In the nearby Buckhead community, developer Isakson-Barnhart plans to break ground in 2006 on Peachtree Hills Place, a $150-million, 240-unit community of townhomes and detached houses on a 24-acre site now occupied by the Peachtree Hills Apartments on Peachtree Hills Avenue between the Marta Lindbergh Station and Peachtree Road.
The Cobb County project near Hood and Roswell roads is being developed under the name Greystone and will allow 27 houses on 7.7 acres. The new zoning allows up to five homes per acre in areas where Cobb permits only two homes per acre. County commissioners created the special Residential Senior Living Zoning in January, basing their move on a section of law in the federal Fair Housing Act. Commissioners maintain that section allows discrimination by age under certain circumstances when providing housing for seniors.
Area construction sources and homebuilders just getting familiar with the new zoning tell GlobeSt.com developers participating in the zoning must be careful to provide ground-floor bedrooms, wide hallways and oversized bathrooms to accommodate wheelchairs.
Some area residents see a loophole in the new zoning which could allow developers to create denser and more profitable subdivisions, Cobb County shelter brokers tell GlobeSt.com. Other homeowners fear the new project will increase traffic congestion in the immediate development area. But the county commission as a whole says the project has met all of its requirements for creating a neighborhood for seniors.
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.