A proposed 145-child daycare center at Stilesboro Road and Dennis Kemp Lane in west Cobb faces a 30-day delay after the Cobb County Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 on Wednesday, July 22, to hold the application.

Creative World Schools Franchising wants to open its second Georgia location on a wooded parcel at the northeast corner of the intersection. County zoning staff recommended denial, citing traffic safety. Zoning Division Manager John Pederson told commissioners the intersection already gets "highly congested" at certain times of day and said he was not confident a traffic light would help.

"I feel like a lower intensity use would help with traffic flow and prevent traffic accidents at the intersection," Pederson said.

District 1 Commissioner Keli Gambrill, who represents the area, recommended denial and called the daycare "too intense of a challenge." She suggested Creative World limit enrollment to 75 students. The franchise declined.

Gambrill then proposed the 30-day hold so the county and applicant could negotiate stipulations before an August vote. Commissioners JoAnn Birrell and Erick Allen joined Gambrill and Commissioner Monique Sheffield in approving the delay.

Chairwoman Lisa Cupid cast the lone vote against the hold. She argued the application was being judged for the wrong reasons, noting that nearby neighbors expressed more concern about noise than traffic. Cupid said Creative World had already tried to address Gambrill's concerns before the July 22 hearing and called the delay pointless.

Allen, who represents the Vinings area where Creative World's existing school operates at 1975 Cumberland Parkway, said he has not seen a traffic increase from that location, despite similar concerns when it was first approved.

Franchise representative Bob Slaughter told commissioners the school would serve infants through pre-K with staggered class times and require parents to walk inside for pickup and drop-off, eliminating curbside lines. Creative World also conducted its own traffic study before the hearing. Slaughter said the study concluded the school would "not be an issue." The company offered to help fund a traffic signal at the intersection.

The site was zoned office/institutional in 1995, according to county documents, and a Promina Health Care Center was approved there in 1998 but never built. A stipulation from the 1995 zoning requires the Board of Commissioners to give final approval for any building's use and design on the property.

The application returns to the board at its August zoning hearing.