By Mark Woolsey

A divided Cobb County Board of Commissioners this week approved plans for a 300-unit apartment complex on Cobb Parkway, despite stated concerns from the Cobb County School District about its impact on enrollment at a nearby elementary school.

The 3-2 vote, with commissioners Gambrill and Birrell voting no, clears the way for developer Alliance Residential to replace an existing, 35-year-old hotel with a five-story building and parking deck, whose apartments would be predominantly studio and one-bedroom units.  No more than 35 percent would be 2-bedroom, according to a stipulation advanced by Commissioner Erick Allen and included in the final motion.

That was seen as a way to limit further growth at nearby Teasley Elementary School, which Cobb school officials say is over capacity, by limiting the number of families moving into the new development.

Alliance attorney Parks Huff again talked up the possibility of shifting the planned development at 3200 S. Cobb Parkway from Teasley’s attendance zone to either of two other nearby elementaries, both of which are said to have access capacity.

One commissioner was somewhat dismissive of the plan being aired in front of the commission.

“You’re talking to the wrong people,” said Commissioner JoAnn Birrell. “That is not within our purview.” That was a reference to the school board’s having the sole discretion to change attendance zones,

But Commissioner Erick Allen took a different tack, saying the plan Huff advanced was not a recommendation to the school board so much as a potential solution to a problem, and an appropriate matter for discussion.

Cobb School Supt. Chris Ragsdale earlier this year criticized the commission over the number of multifamily residential permits it was approving and the potential for a flood of new students into the district as a result, creating classroom space and staffing issues as well as other problems.

Commission chair Lisa Cupid said that Travis McComb, a representative of the school district who attended the meeting to voice their opposition to the proposal, should take such issues back to school officials for a stakeholder meeting.

“We would certainly love to have more constructive dialogue in meeting outside of zoning but we cannot fully deliberate the complexity of these matters when it comes to how we zone and how the school board builds. There have been multiple communications with the school bord and requests to meet specific to zoning and broadly with regards to zoning generally and they have not been responded to, “ Cupid.

Commissioner Erick Allen said he had also attempted to get in touch with school officials to no avail.

After the superintendent raised his initial concerns, Cupid proposed a  meeting to talk about growth and zoning issues, but it fell through because the proposed meeting coincided with the end of the school year.

Both the attorney for Alliance and  Allen, in whose district the development would be located, noted the apartments in the Cumberland Area would be close to a number of employment and entertainment centers, and that a transit stop would be located close by.

The five-story complex is planned to wrap around a parking deck and would feature such amenities as a pool and co-working space.