Indoor pickleball planned at old Walmart on Roswell Road

Indoor pickleball courts and a restaurant could fill the former Walmart Neighborhood Market building at Roswell Road and Old Canton Road. Cobb County zoning staff recommend allowing it.

The request, case Z-45-2026, comes from X3 Family Entertainment LLC. It covers the Olde Mill Commons shopping center at 3101 Roswell Road, on the northwest corner of the intersection. The case was on the consent agenda for the Cobb County Planning Commission’s zoning hearing at 9 a.m. Tuesday. The commission’s recommendation had not been posted when this story was published.

The details are in the Planning Commission agenda and case packet for Oct. 6.

What is planned

The applicant wants to use the former grocery space for “a commercial indoor recreation facility plus eating & drinking establishment,” the staff report said. A restaurant is already allowed there. The pickleball courts are not.

Cobb’s code treats pickleball courts as commercial indoor recreation. Under the center’s current Neighborhood Retail Commercial (NRC) zoning, that use needs a special exception, and staff said the property does not meet the conditions for one. So the applicant asked to rezone the site to Community Retail Commercial (CRC), a broader district.

Staff proposed a narrower route. The site would stay NRC, and commercial indoor recreation would be added as a permitted use for this property. The county calls this a “deletion” to NRC.

The staff report also noted that “a stop work order is currently in effect on this property.” It did not say what work was stopped.

The shopping center in numbers

The site plan in the packet gives these figures:

The center sits on 13.19 acres. It has 440 parking spaces, against 419 required. The applicant does not plan to enlarge the building, staff said.

Why staff support it

Staff said pickleball would bring about as much traffic and noise as a gym. The center already has a fitness center, which was part of the original zoning case.

The report said the use “would be less intensive than the previous Walmart Marketplace use.” The Cobb County School District said the change would have no effect on enrollment. The fire marshal’s office found the plan acceptable, pending a full review of building plans.

Two more East Cobb cases on the agenda

Sandy Plains Road strip center (Z-35-2026). EMDG Sandy Plains LLC asked to rezone its 18,516-square-foot center at 4651 Sandy Plains Road, on the northwest corner at Daniel Road. It would move from Neighborhood Shopping (NS) to NRC on 1.78 acres. The issue arose when a dance studio wanted more than the 6,000 square feet the NS district allows a retail tenant, staff said. The county has not accepted new rezonings to NS since 1991. Staff recommend approval, with these conditions among others:

• no automotive uses
• no outdoor storage or outdoor display of merchandise
• the site plan received Aug. 6, with minor changes approved by the district commissioner

Johnson Ferry Road at Lassiter Road (Z-43-2026). IK Holdings LLC’s request for a convenience store with fuel sales at 2898 Johnson Ferry Road was not heard Tuesday. Staff continued it to the Planning Commission’s Nov. 3 hearing.

All three sites are in Commission District 3, represented by Commissioner JoAnn Birrell.

What it means for you

• The Planning Commission only recommends. The Cobb County Board of Commissioners makes the final decision at an advertised public hearing, the staff report said.
• The board’s next zoning hearing is 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20. Its preliminary agenda for Oct. 20 does not yet list the rezoning cases. Check the final agenda before you go.
• Hearings are held at 100 Cherokee St. in Marietta. Our building permits and zoning page explains how to speak at a hearing and how to reach the zoning office.
• To ask about any case, call your commissioner. Numbers are on our who to call page.

We will report the commission’s recommendations and the board’s decisions.