North Point Ministries' East Cobb Megachurch, Mixed-Use Development Gets Go-Ahead

EAST COBB, GA — Ten months after North Point Ministries first submitted a rezoning request to build a megachurch and mixed-use development in East Cobb, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners finally approved the request Tuesday.

The board approved the rezoning in a 3-1 vote, with Cobb commissioners Jerica Richardson, Monique Sheffield and JoAnn Birrell voting to approve. Commissioner Keli Gambrill voted against the measure, and BOC Chair Lisa Cupid recused herself from the case, citing her affiliation with a North Point church in Atlanta.

The 33-acre development — located at the southwest corner of Shallowford and Johnson Ferry roads — will include a 125,000-square-foot church, 51 single-family detached homes and 44 townhomes, as well as retail space. North Point Ministries is keeping about 10 acres of the land and selling the rest to Atlanta-based Ashwood Development Company to build the residential and commercial portions.

The site plan approved Tuesday, which is in its 22nd iteration since it was first presented 10 months ago, restored access to Waterfront Drive from Johnson Ferry Road, as requested by the Cobb County Department of Transportation. Richardson also included provisions to limit density to five units per acre, and said revisions to the church plans and retail portion could be brought back to commissioners in the future.

Gambrill voted against the measure, questioning why residential revisions couldn't also be brought back since those have been among the most-controversial portions of the rezoning case since it was first submitted.

Roughly 150 residents attended the hearing for this rezoning request, both in person and virtually, with 95 opposed and 54 in support.

Ruth Michels, an opponent of the proposal and part of the community advisory group that was included in site plan review, chastised North Point Ministries for submitting its latest site plan as late as last week, and questioned if similar rezoning requests would be considered if the applicants were not a church.

"Frankly, I'm at a loss for words," she said.

Others were happy about the rezoning approval, including Jamey Dickens, pastor of North Point's East Cobb Church — which will be housed in the new megachurch, once it's built. East Cobb Church has been holding services at Eastside Baptist Church since its inception in 2019.

"It feels so relieving," Dickens said to the Marietta Daily Journal. "I know obviously the opponents, they're disappointed, but I think everyone's glad. I mean, this process has just been so long. It's just dragged on and on, but we're very, very, very grateful."

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• Megachurch Proposal Sent Back To Drawing Board By Cobb Planners
• Megachurch Seeks Zoning To Build Near Johnson Ferry, Shallowford