Council denies rezoning for 190-townhome proposal along Horizon Lane and Wilshire Avenue

The Marietta City Council voted 5-2 to deny a rezoning request that would have allowed Piedmont Residential to build a 190-unit townhome community on about 38.64 acres along Horizon Lane and Wilshire Avenue.

The proposal, filed under case Z2024-26 by PR Land LLC / Freeman Growth LLC and presented by Piedmont Residential representatives, would have changed the property from Light Industrial to Planned Residential Development Single-Family to permit 190 townhomes (about 9 units per acre). JT Igel, a Piedmont Residential representative, told the council the developer was offering to donate roughly 9 acres for public use and that, in his view, “the request before you is to develop a 190 lot townhome community.”

Supporters said the project would add for-sale housing near established commercial corridors and that updated FEMA data showed less floodplain than earlier reports indicated; Igel said the latest FEMA maps show “only 45% of the acreage is in floodplain,” and that “we are not proposing to reduce the floodplain area or place permanent structures within its boundaries.” He also said the development would include traffic improvements recommended by Public Works and that the developer intended to avoid placing units inside the floodplain.

Neighbors and other residents opposed the rezoning at the council hearing. Cynthia McTaggart, who said she lives on Seminole Place, argued the neighborhood’s culverts and roads could not sustain the added traffic and presented photos and video she said showed deterioration. “Seminole Place cannot sustain this traffic,” McTaggart said, and she urged the council to reject the rezoning. Several other residents echoed concerns about flooding, stormwater pollution, tree loss and the adequacy of the traffic study; Susan Reyes, a homeowner on Bothwell Place, said both the scale of the proposed townhomes and the proposed access points would harm privacy and safety for existing homes.

City staff and Public Works responded during the hearing. Mark Rice, who was identified in the hearing as Public Works director, told council members the culvert in question had been inspected and that scheduled repairs were on the department’s short-term list, but he said it was “not near collapse.” City staff and the applicant’s traffic consultant disputed some residents’ readings of the traffic study and clarified that commonly used traffic engineering metrics count trips (to and from), which can be misunderstood when presented as vehicle counts.

Council discussion focused on traffic, safety for children, the condition of neighborhood infrastructure and the proximity of the site to existing residential subdivisions and apartments. A councilmember representing the ward that includes the affected neighborhood said after visiting the site and speaking with neighbors that, while he believed some form of redevelopment was reasonable, the proposed plan would generate “too much” traffic for the existing local streets and recommended denial.

A motion to deny the rezoning carried 5-2. The council did not adopt any of the developer’s offered conditions as part of the motion. The applicant may return with a revised proposal or pursue other options available under existing zoning.

The public hearing for Z2024-26 began with staff presentation and applicant testimony during the meeting and closed before the council vote.