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BARROW JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2008
BOC flips on buffer for complex
BY SUSAN NORMAN
The developers of a 51-acre
sports complex off Highway
211 in Barrow County got
a reprieve from the board
of commissioners Monday
night.
At a called meeting to
“clarify” a vote on the mat
ter the prior week, the board
voted instead to change the
outcome.
The matter before the board
Dec. 9 was a special use appli
cation by the developers of
Signature Park to allow base
ball and softball field lights
to be on, when needed for
tournament play, as late as
11:30 p.m.
After receiving planning
commission approval of their
request in November, the
developers asked the BOC
to allow them to forego the
requirement for a 10-foot buf
fer around the entire complex.
They wanted only to buffer
areas adjacent to two existing
homes.
The board, in a split vote
on a motion by District 3
Commissioner Bill Healan,
refused that additional request
that night.
However, the day after that
vote, there was some con
fusion about what had been
approved.
So BOC Chairman Doug
Garrison ordered a called
meeting for Monday night.
At the second meeting, the
board rescinded its Dec. 9 vote
and on a motion by District 6
Commissioner Ben Hendrix
gave the ballpark developers
what they had sought the prior
week, a requirement for buff
ering adjacent only to the two
existing homes.
Healan, obviously miffed
by the political bait-and-
switch, was the only one to
vote against the new motion.
District 1 Commissioner Jerry
Lampp stayed out of the fray
by abstaining since he had
been absent for the initial
vote.
Healan chastised his fellow
commissioners for not admit
ting upfront that they wanted a
second vote because they had
simply changed their minds
about the matter.
After the 4-1-1 vote, Healan
muttered, “That’s garbage,
Mr. Chairman.”
Garrison responded, “We’re
following procedure the best
we know how.”
SEWER
PROJECT BIDS
Sparks also flew moments
later on the only other mat
ter taken up during the called
meeting, a motion to issue
bids for a sewer line project at
the intersection of Hwy. 316
and Hwy. 53.
As soon as the motion was
put on the table, Healan made
a motion to table the mat
ter until the next meeting of
the board of commissioners
when four of the current board
members will be replaced.
The vote to table was evenly
split, with Lampp, District 2
Commissioner Bill Brown and
District 5 Commissioner Billy
Parks voting “no.” Garrison
cast the deciding vote to defeat
the motion.
When the motion to issue
the bids came up for a
vote, the board split again,
with Healan, District 4
Commissioner Isaiah Berry
and District 6 Commissioner
Ben Hendrix voting “no.” This
time, Garrison cast the decid
ing vote in favor of the motion
to issue sewer bids.
BOC green lights 264 apartment project
A Bethlehem
tradition...
MOST BUSY
TIME OF YEAR
Employees of the
Bethlehem Post Office
always know December is
going to be a hectic time.
Customers from Barrow
County and beyond like
to have their Christmas
cards postmarked by the
town’s post office due to
its name’s connection to
the holiday season.
Photos by
Jessica Brown
BY SUSAN NORMAN
Despite opposition from
both the county planning
board and school system,
the Barrow County Board of
Commissioners voted 4-1 to
approve a developer’s request
to drop 48 houses from his
project and instead build 264
apartments.
The project, Livingston
Place, is located on 60 acres
off Haymon Morris Road and
Tom Miller Road.
The master planned devel
opment had previously been
approved for a mix of com
mercial and residential,
including 98 townhouses and
49 homes.
Michael Carter told the
planning commission last
month he believes apart
ments will be easier to sell
during the current housing
downturn. The change affects
21 of the 60 acres in the
project.
Carter’s attorney, John
Stell, came to the BOC meet
ing Tuesday night armed
with information intended to
refute questions raised ear
lier by the planning com
mission concerning the pro
posed change in density and
its impact on local roads and
schools.
"Apartments are more com
pact,” he said. “They cause
less sprawl and they use
less greenspace. Households
earning $50,000 or more a
year are the fastest growing
segment of the market. And
households without school-
age children are more likely
to rent apartments.”
Stell said that single-family
homes typically have three
times the number of school-
age children that apartments
have and that the county
would get more taxes from
the multi-family use of those
21 acres than it would from
houses built at a density of
2.3 per acre.
In response to a question
from District 3 Commissioner
Bill Healan, Stell said the
numbers show that “on that
number of apartments, you
will probably have less than
50 students."
Healan also questioned
what the school system had
recommended. Planning
Director Guy Herring direct
ed him to a letter from School
Superintendent Ron Saunders
that requested denial of the
change to apartments.
One member of the public
spoke against the plan. Pat
Coward, a resident of Auburn,
asked that the application at
least be put on hold.
"We are in a water crisis
situation; that has not been
addressed,” she said.
District 6 Commissioner
Ben Hendrix said he was
curious why the planning
commission denied it.
"I do not know," responded
Herring. “There was not a
statement as to why.”
Hendrix was the lone vote
against the change.
Herring said apartment
development is recommended
for the area in which Carter’s
project had been approved.
He said the planning staff
would work with the school
system in order to make it
safe for children in the apart
ments to walk to schools.
OTHER ACTION
In other zoning action, the
board voted to approve:
•The adoption of the
Official Zoning Map in con
junction with the recently
adopted comprehensive land-
use plan. The map is online
on the Planning Department’s
page of the county website
at www.barrowga.org and is
in the County Clerk Office.
Vote: 5-0, with District 1
Commissioner Jerry Lampp
absent.
• An application by
T-Mobile to erect a commu
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Auburn council set to meet Thursday
nications tower no higher
than 250 feet at 601 Hancock
Bridge Road to fill a cover
age gap along the Highway
11 corridor between Winder
and Jefferson.
The company must incor
porate all of the recom
mended conditions of both
the Planning Commission
and the Planning Department
staff, including the provision
of free space on the tower for
the county’s E911 service.
Vote: 5-0.
•An application by Kerry
and Anita Mashburn to
rezone 2.6 acres from AG to
R1 and to split them into one
1.608-acre lot with a resi
dence and a one-acre lot for
a future single-family resi
dence. Vote: 5-0.
•An application by Carol
W. Edison to rezone 13.23
acres of a 34-acre tract from
AG to AR and to split it
into four tracts: 3.286 acres
with an existing residence
and 2.532 acres, 2.393 acres
and 4.479 acres, all with no
residences. No further subdi
viding will be allowed. Vote:
5-0.
•An application by Jim and
Tonya Lynn to rezone six
acres of a 29-acre tract at
177 Jefferson Road from AG
to AR and to split it into four
tracts: a 23-acre tract with an
existing residence, and three,
two-acre tracts that may have
a single-family home with
a minimum of 1,600 square
feet of living space on each.
No future subdividing will be
allowed. Vote: 5-0.
• A request by Roy Gilreath
that an inadvertent error on
the current Barrow County
Official Zoning Map be cor
rected to reflect his AR zon
ing. Vote: 5-0.
The Auburn City Council
will hold a workshop Thursday
at 7 p.m. to plan for January’s
regular meeting.
Items on the agenda
include:
•K-9 officer proposal
•Amnesty for signs
The Holiday Connection
Toy Shop for needy local chil
dren is open this week, but
more toys, gifts and monetary
donations are needed to meet
the huge need.
Donations as of Dec. 12
were a third less than they
were last year, but the requests
for holiday assistance had
grown by 25 percent.
“We have about $5,000 less
in cash than we did last year,
and we are serving more chil
dren this year,” said Michelle
Walker, volunteer coordina
tor.
The Holiday Connection is
an annual project of Barrow
County Family Connection/
Communities and Schools.
By the end of last week,
applications seeking help for
•Accessory building status
•Fire works contract
•Comcast franchise agree
ment
•Solid waste RFP
•Charter review, tentative
date of Saturday, Jan. 31, 10
a.m.-2 p.m.
2,008 children had been sub
mitted.
“They’re still coming,”
Walker said.
The greatest needs are for
two age groups: little ones
ages birth to four and teens
ages 15 to 18.
The only toys not needed
are Barbies and stuffed ani
mals, Walker said.
Donors are asked to bring
unwrapped toys, gift cards or
checks to the bottom level
of the Winder Cultural Arts
Center, 105 E. Athens St.,
as soon as possible. Holiday
Connection volunteers will be
onsite from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30
p.m. through Friday.
Applications for assistance
are still being accepted through
the Department of Family and
•Removing trees from Parks
Family Sports Complex
•Gwinnett County SDS
Re-Certification Draft
Resolution
•Auburn hosting car show
•Council retreat, Feb. 28
•Financial review
Children’s Services, the pub
lic schools and Tree House,
Walker said.
Parents with approved
applications pick out gifts at
the Holiday Connection Toy
Store by appointment only.
All donations to Holiday
Connection go to the chil
dren, because the project is
volunteer-driven and has no
overhead, Walker said.
One final fundraiser is
planned for this weekend.
Future Wrestling Federation
will host an event at 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 20, at the Hoop
for Life Center in the town of
Carl. Ticket prices for adults
are $10 or $4 with a wrapped
toy, and $5 for kids ages 7 to
12. Children ages 6 and under
will be admitted for free.
Braselton OKs residential building permits
The Braselton Planning and Development
approved three residential building permits
in November, according to a town report.
All three permits were issued in Jackson
County.
The town didn’t issue any building permits
for non-residential structures in November.
In October, the town approved two resi
dential building permits.
In November, the town issued a grading
permit for a new U.S. Postal annex.
Permanent sign permits were issued to
Mitsubishi Electric, Guacamole, Ace
Hardware and Guilford Immediate Care.
The following items are listed by town
officials as pending development permit
applications, preliminary plats or site devel
opment plans:
Braselton Distribution Center, building 12;
Wachovia Bank, located in front of Publix;
Friendship Commons, located on Spout
Springs Road for a retail center and grocery
store anchored by Publix; and Braselton
Distribution Center, lot 2.
Toys and gifts urgently needed for local kids
Inventory
Clearance Sale
40 to 60
■%
OFF
With deep sadness
we are closing out our
Bridal & Giftware
Departments which
have been a tradition at
Evans for over 50 years.
Closing out All China, Silver, Crystal and Giftware
Including, Waterford, Arthur Court, Lenox
and All Christmas Giftware
All Diamond Jewelry,
fty oF
Watches, Earrings,
Qin%
Bracelets, Cultured Pearls,
| OFF
Honora, and Lorenzo
Come In and Register for
.50 ct. Diamond Pendant*
.50 ct. Diamond Earrings*
$250. Shopping Spree*
$100. Shopping Spree*
lEvans Jewel Box
Professional Jewelry & Watch Repair. In-House Service.
55 N. Broad St. • Downtown Winder • 770-867-3761
*To be given away December 21, 2008. Must be 18 to Win.
Lay-A-Way
Now for
Christmas
BS8m Free Mmm
■HGift Wrajjgl
1 ™!!^KmeriSnI iflMk I