Westmont builder seeks to drop left-turn lane, citing a dozen utility poles

Westmont Preserve’s builder wants to drop a required left-turn lane on Austell Powder Springs Road and limit the Tracks Street connection to right turns in and out. Meritage Homes of Georgia’s request covers approximately 37.21 acres, including 4420 Austell Powder Springs Road in Powder Springs, Georgia.⁠[1][2][3]

The obstacle, according to Meritage’s application dated October 27: approximately 12 utility poles would have to move to accommodate the lane. The builder says it sought permission from affected landowners but none consented, and describes removing the lane requirement as its “last resort.”⁠[1]

The revised entrance drawing shows a right-in/right-out island and a no-left-turn sign at Tracks Street. That would prevent left turns into the neighborhood at that connection, rather than provide the separate left-turn lane Meritage now seeks to eliminate.⁠[1][2]

There is a distinction between the county’s reported agreement and documented final approval. In a September 2 email to the city, Ridge Planning and Engineering’s Jeff Smith said Cobb County had agreed to waive the left-turn-lane requirement. But he also said the revised plans would be submitted to the county for approval. The supplied correspondence does not establish that final county approval was issued.⁠[4]

The application keeps the existing PUD-R zoning designation and lists a single-family residential community as both the existing and proposed use. Meritage describes the development as “significantly completed” and says deleting the lane condition would allow it to proceed toward completion.⁠[1]

The Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to consider PZ 26-044 at its November 12 work session, beginning at 7 p.m. in the City Hall Gallery, 4483 Pineview Drive. This remains a request, not an approved access change: the city’s file lists its status as “Work Session Ready.”⁠[3][5]