Newspaper Page Text
Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Mill Creek, West Jackson and Barrow County
Gi* £
Member of the
Georgia Press Association
250 copy
Wednesday, April 2,2008
Vol. 3 No. 50 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. BraseltonNews.com BarrowJournal.com 24 pages, 3 sections
Inside
•Braselton man charms
visitors at arboretum
page 9 A
BARROW COUNTY
•Old tires could mean
big business for Auburn
page 2A
Sports:
•Ice Hawks win state
championship
page 1B
•Forest fire provides
lesson for students
page 7B
Opinion:
•’Gwinnett doesn’t play
by the rule’s
page 4A
Public safety:
•Tractor-trailer truck
rolls out of parking lot
page 5A
•Church events
page 7A
•Obituaries
page 6A
Mixed-use project gets approval from Hall County
‘Upscale' development set near Braselton
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Hall County commissioners gave their bless
ing last week to a major mixed-use project
next to The Village at Deaton Creek, near
Braselton.
And next month, Gwinnett County commis
sioners will have their final say for the 67-acre
property spanning the two counties.
Vintage Communities, Lawrenceville, plans
to develop 657 condos and townhouses, 424,218
square feet of retail space and 359,249 square
feet of office space near Ga. Hwy. 211. A
200-room hotel is also included in the plans.
The project will be located along the realigned
Thompson Mill Road (Ga. Hwy. 347), next
to The Village at Deaton Creek, Northeast
Georgia Medical Center’s planned Braselton
medical campus, Chateau Elan and Mulberry
Baptist Church.
Eric Masaschi, vice president of Vintage
Communities, said the proposed development
will be a “mixed-use lifestyle center.”
“It’s a combination of upscale retail, resi
dential units and office,” Masaschi said. “It’s
basically designed to be a walkable village
that is very pedestrian friendly. It’s basically
a place that people want to connect and spend
the day.”
While no tenants have been named for the
development, Masaschi said potential retailers
may include national stores, such as Victoria’s
Secret, and local boutiques, such as art galler
ies.
The unnamed project near Deaton Creek
will be similar to The Forum in Norcross,
which includes a number of national depart
ment stores, home furnishings stores and res
taurants.
Dirt could start moving for the project by the
end of 2008 or early 2009, Masaschi said on
Friday. The project has an eight-year develop
ment timeline.
The first phase of development is slated
for an area across from the entrance of The
Village at Deaton Creek, at 6052 Deaton Creek
Parkway.
That phase may include a grocery store,
pharmacy and several shops on the ground
floor, according to plans.
Other phases include: “Central Park and Park
Avenue,” an upscale residential townhouse
condominium area that will have 15 buildings;
“Town Center,” with retail and office space,
along with 62 live/work condominium homes,
330 condominiums and a 200-room hotel; “The
Mansions,” with 70 condominiums in four and
five-story buildings; and “The Cottages,” with
70 rear-entry townhouses.
Vintage Communities also developed The
Village at Deaton Creek, a 1,300-lot “active
adult” community.
Rochester and Associates asked Hall County
to rezone 28.79 acres for the mixed-use devel
opment.
About 67 percent of the project’s retail and
office space is planned in Hall County, while
72 percent of the total housing is slated for
Gwinnett County, according to plans.
The project calls for 529,212 square feet
of retail and office space, 108 residential
units, and 200 hotel rooms in Hall County. In
Gwinnett County, 254,255 square feet of retail
and office space is planned, along with 549
residential units.
Festival ‘fanatic’
BUSY SCHEDULE AHEAD
Robbie Bettis stands in front of a collection of items at the Braselton Antique Mall. She has helped
organize the Hoschton Fall Festival, ArtTrax in Hoschton and festivals in Braselton. In the past, she
has also helped with the Christmas in Braselton festival. Photo by Kerri Testement
Store owner helps organize festivals in towns
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
Robbie Bettis is a fan of festivals — especially those
in Braselton and Hoschton.
That’s because Bettis is one of the key organizers for
festivals throughout the year in the neighboring towns.
And with two festivals on the horizon in Hoschton and
Braselton, the next few weeks will be busy for Bettis.
“It’s something I love,” Bettis said. “It’s my forte. I
like planning the festivals more than the event.”
Bettis also runs three antique shops in the towns
— the Braselton Antique Mall, and Ye Ole Station and
Antique Station, both in Hoschton.
And two years ago, she penned a book, “Passing,”
about the histories of Braselton and Hoschton.
It’s ties to Hoschton that first stirred Bettis’ interest
in festivals.
For more than 30 years of the Hoschton Fall Festival’s
existence, Bettis has taken some part in the annual event.
See FESTIVALS on page 3A
Barrow foreclosures top
$42 million in first quarter
The amount of property on the block for foreclosure sale in April dropped
slightly from the last two months in Barrow County. During the first quarter
of 2008, over $42 million in foreclosures were posted.
Some 100 foreclosure notices were posted in March as a prelude for
Tuesday’s April courthouse sales. The 100 notices topped $11.7 million for
the month.
In January and February, some 116 notices were posted each month mak
ing a total of 332 notices published in the first quarter of 2008.
In total, foreclosures published Jan.-March totaled $42.2 million. While
most were for amounts under $150,000, several were $400,000-plus and
reflected high-end homes around the Chateau Elan area.
To an extent, the raw numbers are understated. The total value is under
stated due to some listings not having a dollar amount in the foreclosure
notice. In addition, some listings were for multiple lots or tracts that if
handled individually, would have pushed the count up.
SELLING PROPERTY AT COURTHOUSE
Interested buyers bid for foreclosed properties on the steps of the
Barrow County Courthouse Tuesday.
Photo by Kerri Testement
Barrow Regional cites negative impact of new hospital
WINDER HOSPITAL
Barrow Regional Medical Center, Winder, includes 56 beds. The
facility has been in operation since 1951 and at its present loca
tion since 1983. Barrow Regional says it’s facing competition from
a new hospital proposed in Braselton.
Lawsuit centers on proposed Braselton facility
BY KERRI TESTEMENT
A new hospital in Braselton would have a “signifi
cant” negative impact on the nearby Barrow Regional
Medical Center, according to a top official.
Barrow Regional filed a lawsuit last week in opposi
tion to Northeast Georgia Health System’s plans to
open a 100-bed hospital on a 119-acre medical campus
in Braselton.
Northeast Georgia is slated to open its hospital in
2012, when the widening and realignment of Thompson
Mill Road (S.R. 347) is expected to be complete.
Healthcare facilities in Georgia are required to com
plete a Certificate of Need (CON) application when
they are planning expansion of facilities or services.
Northeast Georgia received state approval for its
Braselton hospital in April 2007, but Barrow Regional
later filed two appeals with the Georgia Department of
Community Health, which reviews CON applications.
Barrow Regional lost those two appeals and took its
last remedy — a lawsuit.
Barrow Regional CEO Joe Clancy said Tuesday that
Northeast Georgia’s new hospital will have a “signifi
cant” impact on the Winder facility, located 11 miles
from the proposed Braselton hospital.
An estimated 20 percent of Barrow Regional’s
patients are those who don’t have insurance to pay for
services, Clancy said. Another 21 percent of patients
receive Medicaid benefits, which typically don’t pro
vide enough funds to healthcare providers.
Barrow Regional contends in the lawsuit that a new
hospital in Braselton would not only reduce the num
ber of patients at the 56-bed hospital in Winder, but
also affect its financial stability.
“If competition from the new, nearby South Hall
facility prevents Barrow from treating insured patients
from these more affluent areas, it will have a dramatic
effect on Barrow’s financial line,” according to the
lawsuit.
See HOSPITAL on page 3A
