“Smyrna is in very good shape,” Mayor Max Bacon told an overflow crowd at his State of the City address in July.
“So many good things are happening in this community with the help of citizens who really care,” he said.
More than 200 people packed the room of the Smyrna Community Center at a joint meeting of the Smyrna Division of the Cobb Chamber and The Smyrna Business Association July 9.
In his presentation, punctuated with joking asides and humorous comments, Bacon noted numerous achievements, successes and opportunities for growth in the city.
Google Fiber, The Braves, new housing and retail developments, a new recycling center, as well as the Smyrna Vision Plan are all on the list of items that are helping the community grow, the mayor noted.
Smyrna is home to 54,490 residents with a projected population of 58,000 in the 2020 census, Bacon’s presentation noted. That could likely set Smyrna apart as the largest city in Cobb County in five years.
Smyrna’s housing units grew by 30 percent in past five years from 19,633 to 25,273 in 2015. More than half of those are valued at $150,000 or higher with a median price at $215,519, an increase of 75 percent since 2000 (Atlanta is $168,100).
With a $75 million budget for the coming year, Smyrna’s tax millage is staying at 8.99; the seventh year property tax rate has been flat even during economic downturn.
In his presentation Bacon noted some of the growth factors:
- Smyrna Police Department purchased 75 body camera at a cost of $68,140.
- Over the past four years, Food Truck Tuesday has seen 1200 attending each week over the 5 months. “Other cities have copied and followed us,” he said.
- Smyrna Grove at South Cobb and Windy Hill, bought by the city and sold to a developer, will be the location for 194 single family homes,
- Belmont Hills is finally under construction. The 48 acre project by Halpern will have 272 apartments, 154 homes and 47,953 square feet of retail with shops and restaurants.
- Jonquil Plaza is in the planning stages. Halpern submitted plans for the 12 acres and should be considered by the Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council this month.
- Concord Road is substantially complete as of June. A landscaped median and multi-use trail in the project came from the 2011 SPLOST.
- A new recycling center opened in April that has improved access and ease of use,
- SunTrust Park, the new home for the Atlanta Braves in 2017, adjoins Smyrna. Significant transportation improvements will be constructed in the immediate area of the stadium complex.
- Old Ivy Village with several stores and restaurants such as Uncle Maddio’s and Krispy Kreme, saw its anchor tenant, upscale grocer Sprouts, open in June.
- The Macland Road connector has increased traffic on Windy Hill by 25 percent. The Windy Hill redevelopment at Atlanta Road will have two through lanes with one way lane in each direction and two plaza bridges over the through lanes. Construction is four years away with three to four years for completion.
- An automated traffic management system will tie together all traffic signals in the city through the fiber optic network. It will be motored at public works and is expected to be complete by the end of the year.
From the August 2015 issue of The Bright Side, Cobb County Georgia’s Newspaper covering Smyrna, Vinings, Mableton, Powder Springs and Austell, GA.
