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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Kennesaw City Council Meeting Summary - May 4, 2026

City Council — Monday, May 4, 2026

BodyKennesaw, Georgia

SessionCity Council

DateMonday, May 4, 2026

StatusFILED

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Transcript — Verbatim

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

3:36

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

3:39

Welcome to this our regularly scheduled council meeting for Monday for May twenty twenty six.

3:46

We're delighted that you're here.

3:47

If you would please stand for the invitation, followed by the pledge.

3:53

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day.

3:55

We thank you for the opportunity to serve our community and to be engaged and informed.

4:04

In Jesus' name, we pray.

4:05

Amen.

4:23

If you're going to speak tonight for any reason, if you would stand and be sworn in, please.

Speaker 2

4:30

Mayor, if anyone is planning to speak or make any kind of presentation before the council this evening, would you please raise your right hand?

4:36

Andrew, you're the only one, it looks like.

4:37

No, there's one behind.

4:38

I'm sorry, I didn't see you.

4:40

Hi, there we go.

4:41

Uh, there's another.

4:42

Okay.

4:43

Thank you.

4:44

Do you anyone else who may be speaking or will be speaking before the council tonight?

4:49

Do you swear or affirm that the testimony or presentation you'll be making before this council tonight will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

4:56

If so, say I do.

4:58

Thank you.

4:58

You are now sworn in.

4:59

You may be seated.

Speaker 1

5:00

All right, thank you.

5:01

All right.

5:02

Uh public comment.

5:03

This sections for comment on any item that's on the agenda.

5:07

Floor is open.

5:10

Hearing none and seeing none, the floor for public comment is closed.

5:19

Public hearings.

5:20

We have uh three of them that are on there.

5:22

The first two are related.

5:25

You can present them together, but we'll officially uh we'll take official action on them separately.

Unassigned speaker

5:31

The alpha is the rezoning request for 1,600 old 41 highway and zero old 41 highway.

Speaker 1

5:39

And B Bravo is the variance for those properties.

Speaker 3

5:42

Yes, Mayor, that's correct.

5:43

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

5:44

The first case, as Mayor highlighted on tonight's agenda is the rezoning request submitted by Walton Communities.

5:50

This item was tabled from the March agenda and has returned to the board for consideration of the applicant's request to withdraw the case.

5:58

Um the applicant had originally sought to rezone approximately 11.44 acres to RM 16 multifamily residential for the development of a new multifamily residential community.

6:10

Following a flood zone analysis, staff determined that roughly 4.3 acres of the property lie within the flood zone, leaving approximately 7.3 acres suitable for development.

6:20

In light of these findings, the applicant has requested to withdraw their application to in order to further evaluate the site and revise their plans.

6:28

Once the applicant finalizes an updated site plan, they would be required to restart the rezoning process, returning to the planning commission and mayor and council.

6:36

Staff recommends approval of the request to withdraw the application.

Speaker 1

6:40

Okay, and would you answer the question?

6:42

Is that with or without prejudice?

Speaker 3

6:44

It is without prejudice.

Speaker 1

6:46

Without prejudice, and then can come back.

6:47

Okay, very good.

6:48

All right.

6:49

Anything you want to say about uh B Bravo?

6:52

Because

Speaker 3

6:52

I'm gonna

Speaker 1

6:53

open the floor for a

Speaker 3

6:54

sure.

6:55

I'm as you've stated it's concurrent, and this is just a variance application.

6:59

The applicant had requested to reduce the minimum parking requirements from 1.75 spaces per unit to 1.5 spaces per unit.

7:06

As notated earlier, they're requesting a withdrawal because it runs together.

7:10

They're withdrawing this request as well.

Speaker 1

7:13

Okay, very well.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████69%

Fiscal Sustainability███████████17%

Engineering And Infrastructure████6%

Historic Preservation███4%

Arts And Culture███4%

Summary of Proceedings

Kennesaw City Council Meeting Summary - May 4, 2026

The Kennesaw City Council held its regular meeting on Monday, May 4, 2026, at 6:30 PM in the Council Chambers. The meeting included public hearings on properties on Old 41 Highway, approval of a capital improvement work program, the consent agenda, and the Fiscal Year 2025 audit report.

Consent Calendar

The Council approved minutes from the April 13 Work Session, April 20 Regular Meeting, and April 20 Executive Session.
A Resolution was approved for professional services for the Hiram Butler House Rehabilitation Project.
Final plat applications were approved for 0 Maple Drive (subdividing 1.78 acres for three single-family homes) and for 2615 & 2681 South Main Street.
A Central Business District (CBD) project application was approved for the construction of a parking lot at 2250 Lewis Street. Councilmember Madelyn Orochena requested that during the design phase, staff preserve the existing tree canopy shading the sidewalk, or replace any removed trees in the same location.
Two cemetery deeds were authorized, one for Matthew A. Schwarzman and one for Brenda Hackney and Jennifer Pickert.

Public Comments & Testimony

Public Hearings: No comments were made by the public during the public hearings for the rezoning, variance, or CIE/STWP items.
General Public Comment: Andrew Bramlett, a city resident, presented a historical overview of the founding of Kennesaw Junior College (now Kennesaw State University) in the 1960s.

Discussion Items

Withdrawal of Rezoning and Variance (1600 & 0 Old 41 Hwy): Planning Director Chanelle Campbell explained that Walton Communities, LLC had submitted requests to withdraw their rezoning and variance applications without prejudice. The rezoning would have changed the 11.44-acre site to RM-16 for a multifamily community, but a flood zone analysis determined that 4.3 acres fell within a flood zone. The applicant needed to revise the site plan. Both withdrawals were approved unanimously.
2026-2030 Capital Improvement Short Term Work Program (CIE/STWP): The Council approved a resolution to transmit updates to the ARC and DCA, fulfilling annual state requirements for cities that collect development impact fees.
Fiscal Year 2025 Audit Report: Will Derzis of Mauldin and Jenkins, LLC presented the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The city received an unmodified (clean) audit opinion and the GFOA Certificate of Achievement. The report showed approximately $242 million in total assets and $32 million in liabilities.
Senior Property Tax Exemption: Mayor Pro Tem Antonio Jones asked about the cost of the senior exemption. City Manager Jeff Drobney stated it cost the city $1.8 million in FY 2025-2026 and is expected to cost $2 million or more in FY 2026-2027. Finance Director Jennifer Gordy will provide specific data during upcoming budget meetings.
City Manager's Report: Jeff Drobney thanked staff for a successful concert on May 2nd and praised Finance Director Jennifer Gordy and her team for a clean audit.

Key Outcomes

Votes: All votes taken during the open session were unanimous (5-0). This included the withdrawal of zoning cases, the CIE/STWP resolution, the consent agenda, and the FY2025 audit acceptance.
Executive Session: The Council voted to enter executive session at 6:54 PM for legal discussions. The meeting reconvened at 7:10 PM, where the actions taken in closed session were unanimously ratified.
Next Steps: The applicant for the Old 41 Hwy project must restart the rezoning process with a revised plan. The CIE/STWP will be presented for final adoption following DCA review. The next Council Work Session was scheduled for May 11, 2026, at 6:30 PM.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to this our regularly scheduled council meeting for Monday for May twenty twenty six. We're delighted that you're here. If you would please stand for the invitation, followed by the pledge. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the opportunity to serve our community and to be engaged and informed. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. If you're going to speak tonight for any reason, if you would stand and be sworn in, please. Mayor, if anyone is planning to speak or make any kind of presentation before the council this evening, would you please raise your right hand? Andrew, you're the only one, it looks like. No, there's one behind. I'm sorry, I didn't see you. Hi, there we go. Uh, there's another. Okay. Thank you. Do you anyone else who may be speaking or will be speaking before the council tonight? Do you swear or affirm that the testimony or presentation you'll be making before this council tonight will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If so, say I do. Thank you. You are now sworn in. You may be seated. All right, thank you. All right. Uh public comment. This sections for comment on any item that's on the agenda. Floor is open. Hearing none and seeing none, the floor for public comment is closed. Public hearings. We have uh three of them that are on there. The first two are related. You can present them together, but we'll officially uh we'll take official action on them separately. The alpha is the rezoning request for 1,600 old 41 highway and zero old 41 highway. And B Bravo is the variance for those properties. Yes, Mayor, that's correct. Good evening, Mayor and Council. The first case, as Mayor highlighted on tonight's agenda is the rezoning request submitted by Walton Communities. This item was tabled from the March agenda and has returned to the board for consideration of the applicant's request to withdraw the case. Um the applicant had originally sought to rezone approximately 11.44 acres to RM 16 multifamily residential for the development of a new multifamily residential community. Following a flood zone analysis, staff determined that roughly 4.3 acres of the property lie within the flood zone, leaving approximately 7.3 acres suitable for development. In light of these findings, the applicant has requested to withdraw their application to in order to further evaluate the site and revise their plans. Once the applicant finalizes an updated site plan, they would be required to restart the rezoning process, returning to the planning commission and mayor and council. Staff recommends approval of the request to withdraw the application. Okay, and would you answer the question? Is that with or without prejudice? It is without prejudice. Without prejudice, and then can come back. Okay, very good. All right.

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Kennesaw City Council Meeting Summary - May 4, 2026

Consent Calendar

The Council approved minutes from the April 13 Work Session, April 20 Regular Meeting, and April 20 Executive Session.

A Resolution was approved for professional services for the Hiram Butler House Rehabilitation Project.

Final plat applications were approved for 0 Maple Drive (subdividing 1.78 acres for three single-family homes) and for 2615 & 2681 South Main Street.

A Central Business District (CBD) project application was approved for the construction of a parking lot at 2250 Lewis Street. Councilmember Madelyn Orochena requested that during the design phase, staff preserve the existing tree canopy shading the sidewalk, or replace any removed trees in the same location.

Two cemetery deeds were authorized, one for Matthew A. Schwarzman and one for Brenda Hackney and Jennifer Pickert.

Public Comments & Testimony

Public Hearings: No comments were made by the public during the public hearings for the rezoning, variance, or CIE/STWP items.

General Public Comment: Andrew Bramlett, a city resident, presented a historical overview of the founding of Kennesaw Junior College (now Kennesaw State University) in the 1960s.

Discussion Items

Withdrawal of Rezoning and Variance (1600 & 0 Old 41 Hwy): Planning Director Chanelle Campbell explained that Walton Communities, LLC had submitted requests to withdraw their rezoning and variance applications without prejudice. The rezoning would have changed the 11.44-acre site to RM-16 for a multifamily community, but a flood zone analysis determined that 4.3 acres fell within a flood zone. The applicant needed to revise the site plan. Both withdrawals were approved unanimously.

2026-2030 Capital Improvement Short Term Work Program (CIE/STWP): The Council approved a resolution to transmit updates to the ARC and DCA, fulfilling annual state requirements for cities that collect development impact fees.

Fiscal Year 2025 Audit Report: Will Derzis of Mauldin and Jenkins, LLC presented the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The city received an unmodified (clean) audit opinion and the GFOA Certificate of Achievement. The report showed approximately $242 million in total assets and $32 million in liabilities.

Senior Property Tax Exemption: Mayor Pro Tem Antonio Jones asked about the cost of the senior exemption. City Manager Jeff Drobney stated it cost the city $1.8 million in FY 2025-2026 and is expected to cost $2 million or more in FY 2026-2027. Finance Director Jennifer Gordy will provide specific data during upcoming budget meetings.

City Manager's Report: Jeff Drobney thanked staff for a successful concert on May 2nd and praised Finance Director Jennifer Gordy and her team for a clean audit.

Key Outcomes

Votes: All votes taken during the open session were unanimous (5-0). This included the withdrawal of zoning cases, the CIE/STWP resolution, the consent agenda, and the FY2025 audit acceptance.

Executive Session: The Council voted to enter executive session at 6:54 PM for legal discussions. The meeting reconvened at 7:10 PM, where the actions taken in closed session were unanimously ratified.

Next Steps: The applicant for the Old 41 Hwy project must restart the rezoning process with a revised plan. The CIE/STWP will be presented for final adoption following DCA review. The next Council Work Session was scheduled for May 11, 2026, at 6:30 PM.

Meeting Transcript