Months after the Cobb Board of Commissioners terminated a land swap agreement with a developer, which created the potential for new condos to be built in the accident potential zone of Dobbins Air Reserve Base, commissioners reversed course and approved the swap.
The 5-0 vote at their last meeting means the county will swap land it owns off Terrell Mill Road with property owned by Venture Properties on Leland Drive. Both properties are just under five acres.
The Dobbins accident potential zone extends outward from Dobbins’ runway and encompasses the area where crashes are most likely to occur as planes take off and land. Department of Defense guidelines indicate that residential development should not be built in the area.
However, industrial uses are permitted in the zone, and the Cobb Department of Transportation plans to build a satellite facility at the Leland Drive property acquired in the swap. That facility is projected to cost just over $3 million, according Cobb DOT.
In a highly controversial May 2021 party line vote, the commission voted to allow Venture’s rezoning request for 38 condos on the Leland Drive property, which is in the base’s accident zone.