Located in northeast Cobb County, the JOSH study area is mostly an affluent and prideful community of single-family residential subdivisions with associated neighborhood commercial uses and institutional services, such as schools and churches. The great quality-of-life and excellent schools attracts families to the area. In addition, established family ties, the climate, and Cobb’s excellent senior services, all contribute to empty nesters choosing to remain and/or move into the JOSH area and the County. As growth continues in the JOSH community, this document will establish a collaborative community vision that reflects the ideas and desires of the area residents and property owners. This plan will help to keep stability, provide community expectations and improve the overall quality-of-life for the community.

View the approved JOSH Small Area Plan Document.

View the JOSH Small Area Plan Story Map.

The primary objective is to inform the revitalization of the midcentury Milford Church/Osborne neighborhoods.

The ULI Center for Leadership - 2017 mTAP team has developed a set of recommended action items intended to encourage redevelopment within the Milford Church/Osborne neighborhood of Cobb County, including the revitalization of the area's commercial corridors and residential neighborhoods by:

1. Reevaluating the current land use/zoning to identify strategic development nodes at key intersections that maximize existing infrastructure and encourage diversified non-residential uses along the corridor.
2. Co-locating services at strategic nodes to attract needed services
3. Improving access through future trail connections and street improvements

These recommendations also consider affordable housing, residential and commercial blight, and non conforming land uses.

View the Presentation

The Powers Ferry Master Plan area is located south central Cobb County. In March of 2010, the Board of Commissioners adopted the plan document. This initiative was created, designed and developed through technical review of data and with the community in mind, with a specific focus on improving the area’s quality of life. It includes recommended land use, transportation, economic development, open space and natural environment, and community appearance action items to make the area more accessible and more appealing for businesses, employees and residents. Cobb County staff is proactive in advancing the plan’s vision by way of review and updating the corridor trends and changes. This document serves as a five year update to the original plan study. 

View the Powers Ferry Master Plan.

View the 5-year update to the Powers Ferry Master Plan, approved in 2015.

The Mableton Cobb County master plan will be activated and regulated by a proposed Regulating Plan and its associated SmartCode. A SmartCode is a type of land development ordinance that unifies zoning, subdivision regulations, urban design, and basic architectural standards into one compact document. Also referred to as a “form-based code,” the SmartCode will ensure that the master plan is activated by addressing the physical form of the building and development. The code advocates the development of mixed-use, walkable urban space and assigns specific areas to become compact neighborhood centers without changing the character of the area’s more relaxed residential fabric.

View the Mableton Form-Based Redevelopment Code (134-286)

View the Mableton Form-Based Code Transect Zone Info Sheet

View the adopted Mableton Form-Based Implementation Plan

View the Mableton Lifelong Community Study

The Austell Road Corridor Livable Centers Initiative Study is a multi-disciplinary planning study carried out by Cobb County with partial funding from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC). Its purpose is to develop an implementable plan that will serve as a blueprint for addressing transportation, land use, economic development and community design issues in a holistic way. The vision motivating this effort is to revive the spirit and strength of this street and the neighborhoods, businesses and activity centers that it links together. The study supports the implementation of the Cobb County Comprehensive Plan by seeking to:

• Engage all stakeholders in the planning process and encourage partnerships between the public and private sectors in both planning and implementation.
• Link land use and transportation to improve mobility and economic efficiency in the corridor.
• Identify multi-modal transportation enhancements to balance the transportation system.
• Arrest economic decline and encourage redevelopment of vacant and underutilized commercial centers.
• Encourage appropriate infill opportunities.
• Increase the diversity of housing and support housing choices for current and future residents.
• Improve land use balance and transportation system efficiency in the corridor by creating vibrant, mixed-use development.
• Establish a sense of place that will instill neighborhood pride and ownership in the corridor.

Download the Austell Road Livable Centers Initiative Study Original Document.

Download the Austell Road Livable Centers Initiative Study 5-Year Update Document.

Download the Austell Road Livable Centers Initiative Study 5-Year Update Amendment.

The Northwest Land Vulnerability Study is a collaborative effort involving various departments within Cobb County as well as the community. The goal of this report is to examine, identify, and modify incompatible land uses with respect to existing and changing conditions that could influence this area over the next 10 to 20 years. These influencing forces include incompatible land uses, commuter traffic, new and improved transportation facilities, commercial and residential developments, and environmental factors related to stormwater runoff and Lake Allatoona. This study is intended to create a community driven goal that will guide growth in an environmentally sensitive manner.

Download the Northwest Land Vulnerability Study Document.

In March 2011, the Board of Commissioners requested the Cobb County Community Development Agency, Planning Division to undertake a master planning process for Vinings. This planning project began with efforts of the Vinings community which had expressed interest in creating long range strategies for Vinings. While many studies have been done on areas surrounding and adjoining Vinings (particularly in and for the Cumberland Community Improvement District), none of have focused solely on the issues related to the core of Vinings and the residents and businesses that reside there. These issues are wide-ranging that include land use, transportation, historic preservation, natural resources and maintaining a sense of place. Vinings is unique in that it has a historic core that has developed into a high-end, low density residential community that is now surrounded by more intense and higher density uses. These land use issues, along with Vinings’ prime location, has led to other challenges with traffic being the most dominant. The goal of the Vinings Vision Plan is to ascertain the most prevalent issues through public input, data analysis, field visits and existing conditions analysis, determine an overall vision through a concept plan and provide recommendations how to accomplish the vision, both in the short-term and the long-term.

Download the Vinings Vision Plan Document.

The South Cobb Implementation Strategy (SCIS) is a comprehensive document serving as a policy guide and communication tool for the improvement of South Cobb’s physical and economic conditions. This strategy contains policies and action-items spurring revitalization of the greater South Cobb area. The original implementation strategy was adopted by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners in January 2012. The Community Development Agency’s Planning Division is designated as the primary point of contact for the SCIS efforts.

View the original South Cobb Implementation Strategy.

View the original Appendix South Cobb Implementation Strategy.

Download the South Cobb Implementation Strategy 5-Year Update, updated in 2017.