Newspaper Page Text
Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy
Wednesday, May 25, 2022
Vol. 15 No. 24 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages
Election results
Bingham, Clack and Sanders top local races
The Braselton and West
Jackson area will be repre
sented by some new faces in
Jackson County's government
— and at the state level — fol
lowing the results of the May
24 election.
Chad Bingham will rep
resent the area in the District
3 seat on the Jackson Coun
ty Board of Commissioners
having defeated Steve Wittry
1,793-1,223. Bingham will
replace Ralph Richardson who
didn’t seek re-election.
Also serving on the BOC
from West Jackson will be
Marty Clark who ran unop
posed for the new District 5
seat on the board. District 5
was created this year due to
growth in the county on the
west side.
Ty Clack will represent
the West Jackson area on the
Jackson County Board of Ed
ucation in the Post 5 seat af
ter defeating Richard Irby and
Joe Martin. Clack got 53.8%
of the vote to avoid a runoff.
He will replace Don Clerici
on the BOE. Clerici ran for
District 31 in the state house,
foregoing a re-election bid to
the BOE.
Also serving on the BOE
from the West Jackson area
will be Ricky Sanders who
defeated Tommy Rainey
1.017-644 for the BOE Post
2 seat. That district stretches
from north of Braselton (north
of 1-85) through Pendergrass
to Maysville. Sanders lives
in the West Jackson area and
will replace Carol Anglin on
the BOE. Anglin didn’t seek
re-election.
LOCAL STATE
CONTESTS
In state-level results, West
Jackson resident Don Clerici
lost his bid for the District 31
seat in the state House of Rep
resentatives. Emory Duna-
hoo Jr. is on track to win the
seat with 53.01%- of the vote.
Dunahoo received 4,930 votes
to Clerici’s 4,371 (the district
included a small part of Hall
County as well as much of
Jackson County.)
Dunahoo is an incumbent
State Representative who was
moved into District 31 during
the redistricting process. The
seat is currently held by Rep.
Tommy Benton who did not
seek re-election.
In other area state races.
See Election, page 3A
Jackson Co. BOC
Housing lot
sizes going up
in Jackson Co.
Several major changes were
approved May 16 that could
have a long-term impact on
residential development in un
incorporated areas of Jackson
County.
Among the items approved
by the Jackson County Board
of Commissioners was to in
crease the minimum residential
lot sizes in the county, a move
designed to prevent high-densi
ty subdivisions of cookie-cutter
houses similar to what’s often
seen in neighboring Gwinnett
County.
The BOC also approved the
first part of implementing im
pact fees on future residential
developments, fees that will be
prioritized to improve roads in
unincorporated Jackson Coun
ty-
All of the actions come as
the county continues with a
1-year moratorium on residen
tial rezoning in unincorporated
Jackson County. The morato
rium was put in place last fall
to give county officials time
to update county codes and to
create an impact fee system.
LOT SIZES
Under the new R-l devel
opment codes, the smallest lot
size will be 1/2 acre, but only if
the development has both pub
lic water and sewer available.
In unincorporated areas of the
county public sewer is rare in
most areas.
For most future develop
ments, 3/4 acre lots will be the
minimum size if the develop
ment has public water and a
septic tank. For properties that
lack public water and public
sewer, 1.5 acres will be the
minimum lot size.
In addition to raising lot
sizes, the BOC also approved
doing away with open space
subdivisions. Those develop
ments had allowed higher-den
sity projects in exchange for
preserving green space. But
some officials thought that
process was being abused by
some developers who county
unbuildable land (such as wet
lands) as green space just to get
higher-density on their build-
able property.
The board also did away
with single-family housing
in R-2 and R-3 zoning ar
eas which are designed for
high-density projects, such as
townhouses, condominiums,
duplexes and apartments.
In related action, the BOC
also amended county codes
governing storm water de
tention ponds and fencing.
Among the details the county
is doing away with solid met
al fencing and is creating rules
to cover the use of berms as a
See BOC, page 2A
JCHS graduation ahead Thursday
Jackson County High School will hold its graduation ceremo
ny Thursday, May 26 at 8 p.m. at JCHS Stadium.
JCHS Stadium is located at 152 Jaxco Jet, Hoschton.
MAILING LABEL
Movie night
Photo by Ben Munro
A crowd gathers on the Braselton Town Green Saturday (May 21) for a showing of “Ghostbusters:
Afterlife” as part of Braselton’s “Movies Under the Stars” series.
Jackson Co. parks
Gum Springs Park nearing completion,
according to county manager
Photo by Ben Munro
Construction of Gum Springs Park is nearing completion, according to
Jackson County manager Kevin Poe.
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
A project beset by delays
could soon wrap up.
Jackson County man
ager Kevin Poe said Gum
Springs Park, located near
the intersection of Gum
Springs Church Rd. and
Hwy. 124, is almost com
plete. Poe said on Friday
(May 20) that the park is
two to three weeks away
from being finalized after
construction ran approxi
mately nine months past its
original completion date.
“We had some major parts
of it that had some — just
like any other project going
on now — supply-chain is
sues,” Poe said. “But we’re
seeing the light at the end
of the tunnel. We’re getting
close to finishing. It’s going
to be a good park for that
area.”
The park will feature
baseball and soccer fields,
a playground, batting cages,
baseball courts and walking
trails.
Poe said the playground
in place, and that area is
being sodded. Bleachers,
concrete and slat work at
the ballfields will all be
ready within in two to three
weeks, he said.
Poe said the project’s big
gest delays came with con
crete, which required an or
der five weeks in advance:
fencing, which was delayed
three months; and delivery
of the playground equip
ment, which was delayed
six months.
The project has been car
ried out in two phases.
Grading work, concrete
work and original sodding
were installed during the
first phase. Lights, fencing,
See Park, page 3A
Hoschton
Hoschton police chief wants school zone speed cameras
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Hoschton Police Chief
Brad Hill is pushing for
school speed zone camer
as to slow down traffic on
Hwy. 53.
Hill went before the Jack-
son County school board
earlier this month to advo
cate for school speed-zone
cameras along Hwy. 53
near West Jackson Elemen
tary School. Hill, who took
over Hoschton’s re-instated
police department less than
a year ago, said the city is
having issues with speed
ers along the state route.
He told the BOE that a
speed study indicated traf
fic reaching speeds of 60-
70 mph on Hwy. 53 during
school hours. The speed
limit is 25 mph.
“Those cameras will re
place an officer having to
sit up there and run speed
detection,” Hill said on
Wednesday (May 18) of
last week. “It’s not a mon
ey-maker thing. It’s not try
ing to bring in revenue for
the department. It’s a cor
rection thing, a deterrent for
people to not speed through
there during school hours.”
According to school
See Cameras, page 2A
