TONIGHT: Meet your ABC board members in Kennesaw, Marietta or Smyrna
We have tonight not one, not two, but THREE simultaneous opportunities to meet some of your A Better Cobb board members!
Come meet the dedicated individuals making Cobb County better! This is your chance to engage in meaningful conversations about enhancing our community. Learn more about our 2026 goals and discuss local initiatives.
- Discover our community initiatives
- Voice your ideas for A Better Cobb
- Learn about our 2026 goals
Join us from 6 to 8 p.m. at one of these locations:
Meet Your ABC Board Members: Kennesaw - Baladi Coffee Kennesaw (Register here)
Meet Your ABC Board Members: Marietta - Mr. Tombstone’s Coffee Emporium (Register here)
Meet Your ABC Board Members: Smyrna - Cafe Lucia Smyrna (Register here)
10 Things Missing from Cobb County’s New Unified Development Code (Excerpt from blog post at ABetterCobb.com)
Cobb County is rewriting its development rules through the new Unified Development Code. This is a once in a generation opportunity to shape how our communities grow, how affordable our housing is, and how accessible our neighborhoods will be for the next several decades.
To read the draft UDC, go here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dvBWcc193ls8wU6-lUtpIeGnEIc5lWAA/view?usp=sharing
The draft UDC makes progress in some areas. It introduces modern mixed use districts, improves walkability inside those districts, and streamlines the development review process. However, the code still falls short of many of the goals Cobb has already adopted in its Strategic Plan, Comprehensive Plan, and Housing Assessment.
Below are the 10 most important things missing and examples of cities that have done these items well.
1. A County Wide Strategy for Missing Middle Housing
The UDC still limits most residential land to single family homes on large lots. Traditional housing types such as duplexes, triplexes, quads, cottage courts, and small apartment homes remain illegal across much of the county.
Example:
Minneapolis, Minnesota ended single family only zoning in 2019. Duplexes and triplexes are now allowed on every residential lot. This change expanded housing options without changing neighborhood character.
Continue reading about the 10 Things Missing from Cobb County’s New UDC by clicking here.
Take the UDC Survey here (and let them know the proposed draft completely lacks meaningful change on housing policy)
Cobb Commission meeting this Thursday, Nov. 20
Due to next week being the week of Thanksgiving, this month’s night meeting of the Cobb Board of Commissioners is this Thursday, Nov. 20. Additionally, the meeting will get underway at 6 p.m. instead of its usual 7 p.m. start time. The earlier start is due, in part, to the meeting including the second public hearing, followed by an expected vote, on a number of proposed changes to county code.
That public hearing could take a while as the number of speakers is not limited, and each of them are given up to three minutes.
Here’s a rundown of the meeting:
Presentations (3 items)
Second Public Hearing on proposed county code amendments
Public Comment Round 1 (10 speakers, up to 3 minutes each on any topic)
Consent Agenda (20 items)
Item 15 is a measure to approve the deletion of two vacant Code Enforcement Officer positions within the Code Enforcement Division, and the creation of one Planner III position within the Planning Division of
the Community Development Agency. If the proposed position reclassification is approved, the new Planner III “will be focused on housing and redevelopment, which are intrinsically linked, particularly in a county that is predominantly built out,” according to county documents, which go on to highlight other specific tasks for this new position. Worth a read.
Regular Agenda (9 items)
Public Comment Round 2 (10 speakers, up to 3 minutes each)
Appointments & Announcements (2 items)
Zoning Meeting Recap
One of our Board Members attended the Zoning meeting earlier this week and posted a great recap on our website. One of our goals in 2026 is to get more involved in zoning/planning so that we have a bigger voice in determining the future land use of our county and cities.
The meeting started about 15 minutes late due to technical difficulties. I noticed there was a lot of people here and I figured it was for the same reason I was there: Z-18-2025, the Racetrac going in across the street from Bells Ferry Elementary near town center. So it was a surprise when, while going through the cases that had been withdrawn without prejudice (which essentially just means the case is withdrawn but they can bring it back in the future), they said that case Z-18 was a last minute addition. I could tell everyone was a little confused and Chairwoman Cupid explained that this meant that, because of the holidays, the earliest this could come back was in February of 2026. They did do a quick head count of how many people were there in opposition to Z-18 (25! Including myself) then most of them left.
Read more here: https://abettercobb.com/cities/unincorporated/meeting-recap-cobb-commissioners-zoning-hearing-11-18-938/
Smyrna Downtown Redevelopment Plan
On Monday, November 17th, Smyrna hosted the third and final public meeting on the Downtown Redevelopment Plan.
Here’s a news article that summarizes the proposal: Smyrna unveils downtown redevelopment plan with 350 homes, bike/foot path, hotel, business & restaurant space
Here’s a few highlights from the presentation:
The good: Preservation of historic church chapel, a new hotel, and a pedestrian/bike focused Jonquil Mile.
The bad: lack of affordable housing (rents at $1875+, housing at $415k+), lack of transit options, lack of community space
That’s it for this edition of the ABC Newsletter! Don’t forget to sign up as an ABC Member to receive future newsletters! We’re working on our schedule for the next events so stay tuned for that information!