The area of study for the Vinings Vision Plan. Please click on the image to go to the full size version on the Cobb County website.

In March 2011, the Cobb County Board of Commissioners directed the Community Development Planning Division to create a master plan for Vinings.

The Vinings Vision Plan will look to address a variety of uses including land use, transportation and community character & improvement. The goal of the process will be to provide a plan with recommendations and implementation items that the county and community can support.

On September 20, 2011, there was a community meeting held (the second of three), where almost 100 people attended. Here are the notes from the meeting for the Vinings Vision Plan.

Vinings residents pore over a map of their community at the second meeting of the Vinings Vision Plan. Credit Hunt Archbold.

The Smyrna Patch did a great job covering the meeting….here’s an excerpt from their site.  Click here to see the entire story on the Vinings Vision Plan from the Smyrna Patch.

“One of the things I could tell you is don’t worry right now as to what the boundary of the Vinings Village is or any of that,’’ said Cobb Commissioner Bob Ott. “That’s not the purpose of this whole study. This study and master plan that we’re going to come up with is for the whole Vinings area. Some of it’s the village, some of it’s the transition areas, some of it’s on Atlanta Road.”

What was discussed at the first Vinings Vision Meeting held last spring could be a listing of the community’s positive attributes including its location and accessibility, library, low-density residential areas, natural environment, sense of community, historic significance and walkability. He also discussed its negative attributes like traffic congestion, flow and speed, lack of parks and community center and lack of consistent sidewalks and crosswalks.

These attributes were categorized into common themes: transportation, history and community, land use, and community identity.

Some of the common concerns raised in these small groups included a proposal for a green space or park on Settlement Road and traffic congestion at the Paces Ferry Road/Paces Mill Road intersection.

There are planned modifications for the interchange as the project is in the FY2008-2013 Transportation Improvement Plan and is a component of the Cobb County 2005 1-percent Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) program.

The modifications include replacing the existing sub-standard bridges, relocation and reconfiguring existing I-285 ramps, and adding additional lanes at the interchange.

“Right now we’re going through environmental studies,’’ Ott told Patch back in May. “I think we’re looking at construction in 2013 or 2014. We’re going with a state-design. The state said they’d pay for it, so it’s kind of a no-brainer, although we do have some monetary obligations. But we’re going through the process because we’re using state dollars.

“They call it an expanded diamond design that’s real similar to what’s there now. Instead of the on-off ramps being cloverleaf, they’re just kind of diagonal off from the interstate. The bridgework contemplates future expansion of 285, which is why you have to do the expanded diamond. It’s a tight spot and the road’s not designed to handle people coming on and off 285. Hopefully the design will help alleviate some of that.’’

It is estimated that about 65 trains travel through Vinings a day. When Plant McDonough makes the transition to natural gas in 2012, about 25 of the trains that would normally carry coal to the plant will no longer be needed.

While the second meeting was the “dream meeting,” Cobb officials plan to discuss how to put the proposed ideas into affect at a third meeting that is being scheduled for November.

One group that hopes to affect these changes in the community is the newly formed Vinings Community Conservation Alliance.