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Council forwards multiple rezoning and annexation requests, including proposed Bells Ferry data center
Summary
The council reviewed several rezoning and annexation requests and directed staff to place multiple items on the upcoming regular meeting agenda or public hearing, including a high-profile proposal for a data-center campus at 1751 Bells Ferry Road with building-height and parking variances.
Marietta city staff briefed the council on several rezoning, annexation and variance requests and asked the council to move multiple items to the regular meeting agenda or to set public hearings.
Notable among the items is a proposal by MMM Acquisitions LLC for 1751 Bells Ferry Road. The applicant seeks to rezone a roughly 31-acre site from community retail commercial (CRC) to light industrial (LI) and to develop a two-building data center campus totaling about 347,000 square feet. Staff and the applicant’s representative, Kevin Moore, said the request includes six variances; the package calls for an increase in maximum building height from 50 feet to 105 feet (the applicant said the design uses grade to reduce apparent height toward nearby residences) and a reduction in required parking to 45 spaces, among other requests. The proposal also includes relocation of an existing on-site cell tower.
Staff said they expect the applicant to present stipulations addressing buffers, architectural elements and neighbor concerns; councilors noted the applicant has met with nearby residents and that staff will present stipulations at the hearing. Questions from councilors covered buffering, gravel use for outdoor storage on other applications, and whether variances would be tied to specific uses.
Other items the council moved forward or placed on upcoming agendas included: a rezoning request for 1951 Kenton Road from CRC to a light-industrial use for small-scale warehousing and product assembly; a multi-parcel request involving 1475 Canton Road and Weaver Drive for light-industrial zoning and annexation with several variances tied to buffers and outdoor storage; and several smaller rezoning petitions (including 74 Austin Avenue, 266 Crescent Circle and 462/480 Roswell Street) that will appear at public hearings or be forwarded to the Wednesday regular meeting. In several cases councilors and staff said stipulations provided by applicants attempt to address overlay and corridor design standards and that, if council approves, additional architectural approvals may be requested at a later time.
Councilors also discussed property the city owns between two of the Roswell Street parcels; the applicant offered to maintain that parcel if the city desired, but council staff said the city would retain ownership unless the council later decides to sell.
Most of the land-use items were advanced to the regular meeting or set for public hearing without substantive changes; council recorded motions to move items forward and votes were recorded on the work-session roll calls.
The council asked staff to ensure that outstanding technical items — for example, whether gravel surfaces are being requested for outdoor storage versus parking and whether asbestos concerns at one building had been addressed in due diligence — be clarified in the public hearing materials.
Several applicants and representatives were present at the work session and will return for Wednesday’s agenda to present stipulations and to answer questions from the public and council.
