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Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy
Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Vol. 15 No. 20 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages
Community spotlight
Hoschton
bookstore a
work of art
By David R. Altman
Tucked away in a
non-descript but classy
looking strip shopping cen
ter in a fast-growing area
of Hoschton is an indepen
dent bookstore you have to
see to believe.
Owners Brittnay and
Patrick Sears have built
a bookstore—quite liter
ally—with their own two
hands which is certain to
take its place among the
nation's great Indie book
stores.
It’s called The Inside
Story Bookstore and Cafe
(www.theinsidestory-
books.com) and besides
carrying all the best-sellers,
it offers more than 4,000
books with nearly every
genre you can imagine.
With National Inde-
See Bookstore, page 12A
Patrick and Brittnay Sears opened The Inside Sto
ry Bookstore and Cafe last year—and are building
a loyal following.
Grease, The Musical
U 7 H
w 1
of
Photo by Ben Munro
Carson Walker sings “Those Magic Changes” during a Sunday (April 24) performance of “Grease, The Mu
sical” by the Jackson County High School Panther Players. The group, which began practicing the show
in January, performed the production four times between Thursday and Sunday. See more photos on 7A.
Braselton
Braselton planners
want some commercial
uses to be conditional
The Braselton Planning
Commission wants to make
certain uses conditional in
the town’s commercial areas.
The commission approved
a motion April 25 to have a
code amendment written that
would require conditional
use approval for restaurant
drive-ins, auto repair shops,
convenience stores and gas
stations in commercial zones
throughout the Town of Bra
selton.
The town already has two
commercial overlay districts
along the Hwy. 211 and
Hwy. 53 corridors where
certain commercial uses
are required to have special
permission. If ultimately
approved by the Braselton
Town Council, the restric
tions would extend city
wide.
The commission also vot
ed to have the town’s plan
ning staff draft a new policy
on how the board should
handle future development
project deferrals. Often, a
development project is slat
ed for a commission meet
ing, but then pulled at the last
minute to be deferred until a
later date.
See Planners, page 12A
MAILING LABEL
Braselton
Plans for potential mill project nearing
completion, funding not yet determined
Here are preliminary architectural designs presented to the Braselton
Town Council back in 2021 fora possible renovation and expansion of the
old mill in downtown Braselton.
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Architectural plans are
in the works for a possible
renovation and expansion
of Braselton’s historic En
terprise Roller Mill, though
no money is attached to the
potential project.
Town manager Jennifer
Scott spoke to architects
recently who told her that
building plans for the mill,
located at Hwy. 53 and
Davis St. downtown, were
“pretty close” to being final
ized.
“We’re trying to keep, of
course, the project within a
range where the construction
costs are feasible,” she said.
Scott said she expects to
have an idea of construction
costs by June and a timetable
for bids if the project were to
be funded in the town's capi
tal budget this year.
A renovation project for
the mill, likely built in the
early 1900s, could be eligi
ble for grant funding, too.
“But you have to have the
plans and the construction
estimate before you can do
any of that,” Scott said.
Scott said it's difficult to
find grants for construction
related to historic buildings
and much easier to acquire
money for planning.
The town, however, has
had past success with Com
munity Development Block
Grant (CDBG) funding with
its renovation of the Bra
selton Brothers Store, which
See Mill, page 3A
National Historic Preservation Month
Walking tours continue to teach Braselton history
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Braselton leaders have pre
served several of the town's
long-standing downtown
structures over the years, but
they're making sure the sto
ries of those landmarks are
being told, too.
The town will again of
fer its historic walk tours in
May to educate citizens about
downtown historical sites.
“We love doing our walks
and getting people into down
town learning about the his
tory of our town, meanwhile
discovering what is here to
day.” said Amy Pinnell, Bra-
selton's community develop
ment director. “And hopefully
they learn a little something
and have a fun time with us
along the way.”
This year's walking tour
dates are May 5 (10:30 a.m.
to noon), May 20 (10:30 a.m.
to noon) and May 24 (6-
7:30 p.m.). There’s also a trol
ley tour option available on
each of those dates and times.
Pinnell, who helps lead
the tours, said the town holds
staff-led tours at least once a
year and has planned them in
concert with National Histor
ic Preservation Month in May
in more recent years.
This year’s main tour
stops are Enterprise Roll
er Mill, which downtown
leaders say is a rare exam
ple of an early-20th century
steam-powered rolling mill
built around 1900, and the
W. H. Braselton home, which
houses Braselton Town Hall.
The two-story Neoclassical
Revival style home was built
in 1913 by one of the three
founding Braselton brothers.
The tour will also high
light Braselton’s renovated
1904 building, the original
structure of the Braselton
Brothers Store building. The
structure’s name bears its
construction date.
“We're changing up the
tour a tittle bit to make sure
that we step inside and kind of
look at those historic things,”
Pinnell said of the 1904.
“We'll be able to see the old
safe that was in the Braselton
store, and the bank the Bra-
seltons opened up inside the
department store.”
The town’s May 5 tour will
include lunch at Braselton
Brewing Company, a historic
structure itself having once
served as a cotton gin.
During the early days of
See Tours, page 3A
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