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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. FOR THE BEST BUYS, READ THE CLASSIFIED ADS k)GW AtJP FU£(\/irUE2£ f via UOUSGUOLD Grc»< “Hoah's Ark 335-6084 llftl W. Elm Sl. 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