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The Braselton News
Page 3A
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Downtown planning
Braselton residents’ downtown wishlist: high-end retail, connectivity
Photo by Ben Munro
Elliott Cook of Downtown Strategies addresses those who gathered for a Feb.
9 input meeting to discuss the future of downtown Braselton.
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Braselton residents want
high-end retail downtown —
and more sidewalks to get
there.
Those were among the
most-mentioned additions to
the downtown district residents
hope to see in the next five
years when asked during a Feb.
9 input meeting.
The Town of Braselton, in
conjunction with Downtown
Strategies out of Birmingham,
hosted the hour-and-a-half
meeting at the Braselton Civic
Center as the town begins work
on its five-year downtown
plan. Braselton recently fin
ished implementing a 20-year
downtown plan.
Local business owner Larry
Monroe was among those in
terested in high-end retail for
downtown.
“I would want downtown
Braselton to be a destination,”
Monroe said at the meeting.
“I want people from Duluth, I
want people from Cornelia, I
want people from Gainesville,
I want people from Athens to
come here to go shopping, to
eat and for entertainment.”
As for connectivity, resi
dents said they want to reach
and navigate downtown more
safely by foot or bike, noting
the dangers of walking along
Hwy. 53.
“That's what I want to see is
the walkability,” one woman
said.
Similarly, residents asked
for golf cart paths leading to
downtown to increase connec
tivity.
More high-end housing —
be it single-family homes or
townhomes — around down
town was also mentioned.
“If there were something
available in Braselton — a
townhouse of sorts or a car
riage house — then we would
gladly purchase one,” said
Braselton business owner Jack
Ansley.
Ansley added that if down
town offered more residences,
“that’s where your real walk-
ability comes from,” he said.
Other downtown desires in
cluded more child-friendly at
tractions, more outdoor events
and an expanded park. A push
to bring a charter school down
town to the old West Jackson
Primary School building to al
low a closer school option was
also mentioned (A national
charter school organization
has made a lease proposal to
the town).
Residents mentioned mul
tiple times the need to move
truck traffic off of Hwy. 53,
a state route that runs through
downtown. But a town bypass
— which has been discussed
for years — is in the hands of
the DOT, which controls Hwy.
53. The DOT is conducting a
feasibility study of a bypass of
Braselton and Hoschton.
Downtown Strategies pre
sented its own list of options
for downtown based on a
study of the businesses that
residents leave the town to
frequent. That list included
stores for clothing, general
merchandise, sporting goods,
book, hobby supplies, shoes,
electronic devices and home
furnishings, as well as limit
ed-service eating places and
full-service restaurants.
“There are proven numbers
here to show that there is the
opportunity for those types of
businesses,” said Elliott Cook
of Downtown Strategies.
The gathering of public
input, part of the five-year
planning process, will contin
ue. An online survey remains
open and is available at www.
surveymonkey.com/r/Down-
townBraseltonGA.
Hoschton
Hoschton DDA
adds new member
The Hoschton Down
town Development Author
ity (DDA) has added a new
member, welcoming Mariya
Bentz to what's currently a
five-member board.
Bentz, who has worked
with the DDA in helping co
ordinate the city’s framers
market, was sworn in Mon
day (Friday).
She joins as other mem
bers have recently moved
off the board. Shawn Mana-
her resigned in October,
followed by Jeff Parkinson
in December and Shawn
Adams in January. Former
councilman Adam Ledbet
ter was nominated to join
in February but resigned his
positions with the city be
fore being sworn in on the
DDA.
In other business conduct
ed Monday, the DDA:
•approved small changes
to its by-laws to bring them
up-to-date.
•heard from member Mar
sha Hunter that the board
continues to seek historical
mural designs and quotes
for the north and south ends
of City Square.
•heard an update about
its multipurpose path grant
which will help fund a path
along the city hall side of
Hwy. 53. It will run from
the border with Braselton
to Twin Lakes. Project plan
ning has already started.
Federal grant money will
pay for $576,000 of the cost
with a local match from the
city of 20% ($144,000).
•briefly discussed the
city’s history harvest on
March 11 from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m. The city, in coopera
tion with the DDA and the
Hoschton Historic Preserva
tion Committee will collect
photos, documents and ar
tifact’s from the city’s past.
Those donating items are
asked to schedule a 30-min
ute time slot to do so.
•heard from Bentz that
preliminary planning for
beautification of City Square
has started. Potential land
scaping of the city’s green
space next to the gazebo has
been discussed. Bentz said
she’s also seeking volun
teers for beautification days.
She said she hopes to secure
sponsors for each section
of the City Square beautifi
cation process. Bentz proj
ects to start work during the
spring or summer.
•announced city event
updates for year: Egg-Strav-
aganza, April 8; Farmers
Market preview day, April
29: Spring Festival (May
20), Fall Festival (Oct. 6-8),
Truck or Treat (Oct. 27) and
Jingle Mingle (Dec. 1).
•announced that its re
treat is Feb. 28 at 9 a.m. at
the LaQuinta on Hwy. 53
in Braselton. The six-hour
meeting is open to the pub
lic.
Downtown Braselton
Braselton DDA looking at
repainting planters on Frances St.
The planters featured on
Frances St. in Braselton will
receive an update,
Braselton Downtown De
velopment Authority (DDA)
Member Cheri Winham Huff
told the board during its Feb.
9 meeting that the design com
mittee is looking to repaint the
planters and will put out a call
to artists for the project.
“We’ll kind of figure out
what type of design we'd like
for that.” she said.
Installing and maintain
ing more planters throughout
downtown was also men
tioned.
“A lot of the downtowns that
we love, that we kind of like
to model after, have extensive
planters,” Huff said.
In other business, the DDA:
•announced it will hold
downtown cleanup days April
29 and Nov. 4.
•announced that the sec
ond-annual ArtRageous Fes
tival is scheduled for Sept. 9.
The DDA will potentially hold
the event both in the civic cen
ter and on the town green.
•heard that several residents
have signed up for volunteer
orientation as the town begins
its volunteer program.
•heard that 250 people at
tended the town’s Feb. 5 Choc
olate Walk. Fifteen businesses
participated.
•continues to seek sponsors
and silent auction items for its
May 4 Toast to Braselton fund
raiser.
•announced that the town's
farmers market with open Feb.
17. The market will be situated
closer to the town green and
Braselton
Appointments to Braselton boards and commissions made
The Braselton Town Coun
cil made appointments to
multiple boards and commis
sions during its Feb. 13 voting
session.
It voted unanimously to
place Robert Woolridge,
Caryn McGarity and Jon
Wayne on the visitor’s bureau
authority and Indria Bashley,
Spencer Thomas and Keith
Howell on the urban redevel
opment authority.
Appointments to the Bra
selton Downtown Develop
ment Authority are on hold as
the council tabled its decision
for a second-straight month.
Meanwhile, positions re
quiring only a council mem
ber appointment and no vote
included:
•planning commission
— Tom Logan (at-large),
Stephanie Braselton Williams
(District 1), Shawn Grein
er (District 2), Marc Carson
(District 3) and Keith Kloiber
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