Issue #20: The March Ahead!

A HUGE update that looks at the progress and opportunities in our key areas of transit, safe streets, sustainability, and land use & zoning.

Hello everyone!

I thought this would be a good time to take a step back and do an issue focused on project updates in the different areas we are focused on. There is so much going on so this will be a helpful guide on what’s happening!

Here’s the agenda for today’s issue:

• Project Updates & Opportunities

  • Transit

  • Safe Streets

  • Sustainability

  • Land Use/Zoning

• Upcoming Commissioners meeting review

• Upcoming Event Reminders

Transit

When it comes to better transit, we achieved another milestone towards a 2024 transit referendum on February 28th when Commissioners voted 3-2 along party lines to approve planning, project list preparation, and ongoing public outreach.

There are three ongoing initiatives:

• Transit Referendum Project List Preparations

  • Contracts with 3 different consultant groups was approved at the Feb 28th BoC meeting

    

  • MDJ article

• Mobility on Demand Study

  • This is a study to determine best practices for the wide range of mobility on demand services in the county including Flex, Paratransit, Vouchers, Medicaid/Medicare, and Senior Services.

• Site Selection Studies for Transfer Centers

  • These are studies to receive federal funding for Cumberland, Marietta, and the new South Cobb Transfer Centers.

Safe Streets

Lots of progress is being made on Safe Streets initiatives with a calendar of events quickly filling up! Projects in bold have an upcoming event scheduled!

• 3 Projects Under Construction

  • Cheatham Hill Rd/Whitlock Avenue/Burnt Hickory Road

    • Construction is expected to finish soon and a ribbon cutting is scheduled for Friday, June 9th at 11AM!

  • Chattahoochee Riverlands

    • Screenshot of update is below!

      

  • Mableton Parkway

    • Construction for the portion of the trail between Veterans Memorial and Factory Shoals Rd is expected to start soon! Screenshot of update is below!

      

• 3 Projects in Planning

  • Connect the Comet (3 parts)

    • Northern (Silver Comet to Plant Atkinson Rd):

    • Central (Plant Atkinson Rd to across the River):

    • Southern (River to Beltline):

    • Upcoming event: Connect the Comet is BACK! They are looking for new leaders and are hosting a leadership summit on Sunday, March 12th from 2PM-430PM. If you’re interested, reach out or follow the instructions on this page: http://www.connectthecomet.org/index.php/events/

  • Austell/Powder Springs Road Trail

    • Progress continues on this AWESOME project (providing a direct connection between downtown Austell and Powder Springs) and the scoping study is moving forward quickly and expected to conclude in April. Federal funding will likely be sought in the near future.

    • Upcoming event: It’s not publicly announced yet, but save your calendars for Tuesday, March 28th at 6:30pm at the Threadmill Complex;)

  • Noonday Creek Trail Extension

    • Progress continues on this AWESOME project (connecting Kennesaw Mountain and Marietta Square to Woodstock) and the Scoping Study is projected to conclude this summer.

      

    • Upcoming event: There will be an open house on Tuesday, March 7th from 5:30PM to 7:30PM at Bells Ferry Elementary School. More details on this FB event page.

      • It’s very important we have a good showing because there is local opposition to the alignment along the creek which is the most direct, safest, and scenic route. We hope to see you there!

Sustainability

Lots of discussions are happening behind the scenes related to Sustainability! With so much to do, the biggest challenge is getting the county and its cities to prioritize and focus on specific action items.

Collectively, we’ve had conversations with most of the Commissioners and Director of Waste, Sustainability, and Beautification, Kimberly White.

A Better Cobb is joining My Green Earth to host Climate & Cocktails on Thursday, March 9th from 6PM-730PM at The Third Door near the Marietta Square! Come join us as we talk about how you can be more sustainable and make an impact in your community.

Please RSVP on Facebook or Meetup so we have an accurate headcount!

Land Use & Zoning

After our meeting last month, we agreed that the Unified Development Code is a key opportunity in getting some important changes implemented.

Although no events are currently on the schedule, we solidified four key areas we can advocate for in the Unified Development Code:

• Reducing or removing parking minimums

• Focusing opportunities for increased density along established corridors or hubs

• Allowing more housing varieties including ADUs and “missing middle”

• Changing development approval process to include “mobility study” instead of “traffic study”

Commissioner Meeting Recap

There was an important County Commissioner meeting last week. Here are a few notes:

• The tone of the meeting continued to be tense and hostile, as it seems all Commissioners are getting tired of the ongoing divisive drama from the redistricting fights.

• Signups for public comment were in high demand, as all 12 slots were taken by 6PM, an hour before the meeting started at 7pm.

• Many of the public commenters targeted public transit. I am working on a video edit compiling these comments.

• Funding for transit planning for an upcoming referendum passed 3-2 along party lines. It was interesting that both Commissioners Gambrill and Birrell commented on how they preferred the 5 year option instead of the 30 year option and referenced the letter cosigned by 5 mayors last year to not do 930. They seemed to forget that the mayors’ letter was for doing the referendum LAST year, and that in November, all 5 Commissioners voted unanimously to pursue a 30-year referendum in 2024.

Upcoming Events

Here are the upcoming opportunities for events. It’s important that we continue showing up, telling our neighbors and friends, and continue to advocate to move our beloved county forward!

• Tuesday, March 7th @530: Noonday Creek Trail Extension Open House

• Thursday, March 9th @6PM: Climate & Cocktails

• Sunday, March 12th @2PM: Connect the Comet Leadership Summit

• Tuesday, March 14th @9AM: Board of Commissioners Meeting

• Tuesday, March 28th @630PM: Austell-Powder Springs Trail Public Meeting

• Tuesday, March 28th @7PM: Board of Commissioners Meeting

I hope to see y’all at one of these upcoming events!

Also, Cobb Travel & Tourism are doing their annual Bubbles & Brews where you visit as many breweries as you can for the month. We’re looking to plan a bike ride to a few different breweries in a couple of weekends! Stay tuned!

As always, join the discussion on our Facebook Group and share this newsletter and the group with your friends!