At its zoning hearing Tuesday, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners approved a rezoning from R-20 residential to NRC (Neighborhood Retail Center) for the purpose of a climate-controlled self-service storage facility on the west side of Oakdale Road and the east side of South Cobb Drive.  The applicants were John Douglas Howser and Robert David Howser III.

Michele Battle representing the applicants (photo by Larry Felton Johnson)

Michele Battle, representing the applicants, said, “When we originally put forth this application it was intended to be both a self-storage facility and retail facility. However, after comments received during the Planning Commission meeting, as well as comments received from the community and Mr. Ott, we dropped the retail component of the project, and instead redesigned the site to solely accommodate the self-storage facility. ”  She described changes to the plan that she said were arrived at after discussion with residents in the community, intended to reduce the visual impact of the project along Oakdale Road, and to make the building consistent with the architecture along that road.

Mary Rose Barnes of the Oakdale Community Association said the current plan was an improvement over the original one the applicants had submitted.  She proposed additional stipulations as conditions of approval, including restricting retail sales at the facility to supplies directly related to storage, such as packaging materials, and that no services unrelated to storage be provided.

Jessica White of the Historic Oakdale Alliance (photo by Larry Felton Johnson)

Jessica White, representing a newly formed coalition of neighborhood organizations called the Historic Oakdale Alliance, said,  “The Historic Oakdale Alliance supports the River Line Historic Area’s publically-stated interest in saving as much of the shoupades as possible, installation of historic interpretive signs, and auxiliary parking for Shoupade Park.  As a community, we desire to conserve the historic nature of our community in a physical sense, as well as creating places for community development such as greenspace and parks,  and ensuring that businesses that move to the historic street of Oakdale itself have significance to the community.  The approval of this zoning case does not align to our community objective.  While our area may need such storage units we recommend that they not be approved on Oakdale Road itself. If this rezoning, however, is approved, we agree with the changes proposed today as part of recommendations made by the Oakdale Community Association, and very much appreciate the effort that has been made to maintain the safety and beautification of Oakdale Road.”

The rezoning was approved with the addition of the added stipulations proposed by the Oakdale Community Association, and a Special Land Use Permit related to the rezoning was also approved.