Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, June 14, 2023
The Braselton News
Page 3A
o
o
NEW SPACE
Hoschton Downtown Development Authority (DDA) Director Jessica Greene is pictured in the
customer service area of Hoschton’s new city hall complex.
HOSTING MEETING
Hoschton’s new city hall community room hosted a meeting of Jackson County’s municipal
leaders on Monday (June 12).
Braselton
Speed limit dropping
on Hwy. 211 in Braselton
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
Drivers will have to adjust to
slower speeds in Braselton.
Following a Georgia Depart
ment of Transportation (DOT) re
view, the speed limit will drop from
55 mph to 45 mph on Flwy. 211
through town.
The Braselton Town Council
unanimously approved the changes
to its ordinance at its June 12 meet
ing.
Enforcement will not be imme
diate. The new speed limit signs on
Flwy. 211 must be posted for a re
quired period before police can run
laser or radar on vehicles.
In other business, the council:
•reviewed its tentative Fiscal
Year 2024 budget at its June 8
work session. Preliminary numbers
call for a 15% increase in spending
($7.1 million in total expenditures)
anda20%jump in revenue ($10.55
million in total revenue) compared
to FY2023. The council is expected
to vote on the budget during a June
28 5 p.m. called meeting.
•unanimously authorized a let
ter of support, contingent on or
dinance criteria being met, for a
location change for Cork and Keg,
a package store on Flwy. 53. The
business’s lender requires the letter
before the relocation. Store owners
plan to construct a new building be
hind their current location.
•approved a new alcohol license
for wine and malt beverages for
Kerry Lynn De Young of Red Pen
ny, LLC, for Pinspiration at 7380
Spout Springs Rd. The approval
passed 4-0, with Mayor Kurt Ward
abstaining.
•approved the reappointment of
downtown development authority
members Cheri Fluff and Sue Wy
att. The reappointments passed 4-0,
with Ward abstaining.
Jackson Co.
BOE approves tentative budget
The Jackson County Board of
Education has approved a ten
tative $133.4 million budget for
FY2024, which begins July 1.
The system has not yet set its
millage rate for local property tax
es, a move that won’t take place
until the fall when the county tax
digest is finalized.
The tentative budget calls for
$57.2 million in local property
tax dollars, a $10 million increase
over the initial FY2023 budget.
School leaders anticipate the sys
tem’s tax digest will grow around
20% this year, an amount that may
turn out to be lower than the actu
al growth due to a large number
of higher property assessments.
Around 47% of the system’s bud
get comes from local sources with
the rest from the state and federal
funds.
Of note in the FY2024 budget
is around $2 million for the open
ing and operations of the new
Legacy Knoll Middle School;
$2.6 million in salary increases
which includes $2,000 per teacher
from the state plus a 2% local pay
raise; $4.2 million in higher health
insurance costs and $2.5 million
for the acquisition of property for
future growth needs.
South Hall
Flowery Branch man
arrested on multiple
counts of child
pom possession
Expansion continued from lA
A Flowery Branch man
remains in the Hall County
Jail with no bond follow
ing his arrest on multiple
counts of child pornogra
phy possession.
Jonathan Malinguaggio,
39, turned himself in just
before noon Tuesday, June
6, 2023, according to jail
records.
Hall County Sheriff’s
Office (HCSO) criminal
investigators had issued
ceased man in a field off Hwy.
124, according to a June 4 re
port.
The deputy was reportedly
searching the area for a vehicle
sought by Doraville police for
its possible use in a crime.
After locating the vehicle
at a carwash, the deputy was
asked to look for a suspect
seen on video footage leaving
the location. Using a K9, the
deputy reportedly found the
deceased man and a frreann in
an adjacent field.
The JCSO turned the scene
over to the GBI.
In a June 5 Facebook post,
the JCSO alerted residents to
an arrest warrant last week
for Malinguaggio after fo
rensic testing of his cell
phone uncovered 20 sepa
rate images of child sexual
abuse material (CSAM) on
the device. The phone was
seized when the suspect
was arrested in January on
child sex abuse charges.
The investigation into
Malinguaggio is ongoing
and additional charges are
pending.
“a heavy presence of Doraville
police” around Hwy. 124 and
Hwy. 332 working on a miss
ing-person case.
Later in the week, the JCSO
shared a post from the GBI
stating that the GBI and Dora
ville police were searching for
a 39-year-old black female,
Ebony Nicole Varner. Accord
ing to the post, she was last
seen June 3 in Doraville near
Peachtree Industrial Blvd. and
1-285.
“We think she is in danger,”
the post read.
As of Tuesday (June 13) af
ternoon, there were no updates
on Varner’s status.
session over the proposal.
Points made at a March
planning commission public
hearing were rehashed Thurs
day before another packed
meeting room.
Representatives of Pulte
and Fountainhead, the prop
erty owner, contended that
the proposed changes to the
original plan allow for a better
and more marketable devel
opment than the 1999 plan
would yield. Julie Sellers, rep
resenting the applicant, said
the proposed project moves
houses further away from
Chateau Elan’s Woodlands
golf course and existing resi
dences than designated in the
original 1999 zoning and calls
for 100 acres of open space.
She also defended the quality
of homes proposed in the ex
pansion and said they’re com
patible with the Chateau Elan
area. Sellers showed images
of a home in Chateau Elan
and an existing Del Webb
home, saying the two were
“substantially similar.”
She also said the new plan
eliminates road access into the
Chateau Elan neighborhoods.
According to Sellers, the
expansion project has gar
nered support in both the Del
Webb at Chateau Elan and
Chateau Elan neighborhoods.
“This is not a one-sided op
position to some super-con
troversial zoning change and
use,” Sellers said.
Three residents spoke in
favor of Pulte’s proposal, with
Del Webb resident Linda Hill
contending “a small faction”
of the community’s residents
oppose it.
“But they do not represent
the majority of the homeown
ers,” she said.
Meanwhile, three citizens
spoke out against Pulte’s
plans.
A major criticism of the
project is the anticipated im
pact on traffic. Those who
spoke in opposition warned of
the effect of over 300 homes
on a narrow Duncan Creek
Rd. and its intersection with
an already-congested Spout
Springs Rd.
Christa O’Rear, who serves
as homeowners association
president of Stone Ridge
Manor, which backs up to
Duncan Creek Rd., said trips
on Duncan Creek Rd. could
skyrocket from 5-10 a day to
2,200. O’Rear said the neigh
borhood’s concerns with the
expansion “are extremely per
sonal.”
Joy Basham, speaking for a
group of 162 Del Webb resi
dents who have hired an attor
ney, offered several objections
to the project. Among the con
cerns she raised, Basham said
the proposal doesn’t meet the
threshold of a PUD and is an
attempt to circumvent exist
ing zoning districts “to pump
out mass-market homes.”
She later pointed to poten
tial increased traffic within
Del Webb, predicting that
drivers in the area would use
the neighborhood streets as a
cut-through. The group Bash
am represents has asked that
a cul-de-sac be placed where
the new portion of the devel
opment would meet Duncan
Creek Rd. to restrict access.
Additionally, Basham crit
icized Del Webb’s amenities
as “already severely lacking.”
Safety was another signifi
cant point of contention, with
opponents noting the Del
Webb development would al
low entry points into Chateau
Elan — a gated development
— for walkers, bikers or those
on golf carts via the Wood
lands golf course.
“The Pulte plan challenges
the integrity of our neighbor
hood as a gated community,”
said Chateau Elan resident
Karen Tatro.
She added that Chateau
Elan “can’t be kind-of-gated.”
“That doesn’t fly,” said
Tatro, who said she has over
400 signatures from Chateau
Elan residents opposing the
project.
Tatro, a real estate agent,
expressed concerns that the
new Del Webb homes would
negatively affect property val
ues inside adjacent Chateau
Elan with non-custom homes.
As for safety issues, coun-
cilmember Jim Joedecke
was unsure about the danger
to Chateau Elan from the
proposed Del Webb homes.
While he said the access points
into Chateau Elan were a con
cern, “I straggle to see a huge
influx of folks from the Del
Webb neighborhood coming
into that neighborhood caus
ing trouble like teenagers in
an unrestricted neighborhood
might,” he said.
Joedecke mentioned con
versations in which Pulte
agreed to set aside money
for Chateau Elan HOAs to
address safety issues, which
Pulte representatives con
firmed.
Among the mayor and
council, Mayor Kurt Ward
asked the vast majority of
questions of Pulte and Foun
tainhead representatives and
others in attendance. He spent
approximately 40 minutes
with inquiries, including those
related to traffic, safety, lot
sizes, availability ofblueprints
for the John Wieland homes
and Fountainhead’s request
for the PUD amendment over
the 1999 plan.
Ward also referenced a
statement from Brent Hodges,
Gwinnett County’s road con
struction manager, who said
Duncan Creek Rd. couldn’t
sustain the anticipated traf
fic levels generated from the
Pulte additions and a nearby
Meritage development of
over 300 planned homes.
The Braselton Town Coun
cil will revisit Pulte’s proposal
at its July 10 business meeting
with a potential vote.
Body continued from lA
Beer continued from 3A
of board members Cheri
Winham Huff and Sue Wy
att, whose terms are expiring.
•heard that the DDA’s sec
ond ArtRageous festival will
be held indoors and outdoors
on Sept. 9. The indoor lo
cation will be the Braselton
Civic Center, while the out
door location will be the
town green.
•heard that a Braselton
Parking Deck mural exten
sion design has been submit
ted for approval.
•heard that the DDA pro
motions committee wants to
add downtown signage high
lighting the parking deck
and other landmarks. It is
also interested in introducing
downtown scavenger hunts,
geocaching events and a car
show.
•learned that the DDA’s
Toast to Braselton will be
moved to a Friday (May
10) in 2024. The event has
previously been held on a
Thursday. Chapman said this
year’s Toast to Braselton net
ted $39,649.
•heard that the econom
ic development committee
wants to establish a grant
application process to assist
local business owners with
various projects, from capital
improvement to new product
introduction.
lira! -w- .A
OO PM DOWNTOWN
FIREWORKS
BEGIN AT DARK!
MUSIC * GAMES * VENDORS * FOOD * FAMILY FUN
FOLLOW MAIN STREET JEFFERSON ON FACEBOOK • VISIT CITYOFJEFFERSONGA.COM
CALL 706-367-5754 • EMAIL MHEAD@CITYOFJEFFERSONGA.COM