Recycling, also owned by Stewart was recently fined $5,000 in Marietta Municipal Court for repeated noise violations at their Marble Mill location.  Read the MDJ story.

Coming soon to the Jamerson/Canton commercial node: Vespucci's Pizza and Pasta and a Donut shop. Looking forward to both of those, which are in the new brick building next to the Rite Aid.

Things we are happy not to deal with: The Urban Chicken Controversy, coming soon to the Board of Zoning Appeals. Jill Flamm of ECCA and David Poteet, now on the BZA, will have the pleasure of handling this case, hot enough to fry an egg.  Link to story

New WalMart Neighborhood Market planned for Blackwell Square

WalMart is planning to open a Neighborhood Market in Blackwell Square on Canton Rd. The WalMart Neighborhood Market concept is new to Georgia but there are over 180 such stores in the US, including in Florida and North Carolina. They will occupy the American Thrift Store site, demolish the current structure and rebuild. The store will be 40,000 sq ft, about the size of the Publix on Sandy Plains, and will not be a stand-alone, it will abut the existing shops.  A drive -through pharmacy is  planned, store hours will likely be from 6 am to 11 or 12 pm.  The store should create about 75 jobs.  This will not expand to be a Supercenter. 

The Planning Commission approved the site plan on Sept. 8th..  The photos suggest what the interior of the new store will look like, and a rendering of the proposed building is also shown. The plans include landscaping in the parking lot as well as decorative lighting.  This should be a fantastic addition to our corridor.

  Perennial Garden July 2011:  Rudbeckia (Black Eyed Susans); Daylilies

Bill Byrne misstates Commission vote in 1993 anti-gay resolution 

Link to video;    Link to transcript of interview      

In an extended interview with the Marietta Daily Journal Sunday July 31st, former Cobb Chairman Byrne, challenging Tim Lee for the 2012 Chairman race, stated that he voted Yes in favor of the anti-gay resolution because even if he had voted No, it would have passed 3-2 rather than 4-1.  In fact, the vote that day was 3-1 in favor, with Bill Cooper (District 1) casting the no vote. Joe Thompson (District 2) was absent.  This matters because the anti-gay resolution and removal of funding for all arts programs was a fairly major episode in Cobb history; it was divisive, received national and international media coverage and led to the 1996 Olympics (and Olympic Torch) staying out of Cobb County.  Did Byrne not remember the vote correctly?  Had Byrne cast a no vote, the outcome would have been a tie, and many events that followed the ill-conceived resolution might not have taken place.

I was there that day and have a substantial collection of media archives from the period.  Any future public statements made about that episode in Cobb may be verified for accuracy. Also worth noting is Byrne's strong support from the social and religious conservatives in the Tea Party movement.   The New York Times recently published an article outlining Rep. Michelle Bachmann's (R) rise to fame based in part on her outreach to anti-gay religious conservatives in the Tea Party movement.  Link to NYT article

BOC approves millage increase 3-2; Birrell, Ott vote no.  Link to AJC

Former Commissioner Thea Powell will not run for Chairman next year  Link to MDJ

  Thea Powell made it official with an announcement to the Marietta Daily Journal; she will not be a candidate for Cobb Chairman in the 2012 race.  The fact that her announced non-candidacy is newsworthy was due to her demonstrated capability and credibility in the office of District 3 Commissioner last year. The MDJ column had it right, stating that it would probably be Cobb's loss, but her personal gain.  The race for Chairman next year is shaping up to be one of the most ugly and expensive races in recent memory, with a challenge from former Chairman Bill Byrne to unseat incumbent Tim Lee.  Still unknown is whether other challengers will emerge for the Chairman race; Ron Sifen, Larry Savage and Bob Ott are possible candidates.  It will also be interesting to see whether Bob Ott faces a challenger in his District 2 race next year.

Whether Ms. Powell has permanently retired from politics or is just taking a hiatus; CRN and I wish her the best in her new job.

The "proper role of government" still debated

If you listened to Libertarian and Georgia Tea Party members discuss the role of government at the Cobb Commission tax hearings the past few weeks, you'd think they were quoting from gospel. The atmosphere was charged with religious fervor and "Amens" were heard around the room. It was more akin to a tent revival meeting than the typical sawdust-dry BOC agenda. The meeting reached its climax with a vote on the millage rate rather than an alter call, and at the end of nearly four hours saints and sinners staggered out of the air-conditioned chamber into the humid night air.        

The tea party movement, funded partly by libertarian/oil industry magnate David Koch, (Americans for Prosperity) and fueled by widespread anger at the ongoing recession, has focused its ire on Big Government, Taxes and President Obama. Tea Party leaders including those elected to Congress, insist that the nation has strayed from the framer's intent as expressed in the Constitution, ratified in 1788. Limited government and fiscal conservatism, drastic cuts in spending, curtailing the regulatory capacity of the Environmental Protection Agency; limiting or ending government regulation generally, vocal resistance to taxation and strong undercurrents of social conservatism, are hallmarks of the movement. Tea Party activists at the local level mirror the movement nationally; vocal and assertive, they insist that government do it their way, since they represent the "will of the people".

It isn't that simple or one sided, however. "We the people" are a pluralistic nation, (E pluribus unum) and the debate over how to interpret the Constitution has occupied the Supreme Court and Constitutional scholars since at least the early 1800's. It is not unlike the theological debate on whether to read the Bible as a literal, "inerrant" document versus the view that it is partly historical, partly symbolic and meant to give moral and spiritual guidance to the reader. Those jurists, scholars and political figures who insist on a literal interpretation of the Constitution; limited to the text and historical context, are called strict constructionists. Others view the Constitution as a living document to be read expansively. They feel that the authors intended the draft to be a broad philosophical framework for the new type of government they were trying to create (Constitutional Law and Politics V I; O'Brien, 2005; pp71- 84). The Federalist Papers, published in 1787 under the authorship of "Publius", attempt to explain the rationale underlying the Constitution. The fear of the framers was that the new nation and first President could turn into another monarchy, but they also feared what Tocqueville called "the tyranny of the majority"; the threat of mob rule that could arise from a direct democracy (The Federalist; Carey, 1989).

Debate over the proper role of government began early in the nation's history. An example, taken from O'Brien's text, p 94, discusses the opinion of Chief Justice John Marshall in McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat (17 US) 316 (1819) in which he "upheld the constitutionality of the national bank as a necessary and proper exercise of Congress's powers based on inferences from the structure of federalism, instead on relying on the necessary and proper clause per se. Still, Jeffersonian-Republicans disagreed with the infusion of Marshall's nationalistic political philosophy into constitutional law" (Constitutional Law and Politics VI, 2005).

The difficulty with a literal and limited reading of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights on the role and function of government; is that the world known by Madison, Hamilton and Jay did not include the complexities of life in the 21st century: multinational corporations, metropolitan regions, and telecommunications.

Further complicating the challenges for those who would oversimplify the term "proper role of government" is that counties and cities are not mentioned in the Constitution.

 to be continued . . .

Only 20 miles apart, but a world of difference

   Two public meetings were held last week in two different sections of the Atlanta region; on Tuesday, the Board of Commissioners held 

two public hearings on the proposed .millage increase to fund local government services for FY 2012.  On Saturday, the Atlanta Regional Commission and Civic League hosted a town hall for the public to comment on solutions to the region's traffic congestion using funds from a proposed Transportation SPLOST. According to the AJC article, 200 people attended the Civic League Town Hall, and some 63% of those favored public transportation over just building roads. Another 30% wanted a balance, and only 7% `preferred roads. Meanwhile in Cobb County, 235 people attended the Tuesday evening meeting, and about half the speakers opposed a millage increase to fund government services, and the other half supported.  A link to the hearing is below.

Cobb BOC public comment Tuesday 19th, evening meeting. Link

Buses, rail lines draw support in transit town hall meeting   link to AJC

I-75/575 HOV/Toll Lanes get green light   Link to AJC

BOC approves funding for sidewalk addition on Canton with 2005 SPLOST funds. Vote 5-0

Link to BOC and watch  Tab #4, Transportation, Time: 00:27:10 - 00:56:21

County to build our SPLOST-funded sidewalks on Canton  

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING
July 12, 2011

DOT AGENDA ITEMS - SPLOST RELATED

"The Board approve Supplemental Agreement No. 1 to the contract with C.W. Matthews Contracting
Company, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $158,372.64, for roadway safety and operational improvements
on Canton Road – Phase I, Project No. D6050. As a result of citizen and community requests it has been
determined that additional sections of sidewalk would benefit pedestrians and address safety concerns in
the Canton Road corridor by filling in sidewalk gaps and adding sidewalk in high pedestrian traveled areas.
There are seven locations along the Canton Road corridor where additional sidewalk construction would
occur. These areas will provide an estimated 5,100 feet of new sidewalk, resulting in an approximately
3 miles of continuous sidewalk on the east side of Canton Road and approximately 2 miles of continuous
sidewalk on the west side."

  Cobb DOT will present an agenda item today, awarding a contract to C.W. Matthews to build 5,100 linear feet of sidewalks on Canton Hwy; another step in completing the 2005 SPLOST project D- 6050.  After designating a Phase I for roadway improvements in the Business District, the Canton SPLOST project seemed to stall; then the community, including CRN, began to press the BOC to build more sidewalks since many sections of the corridor are not pedestrian friendly.  In fact, some sections have been on the waiting list for sidewalks since 1997.  The SPLOST plans were revisited by interim Commissioner Thea Powell and CDOT Director Faye DiMassimo last year. They brought forward a plan to connect sidewalk gaps north of Jamerson and south of Hawkins Store. 

  When Commissioner Birrell was elected, she met with CRN and assured us that she supported improvements on Canton Corridor, including installation of additional sidewalks.  And she has been as good as her word.  Working closely with CDOT, local business owners and zoning attorneys, Birrell has found a way to implement the SPLOST sidewalks, nearly 1 mile of them, within the allocated budget and in a timely way. The sidewalk construction is scheduled to begin this fall.

   Canton SPLOST project Director Scott Jordan says that the Canton Corridor revitalization has taken place quickly, beginning with the Canton Road Steering Committee in 2004, and implementation of the safety and operational improvements in 2011. While 7 years may not seem fast to many people, by planning and development standards, it is. Jordan attributes the relative ease of getting the project completed to several factors; first, the accident rate in the business district warranted the raised medians; also, the corridor planning had wide support from multiple stakeholder groups, including the Northeast Cobb Business Association.  "The project on paper is looking good on the street", Jordan said.  

   Some of the work followed the recommendations of the Canton Design Guidelines, notably the stone facing on the retaining walls that can be seen at Salon 313 and near the Canton Piedmont intersection. Corridor plans also called for landscaping and a stakeholder committee will be forming soon to discuss options.  But some business owners aren't waiting for the stakeholder report; the owners of Salon 313 have created a stunning display of color along the top of the new retaining wall.

  Adding to the safety aspect of the raised medians is the stamped asphalt treatment in the center lane. This is a pilot program for Cobb and it is hoped that they will reduce        the kinds of accidents, some serious, that have occurred in the turn lanes.  

   Overall, the appearance of the Canton Corridor has really turned around in the last few years and others have taken notice.: A national retailer is eyeing Blackwell Square as a site for an upscale grocery.  

   The planned sidewalks are located in 7 sections: the newest plans have them extending as far south as Bay Breeze restaurant and Canton at Liberty Hill. They are listed below.  

Seven separate areas will be added as part of this project and they are:
o Approximately 175 ft near Liberty Hill Road on the east side of Canton Road
o Approximately 525 ft near the Bay Breeze Restaurant on the east side of Canton
Road
o Approximately 885 ft on the south side of Piedmont Road from Canton Road to
the railroad
o Approximately 805 ft near St. Andrews Methodist Church on the west side of
Canton Road
o Approximately 800 ft near All-Tournament Players Park on the east side of
Canton Road
o Approximately 650 ft near Hawkins Store on the east side of Canton Road
o Approximately 1265 ft near Farm Ridge Drive on the west side of Canton Road

    A lot of people have worked hard for the positive changes that are taking place; and having the support of many stakeholders helped the process to get done smoothly, for the most part, Jordan said.  The SPLOST funding is expected to be approved by a majority of the BOC today.

Property tax hike proposed for Cobb  Link to article

Federal loan application OK'd for I-75/I-575 toll lanes  Link  to article

The state of Solar Power in Georgia: "Partly Sunny In Georgia" Link to Georgia Trend article

Neighborhood meeting with Cobb Police well attended