A 167-child daycare is coming to the corner of Stilesboro Road and Dennis Kemp Lane after the Cobb County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 on Tuesday, Aug. 18, to approve Creative World Schools' zoning application, overriding the county's own zoning staff recommendation for denial and a petition with more than 450 signatures from nearby residents.

The vote split along party lines. East Cobb's District 3 Commissioner JoAnn Birrell, who voted no, said the outcome shows the board no longer defers to the commissioner who represents the affected area.

"The days of the district commissioner knowing their district and knowing what's appropriate or what isn't are gone," Birrell told the Marietta Daily Journal after the meeting. "Zoning has become political and it shouldn't have."

Chairwoman Lisa Cupid and Commissioners Monique Sheffield and Erick Allen, all Democrats, voted yes. Commissioner Keli Gambrill, the Republican who represents the west Cobb district where the site sits, joined Birrell in opposition.

The approved facility, a franchise of the national Creative World Schools chain, would serve children from infants through pre-K on a wooded parcel at the northeast corner of the intersection. The site was zoned office/institutional in 1995; a health care center approved there in 1998 was never built.

Zoning Division Manager John Pederson had recommended denial, telling commissioners at a July 22 hearing that the intersection gets "highly congested" at peak hours and that adding a daycare would make conditions worse. He also expressed doubt that a traffic signal could help, saying cars could back up at a red light.

Five residents spoke against the project Tuesday. Walter Loomis, who lives near the site, told commissioners the daycare "is just not a good fit" for the neighborhood, noting five other daycare facilities already operate within a half mile. Loomis and neighbor Brad McCahill presented a petition they created that has gathered more than 450 signatures.

Creative World said it would stagger class start and end times to reduce traffic and require parents to go inside the building for pickup and drop-off, eliminating car lines. The company also offered to install a traffic signal at the unprotected intersection.

Gambrill argued the signal would not solve congestion and criticized the applicant for failing to propose additional traffic solutions in updated site plans. She said approving the project "promotes an area that was not originally intended to be developed, nor has plans to or funding for infrastructure improvements as irresponsible governance."

Cupid countered with an 11-minute speech in favor of approval, saying she had "not once" encountered traffic when taking her own children to daycare. She read aloud a parent's email supporting the project and said it "holds weight," contradicting Gambrill's claim that no one had contacted the commission in support.

The approval came after several rounds of motions. Commissioners had voted 4-1 on July 22 to hold the application for 30 days so staff could work with the applicant on stipulations. Gambrill suggested limiting enrollment to 75 children at that hearing, but Creative World declined.

No construction timeline or appeal deadline has been announced. The facility would be Creative World's second location in Cobb County, joining an existing site in Vinings. Residents can contact the Board of Commissioners through the county's website for updates on the project's next steps.