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In the wake of condemnation from many in the Canton Road community for cutting down a specimen tree, owners of Cherokee Cattle Company will try to rezone property next to the restaurant for, in part, adding parking spaces for patrons.

The rezoning request will be heard by the Cobb County Planning Commission March, 2, 9 a.m. at 100 Cherokee St. on Marietta Square.

While a large oak tree cut by owners of Steak, LLC was a legal action, it has left some in the Canton Road community taking extra precautions in dealing with a zoning involving that company next to Cherokee Cattle Company (background).

Attorney Garvis Sams, who represents the Steak, LLC owners, is requesting the current residential zoning on the one-acre site to be changed to Neighborhood Retail Commercial (NRC) to allow for an additional 39 parking spaces and use of the existing house on the site to be utilized, possibly, as office space. In a Feb. 24, 2010, letter to John Pederson, an AICP III Planner in the Cobb County Zoning Department, Sams agrees to a number of stipulations, including buffers on both sides of the property that are visible to residential properties, a drainage plan that avoids residential property and other stipulations.

While local residents have expressed their outrage for Steak, LLC cutting down an estimated 65-70 year old oak tree on the property the day after it was purchased, the cutting was legal in Cobb County since it was located on residential property. Because of that, little ground can be gained by opponents of the rezoning plan by focusing on the tree's demise. However, those involved with negotiations in the zoning still have what happened to the tree and other issues with Steak, LLC on their minds.

In an email sent to the Cobb County Planning Commissioners by a group of residents in the Marietta-Canton Road Subdivision, which is located next to the rezoning site, the tree indirectly plays a part in handling of the property. The group mentions "with history as a backdrop, we do not have much faith in applicants on this application. We want to make sure every precaution is taken that we, as a neighborhood, are limited to potential code violations and having to deal with those potential violations."

Also, a letter sent by the community group Canton Road Neighbors mentions "the applicant has a history on the corridor of disregarding the code of Cobb County and failing to abide by agreed stipulations." That group is also requesting a pocket park be included with the rezoning.

Some residents on Chesterfield Drive (pictured) and Jewell Drive in Marietta-Canton Road Subdivision are concerned about what impact the extension of Cherokee Cattle's parking lot could have on them.

Sams has been in talks with community members in an effort to come to agreement on as many issues as possible before going before the Planning Commission. According to one person involved in negotiations with the property, agreement has been reached on the storm water system to be built on the site, and the building of buffers on the eastern and southern portions of the property. However, the depth of the buffers is still in question and some involved still want assurances on how the house on the property will be used. Also, the number of new parking to be allowed has been questioned, and members of the Marietta-Canton Road Subdivision are working with Sams to assure any changes to the home or redevelopment of it must be approved by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners.

The entrance to Cherokee Cattle Company is scheduled to be moved to line up with Dozier Drive, which sits directly across (west) from the property being considered for rezoning. Construction of a median along that portion of Canton Road is scheduled to begin sometime in March 2010, and a median break is planned at the entrance to the restaurant and Dozier. Sams said Steak, LLC bought the residential property with a goal of expanding its parking lot and there is no plans to tear down the house on the site in the near future.

The Planning Commission could hold the application for a month to consider the complexities of the rezoning or could make a recommendation to the Cobb County Board of Commissioners on whether to approve the rezoning or deny it.

If a recommendation is made, the Board of Commissioners will hear the case March 16.