Newspaper Page Text
Serving the communities of Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Mill Creek, West Jackson and South Hall
Member of the
Georgia Press Association
250 copy
Wednesday, November 14,2007
Vol. 3 No. 30 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. BraseltonNews.com 26 pages, 3 sections
Inside
•West Jackson Middle
School honors veterans
page 11A
BRASELTON
•Cronic selected for
county school board
page 2A
Sports:
•Hawks ready to start
play-off action
page 1B
•Area students advance
to state art competition
page 7B
Opinion:
•Bad attitude not a
crime page 4A
Public safety:
•Women face forgery
charges
page 6A
•Church events
page 5B
•Obituaries
page 7A
Hamilton Mill to remain intact
BY KRISTI REED
After receiving more than 1,200
comment forms from Hamilton Mill
residents, Gwinnett County Public
Schools revised the proposed redis
tricting maps to keep the subdivi
sion intact at the elementary school
level.
The original redistricting plan
called for approximately 600
Hamilton Mill students to attend
the new Puckett's Mill Elementary
while 300 children would be sent to
nearby Fort Daniel Elementary.
Homeowner Kim Walton said she
was encouraged by the new redis
tricting maps and hopes the maps
remain intact through the December
voting process.
“I think [the new boundaries] help
not just Hamilton Mill, but all the
areas around us,” Walton said. “It
puts schools that were going to be
over capacity at better levels.”
Walton thanked school board and
planning personnel for listening
and seriously considering the input
forms. She said she also appreci
ated the homeowners who helped
organize Hamilton Mill’s response
to the proposed redistricting.
“I think it shows tremendous
cohesiveness and community spirit,”
Walton said referring to the large
number of input forms returned to
the school system. I think it shows
our priorities are in the right place
in thinking about our community.
We feel strongly about not dividing
a community that is a hometown.
That is truly how we feel in our
hearts.”
The revised boundary maps were
released Thursday. The change
affecting the Hamilton Mill neigh
borhood was the only revision in
the northern part of the county. Of
the 23,000 students affected by the
original proposal, the revised maps
affect only 600 students.
Sloan Roach, executive director
for communications and media rela
tions for Gwinnett County Public
Schools, said the changes were
Public Meeting
The Gwinnett County Board
of Education will hold a
public hearing on the pro
posed redistricting map on
Thursday, Nov. 15, from 7-9
p.m., at the Instructional
Support Center in Suwanee.
The board will be taking
comments from the Mill
Creek and Collins Hill
school clusters.
made based on input received by the
planning department.
Roach said nearly 4,000 input
forms were returned for the entire
area affected by the proposed redis
tricting, one of the largest GCPS has
See REDISTRICT on page 6A
Dancing for holiday play
MILL CREEK TO PRESENT THE MAGIC TOY SHOP’
The Mill Creek High School dance department will perform “The Magic Toy Shop” on Saturday, Nov.
17, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and on Sunday, Nov. 18, at 4 p.m. in the school’s theatre. More than 100 danc
ers will participate in this weekend’s performances. For story, see page 7B. Photo by Kristi Reed
Tour of homes ahead at Chateau Elan
FEATURED ON TOUR OF HOMES
The home of Dr. Brian and Leah Pugh in The Woodlands at
Chateau Elan is one of the houses that will be featured this week
during the sixth annual “It’s a Wonderful House” tour of homes at
Chateau Elan. Photo provided by Phil Spivey
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Dr. Brian and Leah Pugh admit
they’re private people - but this
weekend, their home, along with
three other private residences and a
model home in Chateau Elan, will
be open to the public for the sixth
annual “It’s a Wonderful House”
tour of homes.
Free shuttles from the winery at
Chateau Elan to the featured houses
will be available on Friday, Nov. 16,
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Saturday,
Nov. 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and
Sunday, Nov. 18, from 11 a.m. to 4
p.m. Houses will remain open for
two hours following the last shuttle
departure for the winery. Tickets are
$25 each.
The tour is the largest event for
the Chateau Elan community, with
about 400 residents volunteering for
the three-day event.
And the tour of homes at Chateau
Elan is also a major contributor to
the Gwinnett Children’s Shelter, a
non-profit organization that serves
abused and abandoned children
from Northeast Georgia. This year,
the tour of homes at Chateau Elan
is expected to raise $150,000 for the
private children’s shelter, according
to Lynn Price, chairperson of the
tour of homes.
Leah Pugh said that’s why she
and her husband decided to open
their 9,000 square-foot rustic-style
house for the tour - as all proceeds
will benefit the Gwinnett Children’s
Shelter.
“When you’re blessed, it’s your
responsibility to give back to the
community,” said Leah Pugh. “We
believe in God and putting family
first.”
The Pugh house reflects not only
their love for family, but a love for
the outdoors. Their house in The
Woodlands at Chateau Elan resem
bles a rustic lodge, complete with
natural floors, guest beds with twig
overhangs and a wine barrel sink in
one of the bathrooms.
“It’s rustic and it feels outdoors,”
said Brian Pugh, who performs root
canals in Dacula.
The house also includes some of
See TOUR on page 3A
Braselton denies drive-in
windows for retail project
Residents opposed More Inside
to zoning changes
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
The Braselton Town Council
rejected a request on Monday to
allow drive-in windows for a poten
tial coffee shop or pharmacy in a
retail project near Chateau Elan.
Lensned, LLC, asked the town
council to remove a zoning condi
tion limiting drive-in windows to
allow only banks or dry cleaners for
a retail project at the intersection of
Ga. Hwy. 211 and Liberty Church
Road, next to The Falls of Braselton
subdivision.
A number of residents from
Chateau Elan and The Falls of
Braselton attended two meetings in
the past week when the council was
discussing the proposal.
The 15.2-acre property was the
center of a 2002 lawsuit filed by
Barrow County against the town.
Through a legal compromise,
Braselton agreed to zone the prop
erty for commercial uses.
The property — located across
Hwy. 211 from a residential entrance
to Chateau Elan — has remained
vacant since the legal matter was
settled, although some construction
activity has recently started.
Lensned is planning to build sev
eral commercial buildings on the
property, including a day care cen
ter, hardware store, bank, drug store,
two restaurants, retail stores and
a coffee shop, according to plans.
A site plan for the property was
approved by the town council in
November 2006.
Scott Snedecor, managing member
of Lensned, said the company want
ed the zoning condition removed
only to allow drive-in windows for
The Braselton Town Council
amends its rules for water
ing new landscapes.
See page 3A
a coffee shop or pharmacy. He said
there are no plans for other drive-in
windows, such as for a fast-food
establishment or gas station.
“This is no Trojan horse trying to
sneak in restaurants or other uses,”
Snedecor said.
Chateau Elan resident Mickey
Wages said he’s not opposed to
developing the property for com
mercial uses, but said he is against
any changes to the zoning condi
tions.
“I’d like to see this property devel
oped right,” Wages said, while add
ing that he wanted the site to remain
in the original intent of a high-quali
ty, “village-type” shopping center.
Snedecor said the company plans
to develop a pedestrian-friendly,
village-type shopping center on the
site. He said he was aware of the
zoning conditions when his com
pany purchased the property.
However, mayor Pat Graham
said Monday that drive-in windows
would encourage more vehicles
through the shopping center than a
pedestrian-oriented “village” con
cept.
The request to allow drive-in win
dows for a coffee shop or pharmacy
on the property was one of three
zoning-related requests made by
Lensned. That request was denied
unanimously by the town council.
In a 3-2 vote, the Braselton Town
Council approved a request by
See RETAIL on page 6A
New county manager named
Darrell Hampton was
named the new county man
ager in a unanimous vote of
the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners Wednesday.
Hampton will start work on
Thursday and his annual sal
ary will be $105,000. He has a
two-year contact.
“I appreciate the opportu
nity to come here and the trust
you have placed in me,” Hampton
said at the brief called BOC meeting
Wednesday morning. “I look
forward to the opportunity to
work with you.. .and to move
Jackson County in the direc
tion you, as a commission,
want.”
Hampton served as the
Stephens County administra-
.... . tor from 2002 until August
HAMPTON 2007
Hampton and his wife,
Bonnie, plan to move to Jackson
County early next year.
Hampton Inn planning to
build hotel in Braselton
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Plans for a fifth new hotel in
Braselton have been submitted to
town officials for review.
Hampton Inn is planning to build
a frve-story hotel on Chardonnay
Trace Drive, directly behind the
Wendy’s on Ga. Hwy. 53 in Jackson
County. The hotel will have 90
rooms and total 52,641 square feet,
according to plans.
Braselton Hospitality, LLC of
Lawrenceville, is building the hotel.
The property is properly zoned
for the hotel and the developer is
not seeking a variance, so no pub
lic hearing is planned for the new
hotel.
The Hampton Inn would mark
the fifth new hotel for which plans
have been submitted to Braselton
officials this year.
Braselton has approved zoning
changes for a hotel in a mixed-use
development near the intersection
of Ga. Hwy. 124 and Ga. Hwy. 211
in Barrow County; two hotels in the
“Park 85 at Braselton” project, locat
ed off Hwy. 53 in Jackson County;
and a Country Inn and Suites on
Hwy. 124 in Barrow County.
Braselton currently has three
hotels — The Inn at Chateau Elan,
Holiday Inn Express on Hwy. 211
and Best Western Inn on Zion
Church Road.