Newspaper Page Text
Page 4A
The Braselton News
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
Lookback continued from 3A
Photo by Wesleigh Sagon
OCTOBER
Hoschton celebrated its fall festival on Friday, Oc
tober 16, through Sunday, October 18. Now in its
47th year the annual festival is still going strong,
bringing thousands to the downtown area for shop
ping, food, games and fun. The first few years, the
festival was called the Hoschton Fall Harvest Days
which was founded by the Hoschton Women’s Civ
ic Club.
OCTOBER
•Kolter sues over impact fees — Kolter filed a lawsuit
against the City of Hoschton and its officials in a bid to halt
NOVEMBER
Santa Claus made an appearance in Braselton’s
virtual tree lighting ceremony in November.
NOVEMBER
•Most Braselton counties support Trump re-election —
Most Braselton area counties — with the exception of Gwin
nett County — supported the re-election of President Donald
Trump in the Nov. 3 election.
•Jackson BOE looks to add new westside elementary
school — Needing to ease crowding issues at Gum Springs,
West Jackson and North Jackson elementary schools, the
Jackson County Board of Education is looking at adding an
other elementary school on the westside of the county, it was
announced.
•Trucking hub slated for Braselton — A new trucking
hub was slated for development along Hwy. 53 in Braselton.
The project is on 62 acres at 6275 Hwy. 53, which is at the
intersection with Braselton Parkway.
•NGMC, Longstreet Clinic break ground on cancer cen
ter — Physicians and leaders with Longstreet Clinic, North
east Georgia Medical Center and Northeast Georgia Physi
cians Group joined together to break ground on the expanded
Cancer Center, located at Medical Plaza 1 in Braselton.
•Gwinnett firefighters free resident after tree crashes on
house — Gwinnett County firefighters freed a resident from
a Hoschton home after a tree fell on the house. The incident
occurred as Tropical Storm Zeta moved its way through the
area, leaving downed trees and power outages in its path.
•Hoschton may build new city hall — The City of
Hoschton could get a new city hall building. Mayor Shannon
Sell told the city council on Nov. 9 that he wants to start work
ing on ideas for a new city hall building.
•Biden wins presidency — A divided nation has spoken
and Democrat Joe Biden will become the 46th president of the
United States. The race was called around noon on Saturday.
Nov. 7, as the results in Pennsylvania became clear with Biden
taking that battleground state.
•Hoschton OKs Twin Lakes plat — The City of Hoschton
agreed Nov. 16 to approve the preliminary plat for Twin Lakes
subdivision Phase 4 after several months of controversy and
delay.
•No immediate property tax for Braselton — It’s likely
that Braselton won’t have a town property tax any time soon,
but city leaders didn’t rule out the possibility that someday, it
may become necessary. During a day-long retreat meeting on
Nov. 18, the Braselton Town Council discussed a number of
items facing the town, including its financial standing.
•Townhome project near Publix gets denial — Efforts
to revive a residential project near Publix in West Jackson
received a blow Nov. 19 when the Jackson County Planning
Commission vote 3-0 in favor of denial.
DECEMBER
•Hwy. 211 multi-modal bridge could go to bid soon —
A multi-modal bridge planned in Braselton is almost ready
to go out to bid, it was announced. Town manager Jennifer
Scott updated the Braselton Town Council on plans for the
multi-modal bridge over Hwy. 211 during its planning ses
sion in November. Scott said the bridge would begin between
where The Falls subdivision ends and the Mulberry Walk
shopping center.
•Schools to call for SPLOST renewal — Jackson Coun
ty’s three school systems plan to call for a March 16, 2021,
referendum to extend their education special local option sales
tax in the county, it was announced.
•Braselton’s historic grammar school receives renova
tion — Braselton’s historic grammar school building was
renovated for the first time since it was built in 1933 when the
school served the growing population as the Braselton Broth
ers Enterprise grew and more families called Braselton home,
•New Hoschton park being planned — Plans for a new
historical-focused park in Hoschton were reported to be in the
works, but hit a bump on Dec. 7 when the town’s planning
board tabled a variance request related for the deal.
•Elections board tables action on school referendum
plans — Plans for a March referendum to continue the ES-
PLOST in Jackson County’s three school districts got put on
hold Dec. 2 when the county’s board of elections refused to
call for the March voting. The Jackson County Board of Elec
tions voted 4-1, with board member James White dissenting,
to table action until January on calling for the referendum.
•Local health leaders urge caution during holidays —
Local health leaders urged the community to use caution
during the Christmas holidays as the number of COVID-19
cases continues to rise in the area.
•Braselton approves drive-thru for proposed smoothie
chain project — Braselton leaders gave the nod for a request
to allow a drive-thru in the Riverstone Braselton development.
•Hoschton council looking at hefty pay hike — Members
of the Hoschton City Council could get a pretty big pay hike in
2022 if a proposal from Mayor Shannon Sell moves forward.
Sell proposed that the council’s pay be increased to $500 per
month for each council member and $1,000 per month for the
mayor. In addition, he suggested that all council members be
eligible for city group health insurance and retirement pro
grams offered to other city employees.
•Jackson schools planning for phased-in return after
holidays — The Jackson County School System is making
plans to “phase-in” middle and high school students to in-per-
son classes following the Christmas break, it was announced.
•Hall middle, high schools transition to blended learn
ing — Hall County middle and high school students transi
tioned to blended learning on Wednesday, Dec. 16. through
Friday. Dec. 18.
•First vaccines arrive — COVID-19 vaccines arrived in
the Braselton area. Northeast Georgia Health System began
vaccinating its first employees on Thursday, Dec. 17.
•Court rejects Kolter injunction against Hoschton —
The Jackson County Superior Court rejected an effort by the
developers of Twin Lakes to stop impact fees imposed by the City
of Hoschton.
•Hoschton budget calls for police department — Hoschton
plans to start up a police department in 2021 and also build a new
multi-use facility and city hall. Those were some of the highlights
in the proposed 2021 city budget.
•Hoschton approves townhomes plat — Work could soon
begin on 300 new townhomes in Hoschton following ac
tion by the Hoschton City Council on Dec. 21. The coun
cil approved the preliminary plat for Cambridge at Towne
Center, a move that should allow Rockhaven Homes to be
gin work on the project. Zoning and other approvals were
given in 2019.
The Braselton News
Mike Buffington Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington Co-Publisher & Advertising Manager
Alex Buffington Editor
Ben Munro Sports Editor
Wesleigh Sagon Photographer/Features
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•Denney resigns from elections board — Erma Denney
resigned from the Jackson County Board of Elections. Jeff
Hughes later took her place on the board.
•Commissioner injured in horse-riding accident —
Jackson County Commissioner Ralph Richardson Jr. was
injured after being thrown from a horse in Colorado.
•Jackson County running out of building lots — Jack-
son County has been booming with new homes over the
past couple years. But that could slow due to a lack of
approved building lots, officials said. In a presentation to
the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce, assis
tant county manager Gina Roy and GIS director Joel Lo
gan said the county had used up just about all its approved
building lots.
•Large PUD request withdrawn — Developers of a
proposed large planned unit development project withdrew
their application in Braselton. FJH, LLC, had requested an
nexation and rezoning of 72 acres off Hwy. 53 at New Cut
Rd. Plans for the site included 220 detached and attached
rental residential units and 104,500 sq. ft. of retail/com
mercial/ office space.
•Amid lawsuit, town holds second round of hearings
on large development — Braselton leaders approved
a town-initiated rezoning and annexation in an attempt
to remedy an alleged procedural error during a previous
round of hearings. The Braselton Town Council held a sec
ond round of public hearings at its work session Thursday,
Sept. 10, for a planned unit development on 141 acres off
Duncan Creek Rd. Meritage Homes of Georgia plans to
construct 318 detached single-family homes on that prop
erty. The request was approved earlier in the year, but three
residents filed a lawsuit against the town, citing both proce
dural and substantive errors in the town’s decision.
•Hoschton mayor says property taxes needed if town
has police department — Hoschton Mayor Shannon Sell
said that property taxes would likely be needed if the town
creates a city police department.
•Planners delay vote on Kolter request — Hoschton
planners delayed a vote on a preliminary plat for a section
of the Twin Lakes development. The commission request
ed additional information on the pending city impact fees
program before making a decision.
•Barrow tables vote on large subdivision — A pro
posed single-family subdivision of nearly 300 homes in the
Braselton-Hoschton area of Barrow County still had some
kinks to be ironed out. The Barrow County board of com
missioners voted to table a requested change in conditions
for the development of 92.23 acres just west of the inter
section of highways 211 and 124 and south of Interstate
85 until its voting session scheduled for Oct. 13. The ap
plicant, Manor Restorations, requested the item be tabled.
•Hoschton to face lawsuit over impact fees — The
Hoschton City Council will likely soon face a lawsuit from
its biggest developer over its Sept. 21 decision to impose
impact fees on new residential construction, it was an
nounced. Attorney Paul Mitchell, who represents Kolter
Acquisitions, the developer of a huge 1.400-acre planned
community in the town, said Sept. 22 that a lawsuit would
be forthcoming.
•Barrow planners reject Hoschton mixed-use project
— A proposed large mixed-use development in Hoschton
was rejected Thursday, Sept. 17, by the Barrow County
Planning Commission after strong public backlash against
the project. The panel voted to recommend denial of Rid
geline Land Planning and Holt Persinger’s request to re
zone 53.2 acres at 1308 Lee Stone Rd. in order to. accord
ing to a revised site plan, build 280 apartments units, 158
townhomes and roughly 8.5 acres set aside for commercial
space (with about 37,500 square feet of that taken up by
three buildings).
•Over 100 homes sold in Cresswind — Kolter Homes
announced more than 100 new homes were sold during the
first 90 days of sales at Cresswind Georgia at Twin Lakes.
•Hearing delayed on massive Braselton project — A
public hearing was delayed on a massive mixed use project
in the Town of Braselton. The Braselton Planning Commis
sion was set to hear the rezoning request from Braselton
38, LLC, at its Sept. 28 meeting. The applicant requested
a deferral just hours before the planning commission was
set to meet. Developers are seeking a rezoning of 39 acres
on Jesse Cronic Rd. from manufacturing- distribution to
planned unit development. The request has been deferred
in recent months as well.
•Four resident deaths reported at Oaks — Four res
idents died from COVID-19 at The Oaks at Braselton, a
local personal care home.
•Planning board gives nod for new subdivision — A
94-lot master planned subdivision in West Jackson got the
green light from the Jackson County Planning Commis
sion. The board approved a rezoning and special use appli
cation for Ray Vaughn of 44.5 acres on Jackson Trail Rd.
for the development.
•Hoschton delays move on overlay revamp — The
Hoschton City Council decided to delay action related to
its Hwy. 53 overlay district and go back to the drawing
board on the matter.
the town’s recent vote to implement impact fees.
•Hoschton planners recommend denial of Twin Lakes
plat — The City of Hoschton ramped up its dispute with
the town’s largest landowner and developer with a recom
mendation to deny a routine approval of preliminary plat.
The Hoschton Planning and Zoning Commission recom
mended denying Phase 4 of the Twin Lakes.
•Two more resident deaths reported at The Oaks
— Two more residents of The Oaks at Braselton, a Bra-
selton-area personal care home, died from COVID-19.
•Braselton rejects townhomes — Braselton leaders re
jected a request for a townhomes project in an industrial
section of town. The Braselton Town Council voted Oct.
12 to deny a rezoning request for Johnnie Hastings for
21.5 acres off Broadway Ave. at the intersection of Josh
Pirkle Rd. Hastings had requested a change from manufac
turing-distribution to multi-family. Developers proposed a
project consisting of 161 for-rent townhomes.
•Kolter tensions continue — The Hoschton City Coun
cil was mum Oct. 19 about its intentions on approving, or
disapproving, a preliminary plat for Phase 4 at the Twin
Lakes development in the city. The massive 2,600-home
development is being done by The Kolter Group, but in
recent months, the relationship between the city and Kolter
has soured. When the issue of the plat approval came up
at the council’s Oct. 19 meeting, the board heard a brief
report from its planner Jerry Weitz and then went into ex
ecutive session to discuss litigation.
•Barrow denies rezoning request for Hoschton proj
ect —A local developer’s plans to build a large mixed-use,
high-density residential development in Hoschton were re
jected by the Barrow County Board of Commissioners on
Tuesday, Oct. 13, following a contentious public hearing.
Commissioners voted 5-2 to deny Ridgeline Land Plan
ning and Holt Persinger’s request to rezone 53.2 acres at
1308 Lee Stone Rd. to R-3 in order to build 280 apartment
units, 158 townhomes and commercial space on roughly
8.5 acres of the property.
•West Jackson residential project gets green light —
Plans to develop a residential project in West Jackson got
the green light. The Jackson County Board of Commis
sioners voted Monday. Oct. 19, to approve a rezoning and
special use request for Ray Vaughn for 44.5 acres off Jack-
son Trail Rd. near the intersection of Marshall Clark Rd.
Approximately 94 lots are planned on the property.
•Hoschton delays action on Kolter plat — The City of
Hoschton delayed action Oct. 26 to give what is usually a
routine approval for a preliminary plat for Phase 4 in the
Twin Lakes development.
•Hoschton mayor: City growth will generate need for
police department — The City of Hoschton is mulling
the addition of a police department, but if population pro
jections come to fruition one might be inevitable, it was
announced.
DECEMBER
Diane Donaldson submitted this photo of a large
Christmas display at 5434 Old Winder Hwy., Bra
selton. Diane’s husband, Joe, created the setup.
This walk-thru Christmas lights display is open
from dark until 10 p.m. (weather permitting). Night
ly viewings are open through Dec. 30. The display
features over 35,000 lights and holiday decorations,
along with a a 24-foot synchronized light tree.