Construction on hundreds of homes to continue during six-month moratorium on new residential rezoning applications
In its efforts to facilitate growth and development for long-term sustainability and diversification of its tax base, the City of Powder Springs will pause acceptance of new residential rezoning applications for six months.
During this period, the City will undertake a planning, zoning and growth management review as it develops a comprehensive development plan that integrates all areas associated with current residential inventory and projected residential development. These efforts will guide city staff as they determine if any proposed amendments are needed to be made to the city’s Comprehensive Plan, Unified Development Code, or other city code.
The City’s goal throughout this process will be to continue land-use regulations in the most predictable fashion with the least amount of disturbance to residents, business owners, and visitors to the city.
Residential construction remains underway across several single- and multifamily developments across the city, and will help accommodate new residents in Cobb County’s fastest growing city per the 2020 Census, which put its population at 16,887.
“Due to numerous strategic initiatives and a business-friendly attitude, Powder Springs is growing faster than expected,” City Manager Pam Conner said prior to the vote on the rezoning moratorium. “Targeted capital projects using SPLOST and federal matching funds continue to set the table for a safe and vibrant community. Bold economic development decisions are generating walkable neighborhoods anchored by our landmark Thurman Springs Park and other areas in the City.”
Approved by a 4-0 council vote Monday, with Councilwoman Doris Dawkins not present, the moratorium on new residential rezonings will not affect any pending development proposals that have already been filed with the city or further along in the process and set to be considered by the Planning & Zoning Commission and the City Council. Nor does the moratorium pause any residential projects previously approved by the City Council or prevent the permitting of such approved developments.
So far this calendar year, 125 permits for single-family houses and townhouses have been issued. Construction continues at Kerley Family Homes’ Old Lost Mountain Estates, Creekwood by Paran Homes, and Tapp Farm by Traton Homes, and Townhomes at Park Place. For the subdivisions already under construction, certificates of occupancy had been issued for 137 homes, and there are 105 in progress and 104 units left to permit.
Multifamily projects that have broken ground in 2022 include Selig Development’s Heartwood Powder Springs, which will bring 300 units in a garden-style environment at 20 acres along Brownsville Road at its intersection of Oglesby Road. Novare Group, meanwhile, will construct downtown 221 apartments across two sites — 4.9 acres where Powder Springs City Hall and Community Development facilities previously sat, and 1.4 acres on Hotel Avenue.
The city wants “to build upon [its] current success and continue to plan strategically and redevelop key areas,” Conner added, “improve roads and infrastructure, attract industries which in turn will employ our labor force closer to home and commercial development to diversify our tax base, and remove barriers to quality development while provide housing choices for our entire community. The city could become a victim of its own success unless we take a pause and assess where we are and how best we grow and develop the community.”
