The Braselton news. (Jefferson, Ga) 2006-current, April 02, 2008, Image 1
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