Letter to the Editor: Citizen group hopeful for South Cobb Drive
The Smyrna South Cobb Drive Coalition attempts to engage private citizens and business owners along South Cobb Drive to improve the corridor through community pressure and code enforcement.
Smyrna South Cobb Drive Coalition is hopeful that the South Cobb Drive Kroger will generate interest in the area.
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The new Kroger has brought out interest in the Smyrna South Cobb Drive area by many other business groups along with property owners up South Cobb Drive. I have talked with business owners on South Cobb Drive and they still are talking about the huge crowd that came out for the grand opening of the new Kroger. I talked to Tri Land Properties, the owners of the Kroger complex, which is very interested in the Smyrna South Cobb Drive Coalition. The leasing agent at Tri Land properties will keep our group informed of any new tenants at the Kroger complex.
People came out to the grand opening of Kroger as if it was a new Disneyland opening on South Cobb Drive, not a grocery store. I know the citizens of Smyrna have grand hopes for the area of South Cobb Drive. The growth does not stop here but will continue on South Cobb Drive. The Kroger is just the beginning of the new look for South Cobb Drive. All of us at Smyrna South Cobb Drive Coalition will be there to help in any way to see that new things happen on South Cobb Drive. Our thanks goes out to the city of Smyrna staff plus the mayor and city council for getting Kroger here. We have some heavy hitters of Smyrna and Cobb County who have great interest in what happens on South Cobb Drive. They also want to help our small grassroots group grow and succeed in its efforts to see Smyrna South Cobb Drive prosper.
-Gary Chapman, founder of the Smyrna South Cobb Drive Coalition
For more information about the Smyrna South Cobb Drive Coalition, send an email to sscdc30080@yahoo.com.
Neal Dow
10:01 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
I think that because of the bad economy and opening of Kroger that S. Cobb Dr. area will have to take several steps backwards before it can take steps forward. Businesses are closing almost on a daily basis. They're closing faster than businesses can open. Unfortunately that dead zone is becoming more dead.
Becky Minter
10:23 am on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Yes, I agree, but it's not just the bad economy, it's the condition of the buildings and and the massive loitering up and down South Cobb Drive along with pedestrians darting across the four lane road, ignoring the intersection crosswalks. My intent in the next couple of weeks is to back my statements with photos which I will title "the demise of Cobb County."....beginning with the South Cobb Drive corridor as well as Windy Hill Road from the Austell Road intersection to the Atlanta Road intersection. I have owned a business on South Cobb Drive for 32 years and have struggled with the surroundings. My building is kept freshly painted, roofed and the lawn is manicured and is certainly a standout compared to how other buildings are kept in the area. The location on WIndy Hill is surrounded with For Rent / Sale signs and the buildings are in terrible condition, not to mention the fact that under-cover agents from law enforcement are on constant patrol in the area due to the drug epidemic in Smyrna / Cobb County. It is every day that a customer enters my Windy Hill store and asks me how we can stay in such a dangerous area. There is a lot of work to be done folks, and it needs to start what our town not continuing to overlook
some of these conditions that continue to degrade the town. P.S. My husband and I are Smyrna natives, Campbell and Wills High Graduates, respectively, and have witnessed the down-graded conditions in "our town"....
Becky Minter, Awards Specialist
K. Davis
3:40 pm on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
I would suggest that you approach the mayor and city council about the declining conditions in your area but my observations prove that to be an exercise in futility.
Call it like I see it
3:59 pm on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
K. Davis, its always the same with you...all negative complaints and no facts or solutions.
Smyrna City officials just last year created the North Smyrna Opportunity Zone which includes pretty much all of the property along South Cobb Drive in Smyrna in an effort to do what they can legally to improve the area see this link for more:
http://www.smyrnacity.com/index.aspx?page=23&recordid=178&returnURL=%2findex.aspx
Here is the DCA map showing the opportunity zone in Smyrna:
http://www.dca.state.ga.us/economic/DevelopmentTools/programs/downloads/SmyrnaOZ.pdf
Smyrna has also contracted several improvements projects for the area including this one:
http://www.smyrnacity.com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=1353
This designation means that any business within the Opportunity Zone which creates at least two new jobs on or after January 1, 2011, is eligible for a Job Tax Credit of $3,500.00 per job. The credit may be applied against Georgia income tax liability and state payroll withholding for five years, beginning with the tax year in which the new jobs were created.
“For new and expanding Smyrna businesses, this is an incentive for investing resources in the City of Smyrna. For property owners, the Opportunity Zone designation is a tool for recruiting new tenants to commercial spaces” said Mayor Max Bacon. The new Opportunity Zone focuses on the commercial and retail areas of North Smyrna that have especially struggled in the economic downturn.
Charlotte Wessels
12:26 pm on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
I moved to the South Cobb Drive area 4 1/2 years ago. I'm happy that the value of my townhome is becoming more valuable with the investment made by Krogers and Tri Land Properties, in addition to the new Primrose Day Care on Church Road. I see these new businesses as a much needed and welcomed enhancement to the South Cobb Drive area! I plan on using the new Kroger's as my exclusive grocery store.
K. Davis
4:27 pm on Tuesday, February 7, 2012
S.J.M. your comment should be directed at Ms. MInter. She's the business owner who has to keep her business operating in a declining area. We'll see how Opportunities, Zones, and Credits help her and other businesses.
Call it like I see it
9:03 am on Wednesday, February 8, 2012
KD: Ms. Minter has great points and is dead on, and she made them without bashing anyone. WE ARE SMYRNA, WE ALLOW THIS. The city government is not responsible for how businesses choose to to run their companies nor what type of residents move into Smyrna. If we all start calling these businesses, boycotting them and calling code enforcement to report trash and other issues, believe me...we'll see changes fast. One of the biggest problems we face on this corridor though is that it is a STATE road and the City has little if any control over the right of way which is a huge treeless eysore!!! If you want to see change start callign the State Transportation Board and tell them you want to see some street trees for starters:
http://www.dot.state.ga.us/aboutGeorgiadot/Board/Pages/default.aspx