Newspaper Page Text
Page 2A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Area N e ws
Jackson County Board of Education
Hoschton Crime
JCCHS patrons claim unfair conditions
BY ANGELA GARY
A group of parents con
cerned about what they
say are unfair conditions
at Jackson County Comprehensive
High School plan to take the matter
before the Jackson County Board
of Education in January.
Steve Crawford, a JCCHS parent,
said he had been asked by several
parents to represent the group at the
board of education work session on
Thursday, Jan. 10. Crawford said
Friday that the issues he plans to
address include school site selec
tion and attendance zones.
“I appreciate the opportunity to
identify and discuss the inequita
ble and sensitive environment that
exists for Jackson County teach
ers, parents, and most importantly,
our students by the current board
of education and administration,”
Crawford said. “Several of the
examples of the state of affairs
were offered to (The Heralds) read
ership last week in the letter to the
editor.”
The crux of the issue revolves
around this year’s opening of East
Jackson Comprehensive High
School, a facility which some
JCCHS patrons believe has gotten
special treatment to the exclusion
of their school.
Crawford said the difference
between JCCHS and EJCHS is a
“Tale of Two Cities,” with JCCHS
getting the short end of the deal.
“Classroom space shortages,
busing teams away to have a place
to practice, leaking roofs, rusted
and collapsed stairs and no air con
ditioning, Gordon Street classroom
busing, intense staff hostilities, and
it’s subsequent effect on parent,
teacher and student morale are new
to us until recently,” he said. “We
are truly glad East Jackson has a
facility to be proud of. Their stu
dents and faculty will always be a
part of the Panthers we fought for,
rooted for, and supported. It takes
nothing away from that when we
say enough is enough regarding
this inequity, both in facilities and
treatment. Who will take respon
sibility and admit mistakes were
made? Who will offer solutions?
Who will eradicate specific admin
istrative elements behind these
hostilities?”
Crawford said he was told by
school officials in 2004 that West
Jackson Middle School boost
ers couldn’t build a restroom and
concession stand unless the East
Jackson Middle School boosters
could do the same thing. Crawford
said he was told unequal facilities
wouldn’t be allowed in the school
system.
Now, he says, inequality does
exist and that JCCHS facilities are
being allowed to deteriorate or are
lacking.
Barrow County Planning Commission
Gated retirement community gets planning approval by planners
BY KRISTI REED
The Barrow County Planning
Commission recommended approv
al Thursday night for a proposed
284-home gated retirement com
munity to be located at 1586 Hog
Mountain Road. The community,
targeted at residents aged 55 and
older, will be comprised of sin
gle-family homes, town homes, an
assisted living facility and a com
munity shopping center.
The proposed development,
Kerala Gardens, will have 133 sin
gle family homes, 109 town homes
and 42 assisted living units. The
master plan calls for each single
family home to be three or four
sides brick with a minimum of
1,800 square feet of living space.
The town homes will have a mini
mum of 1,600 square feet with all
masonry exteriors.
As part of the project, developers
plan to build a community shopping
center on an 11-acre commercial
lot. The shopping center will be
subject to the requirements of the
Highway Corridor Overlay and will
have a four-sided brick exterior.
Attorney John Stell appeared
before the planning commission
on behalf of applicants, Thomas
Alexander and J.C. and Carolyn
Childers. Stell told planning repre
sentatives that the applicants agree
with all planning staff recommen
dations. In addition, Stell said the
applicants wish to address the con
cerns of neighboring landowner,
John Bowman.
Bowman, who owns property
to the northeast of the proposed
development, requested an ease
ment to his property for the pur
pose of access and maintenance of
underground utilities. Stell said the
applicants are willing to grant this
easement and will install additional
landscaping to insure that the ease
ment does not violate the buffer
requirements for the new subdivi
sion.
Bowman told the planning com
mission that he supports the prop
erty development as long as he is
granted an easement.
“This is probably the prettiest
land in Barrow County,” Bowman
said. “I like what they’ve done. I
like what they’ve come up with.”
The request goes before
the Barrow County Board of
Commissioners on January 22.
In other business, the planning
commission:
•approved a request by applicant,
Eddie Butler, to rezone 5.1 acres
at 957 Old Thompson Mill Road
from AG to R-l. Tina Slayton of
Waypoint Realty represented Butler
at the hearing. Slayton said the 5.1
acres would be subdivided into four
lots, one with an existing home and
three additional lots. The three
empty lots would be sold to build
ers for the purpose of constructing
single-family homes. Neighboring
landowner, Ricky Wilkes of960 Old
Thompson Mill Road, told plan
ning representatives he opposes the
rezoning. Wilkes said he believes
the proposed construction would
hurt the value of his property and
potentially increase his taxes. The
planning commission voted 4-1 in
favor of the applicant. District
2 representative Wayne Alexander
voted against the proposal.
•unanimously approved a request
by Lyn T. Clement of 6 Nunnally
Road and Beverly Clement of 14
Nunnally Road to rezone .46 of
an acre from AG to R-l for the
purpose of combining the acreage
with a .603 acre parcel to create a
1.06 acre lot.
•voted to elect District 1 repre
sentative Joe Goodman as the 2008
chairman of the Barrow County
Planning Commission. The cur
rent chairman, at-large representa
tive Scott Hang, will serve as vice
chairman.
Jackson County Planning Commission
Planners OK rezoning request to expand industrial park
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
An industrial park in Jefferson is
planning to expand its property near
1-85 along one of Jackson County’s
busiest areas for industrial growth.
ProLogis is planning to include a
second phase of its industrial park
on Toy Wright Road, near Valentine
Industrial Park, which includes
TACG.
The Jackson County Planning
Commission recommended approval
on Thursday of a request to rezone
the 198.075-acre property from the
A-2 to LI. Radio Foods, Inc. owns
the property.
The Jackson County Board of
Commissioners is slated to vote on
the planning commission’s recom
mendation on Jan. 21, at 6 p.m.
The first phase of the ProLogis
industrial park is being developed
in the city limits of Jefferson. The
second phase of the project calls for
five industrial buildings totaling more
than 2.5 million square feet.
ProLogis plans to expand Toy
Wright Road through most of the
property from Valentine Industrial
Parkway to Wayne Poultry Road.
A civil engineer representing the
applicant told the planning commis
sion that ProLogis is one of the larg
est industrial development companies
in the world, which usually doesn’t
sell its buildings.
The Northeast Georgia Regional
Development Center recently com
pleted a Development of Regional
Impact (DRI) for the project and
found it in the “best interest of the
state,” according to county planning
department staff.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business, the Jackson
County Planning Commission rec
ommended:
•approval of a request by the Day
Design Group, Inc. to rezone 15.416
acres at 7540 Ga. Hwy. 53 from A-R
to NRC in order to use the exist
ing site and home for commercial
purposes. The property is owned by
Howard M. Duck and William F.
Duck. The property is located next
the Hunting Hills subdivision. The
applicant plans to use an existing
house for a commercial purpose in
the first phase of development, and
later develop the property for poten
tially five buildings totaling 66,000
square feet. Jeremy McElroy of the
Day Design Group said the plans
submitted to the county for the site
are only a concept plan and the maxi
mum possibilities for the site, and
development will not take place for at
least five years. In making the recom
mendation for approval, the planning
commission said the applicant must
meet all of the right-of-way require
ments made by the DOT, which is
planning to expand Hwy. 53. The
site must also provide access to addi
tional property owned by the Ducks’
that is landlocked.
•approval of a request by Susan
Campbell to change a zoning condi
tion that would affect the Wicklow
Subdivision in West Jackson. The
property includes 18.9 acres located
off Boone Road and Wicklow Court.
Sue Campbell Properties, Inc. owns
the property. Campbell requested
that a zoning condition requiring an
eight-foot privacy buffer be installed
between her property and the adja
cent existing agricultural structures
be removed. Two chicken houses
are located next to the proposed sub
division on a hill. Campbell said
installing the fence would require
the removal of several large trees that
naturally provide a buffer between
the properties. The county planning
department staff recommended that if
the BOC approves the request, it also
return a $20,300 surety Campbell
paid the county for completing the
fence at a later date.
Donated money not being
used for son, family says
A woman told Hoschton police
that her estranged mother was
collecting money donated for her
brother’s continued medical care
for her own purposes, according
to an incident report.
The daughter told police that
while her brother was injured in
an accident last year, two col
lection jars the mother placed in
Hoschton businesses were being
used for “her betterment and not
the brothers.”
The brother told police that he
wasn’t aware of the collection
jars and hasn’t received money
from his mother. He added that
while he was planning an elec
tive surgery that he already had
money for, he wasn’t continuing
his medical treatment, according
to an incident report.
Both of the siblings said their
mother had a “substance abuse”
problem and the jars may have
been her attempt to collect money,
police said.
The mother later told police that
her son was aware of the jars. She
admitted that her name was on
the bank account for the jars, but
she didn’t place any money into
the account and that the money
was kept in a jar in her bathroom.
The mother said she had collected
$37 in donations, according to an
incident report.
The Hoschton Police
Department collected the jars at
two local businesses and took
them as evidence.
TRAILER STOLEN
A Braselton man told police
that someone stole a trailer from a
Bell Avenue address in Hoschton.
The trailer had more than $27,000
in construction equipment in it,
according to the victim.
A neighbor in the area told
police that he saw a white pick-up
truck with two white males driving
away from the address on Dec. 15.
The victim told Hoschton police
that he suspected a man who had
worked at the Bell Avenue address
was responsible for the theft.
HOSCHTON ARRESTS
The Hoschton Police Department
made the following arrests last
week:
•Michael Allen Strode, 22, 218
Vi S. Main, P.O. Box, 32, Atwood,
Ill., possession of less than one
ounce of marijuana, possession
and use of drug-related objects,
DUI and following too closely.
•Zachary A. Risely, 20, 404 W.
Forest Ave., Atwood, Ill., posses
sion of less than one ounce of
marijuana and allowing another
to drive while under the influence.
•Michael S. Strode, 40, 3103 E.
Wallace, Decatur, Ill., possession
of less than one ounce of mari
juana, possession of use of drug-
related objects and possession of
open container while a passenger
in a vehicle.
•Arturo Galarza Chavarria, 40,
5114 Yellow Stone Drive, Flowery
Branch, driving while unlicensed
or with an expired license.
Braselton Crime
Police: Driver forgets that
gas nozzle is
An Auburn woman drove from a
fuel pumping station — and forgot
the nozzle was still in her vehicle,
according to a Braselton police
report.
The woman told police that she
forgot to remove the nozzle from
her vehicle while pumping gas
at the Pilot Travel Center on Ga.
Hwy. 53 on Thursday. The nozzle
got hung up in her vehicle and
pulled the entire front of the pump
off the pumping station.
An employee told police that the
estimated cost to repair the pump-
still in car
ing station was $5,000.
BRASELTON ARRESTS
The Braselton Police Department
made the following arrests last
week:
•Robert D. Chestnut, 39, 747
Applan, Statham, DUI and failure
to maintain lane.
•Alvin Jerome Strickland, 53,
3693 George Washington Drive,
Ellenwood, purchasing, having
possession of under control of a
controlled substance (cocaine),
window tint violation, obstruction
and tampering with evidence.
Early deadlines for holiday
The deadlines for The Braselton News have been moved up due to the
New Year’s Day holiday.
The news and ad deadline for next week’s issue will be at noon on
Friday, Dec. 28.
The newspaper office in Jefferson will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 1. The
office will open as scheduled at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 2.
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