Newspaper Page Text
o
o
Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy
Wednesday, June 1, 2022
Vol. 15 No. 25 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages
Graduation celebration
■jjfsppL’A
i*i ' ~ iju,
Ljjp In
Hr > v. m
WHAfl If ilj
Photo by Wesleigh Sagon
Addisyn Natalia Aguilar was smiling as she celebrated her graduation from Jackson County
High School on Thursday, May 26.
Hoschton
Public hearings for
potential Hoschton
parking deck scheduled
INDEX
Opinion
4A
Public safety
5A
Social
6A
School
7A, 10A
Sports
7A
Obituaries
8-9A
Classifieds
11A
Retiring superintendent
celebrated PAGE3A
Multiple public hearings relat
ed to a potential parking deck in
downtown Hoschton are sched
uled for June 20.
The hearings will be held during
the Hoschton City Council's work
session that evening (5:30 p.m.) at
the Hoschton Train Depot located
at 4272 Hwy. 53.
According to a public notice,
the city seeks to rezone 6.78 acres
fronting Mulberry, Broad and
White streets from R-l (single
family, low-density residential dis
trict) to C-2 (general commercial
highway-oriented district) for a
parking structure, restaurant and
other uses. It also requests a con
ditional use permit to construct a
parking structure in C-2-zoned
property.
Additionally, the council will
hold public hearings over multiple
variances to setbacks and buffers
related to the rezoning application.
The property is located one
block from Hwy. 53 in downtown
Hoschton. Interim City Manager
Shannon Sell said the goal is to
build a parking deck there.
“That would be parking that we
could use for all the stores down
town, not to mention for the festi
vals and stuff like that," Sell said.
He noted that the availability of
downtown parking “is a big issue.”
Sell estimated a deck of 250-
300 parking spaces with the poten
tial of retail shopping on the street
level. He provided a general cost
estimate between $8 million and
$10 million.
The deck could include as many
as four levels if retail is a level to
itself. Given the slope of the prop-
See Hearings, page 3A
Hoschton
Leaving
something
behind
Hoschton leaders seeking items for
time capsule to be opened in 2081
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Hoschton downtown
leaders are starting a proj
ect for which they will ul
timately never enjoy the
reward.
The city’s downtown de
velopment authority (DDA)
will soon be collecting
items for a time capsule to
be unveiled when the city
turns 200 — in 2081.
“The high likelihood is
that nobody that’s work
ing on this will be alive
when the time capsule is
opened,” said DDA mem
ber Joe Vogt, who heads up
Hoschton’s historical com
mittee. “So this is truly one
of those deals where you’re
looking forward by planting
a tree that you’ll never enjoy
the shade of.”
The capsule will be
sealed as part of a celebra
tion of the city’s 140th anni
versary. Hoschton reached
that milestone in 2021, but
the city is commemorating
the occasion on Oct. 8 as
part of its large fall festival.
The time capsule, sug
gested by DDA member
Jeff Parkinson, evolved
from a brainstorming ses
sion for the 140-year anni
versary.
See Capsule, page 2A
Hoschton
leaders
are asking
residents
to submit
items for
a time
capsule
that will be
opened in
2081 when
the city
turns 200.
Schools
New principal
named at WJES
The Jackson County
Board of Education recent
ly approved hiring a new
principal at West Jackson
Elementary School.
Lori King was promoted
from assistant principal to
principal effective July 1.
The BOE also approved
two new assistant princi
pals in the school system.
Kristi Terry was trans
ferred from instructional
coach at Gum Springs
Elementary School to
assistant principal at
North Jackson Elementa
ry School while Sharon
Ausbum was hired as an
assistant principal at East
Jackson Comprehensive
High School.
The BOE approved
those and several oth
er personnel moves at a
called meeting on May 25.
MAILING LABEL
Braselton
More guidelines for PUDs
in Braselton proposed
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Braselton leaders are
looking to set parameters
for residential vs. non-resi-
dential uses within planned
unit developments (PUD).
The town’s planning
commission on Monday
(May 23) unanimously vot
ed to recommend a devel
opment-code amendment
mandating that single-use
residential structures will
not account for more
than 50% of the building
ground-floor area through
out a PUD.
Additionally, at least
30% of PUD land will be
devoted to passive recre
ational use.
This measure would pre
vent developers from creat
ing a PUD made up almost
exclusively of residences.
“It’s basically to prevent
a situation where all they
want to do is build a subdi
vision.” Braselton Planning
and Development director
Kevin Keller said.
This amendment would
not apply to existing PUD-
zoned property.
The planning commis
sion also recommended
approval of an amendment
that would require that no
multi-family or residential
living units to be locat
ed on the first floor of any
PUD building, except for
single-family residences
located on its own fee-sim
ple lot.
LIMIT ON
PUBLIC HEARING
POSTPONEMENTS
The Town of Braselton is
seeking to cap the number
of times an applicant can
postpone a public hearing
in front of the town council,
the planning board or the
board of zoning appeals.
A proposed amendment
to the town’s codes would
limit an applicant to one
postponement. Any defer
rals following that are at
council’s or the boards’ dis
cretion.
Conversely, the planning
commission can only post
pone a public hearing once
without the applicant’s ap
proval.
The planning commis
sion voted unanimously to
See Postponements, page 2A
'0 4 8 7 9
1 4 5 4 0
