Impact
WARD: 7
COMMITTEE: Community Development
$ IMPACT: N/A
Title
Public Hearing - Zoning Request Z19-014 - Modification of site plan for 130 unit townhome development at Riverview Landing - 22.57 Acres - Land Lots 171, 172 - Riverview Road - The Ardent Companies, LLC
Body
ISSUE: The applicant is requesting a zoning amendment to modify the site plan and building elevations for a portion of the 82-acre mixed use Riverview Landing development. The applicant is proposing to replace the 65 single family detached units with 129 townhomes. This would increase the total townhomes units in the development to 317 units, and remove single family detached product from the development. The subject property is located on the northern side of Riverview Road and to the east of Nichols Drive (See zoning vicinity map). The site plan that was adopted as part of Zoning Case Z13-005, reflecting sixty-five (65) single family detached units on the subject property. The applicant is proposing to build a 129-unit townhome development in the place of the single family detached units. All other aspects of the master Riverview Landing site plan would remain unchanged.
BACKGROUND: The Riverview Landing development was originally approved by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners (BOC) on March 15, 2011 by a vote of 4-1. Prior to rezoning, the project received positive findings on the required Development of Regional Impact (DRI) review from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA). As part of the rezoning of the property, the County BOC added zoning stipulations that required the development to meet the recommendations outlined by GRTA and ARC in the DRI review. Between the rezoning in Cobb and the annexation into Smyrna, the applicant demolished the existing buildings, removed all debris and partially graded the site. The subject property was annexed and rezoned into Smyrna on November 18, 2013 by a vote of 7-0 (Zoning Case Z13-015) with the zoning conditions carried over from the County. The previous property owner began construction on the Riverview Road improvements and those improvements were completed by the Fall of 2018.
The originally approved mixed use development (Zoning Case Z13-015) consisted of 155 single-family residences, 332 townhomes, 165 condominium flats, 200 residential senior housing units and 850 apartment units. Overall, the development consisted of 1702 new residential units and 190,000 square feet of commercial space for a total square footage of 2,345,550 square feet for the entire development. The density for the site was 19.42 units per acre or 26,772 square feet per acre. The property owner applied for a zoning amendment in Spring of 2017 (Zoning Case Z17-003) to reduce the overall development with respect to residential units and eliminating almost all the commercial space. The zoning amendment reduced the commercial space down to 3,000 sq. ft. and the residential units down to 65 single-family units, 233 townhome units and 310 multi-family units. The zoning amendment was approved by the Mayor and City Council on March 20, 2017 with 608 residential units and 3,000 sq. ft. of commercial space. The zoning amendment resulted in a net change of -1094 residential units and -187,000 sq. ft. of commercial space.
The property owner applied for a zoning amendment in the Spring of 2019 (Zoning Case Z19-007) to change residential units and commercial space within the development from 310 multi-family units to 580 units, decrease the townhomes from 233 units to 188 units, and increase the commercial floor area from 3,000 sq. ft. to 17,680 sq. ft. The zoning amendment was approved by the Mayor and City Council on April 15, 2019. The zoning amendment resulted in a net change of 225 residential units and 14, 680 sq. ft. of commercial floor area.
RECOMMENDATION/REQUESTED ACTION: Community Development recommends approval of a zoning amendment to modify the currently approved site plan and building elevations with the following conditions carried over from Zoning Case Z17-003 & Z19-007.