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Serving Braselton, Hoschton, Chateau Elan, Traditions, Reunion, Deaton Creek and West Jackson $1.00 copy
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Vol. 16 No. 31 A publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. www.BraseltonNewsTODAY.com 12 pages
NGHS recognizes physicians
on Top Doctors list
Northeast Georgia Medical Center recently had doctors named to
Atlanta Magazine’s Top Doctors List PAGE 5A
Daycare, fuel center expansion
approved by Braselton council
The Braselton Town Council gave the green light to both a daycare and a fuel
center expansion in the western portion of town PAGE 3A
Hoschton
Lawson approved as Hoschton’s acting mayor
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
The Hoschton City
Council approved Coun
cilman James Lawson as
its acting mayor following
the resignation of Lauren
O’Leary, who is moving
out of the city.
The city is slated to hold
a special election in No
vember for the remainder
Lawson
of O’Leary’s term, which
runs until 2026.
The council selected
Lawson, a councilman
since 2020, as acting
mayor on Thursday (July
6), a day after O’Leary’s
resignation became offi
cial. The decision wasn’t
unanimous, however, with
Councilperson Debbie
Martin voting in opposi
tion in a 3-1 decision.
The decision over who’d
have the city’s authorized
banking signature wasn’t
unanimous either, as both
Lawson and Martin volun
teered for that duty. Coun
cilperson Fredria Sterling
made a motion to approve
Lawson, and the motion
passed with a 3-1 vote,
with Martin voting “no.”
Meanwhile, Councilman
Tracy Carswell announced
during the meeting that
he’d remain as mayor pro-
tem after no other coun-
cilmembers expressed
interest in the position.
He will serve in that role
through the remainder of
his term, which expires at
the end of the year.
With Oleary’s departure,
Hoschton’s seven-member
council is now down to
four members. O’Leary’s
resignation, the third on
the council this year, fol
lowed those of council-
men Adam Ledbetter in
February and Scott Mims
in March.
City leaders knew for a
couple of months about the
mayoral vacancy. O’Leary
See Mayor, page 12A
Braselton
Developer looks to
replace proposed
senior community
with apartments
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews.com
A developer seeks to
build 325 apartment units
in place of a proposed se
nior living community on
an approximate 12-acre
tract on Friendship Rd. in
Braselton.
The applicant, Hollander
Properties, LLC, asks for
a planned unit develop
ment (PUD) master plan
amendment to proceed with
the change. The Braselton
Planning Commission will
hear Hollander’s proposal
during a July 24 (6 p.m.)
public hearing, while the
Braselton Town Coun
cil will hold an Aug. 10
(4:30 p.m.) public hearing.
The proposed site is a
12.44-acre tract at 3036
Friendship Rd. approxi
mately 1.5 miles west of
the intersection with Spout
Springs Rd. The original
plan called for a senior
community of 30 memory
care units, 50 assisted liv
ing units, 120 senior inde
pendent living units and a
21,000-square-foot retail
building.
But Hollander said the
original plan was no longer
economically feasible.
“Due to unforeseen cir
cumstances beyond (the)
owner’s control associat
ed with the impact of the
See Apartments, page 12A
INSIDE
JCHS hosts
basketball camp
PAGE 7A
INDEX
News ...
1A-3A, 5A
Opinion ...
4A
Public safety...
6A
Sports..
7A
Obituaries...
9A
Social.
10A
School
10A
Classifieds...
11A
WORK CONTINUES
Photo by Ben Munro
Work continues on Braselton’s library extension which will add 8,166 square feet to the facility. Town
leaders had hoped to complete the project this month but now project a mid-August finish. The addition
will include a children’s wing, reading garden, outdoor education area, meeting room and study room.
Braselton
Del Webb expansion
requests withdrawn
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Developer PulteGroup
has withdrawn annex
ation and zoning requests
for a much-debated pro
posed expansion of the
Del Webb at Chateau
Elan subdivision.
The items were up for
a vote Monday (July 10)
but withdrawn at the re
quest of PulteGroup.
The expansion plans,
which drew large au
diences to Braselton’s
Police and Municipal
Building for meetings,
had been a topic of pub
lic discussion since Pulte
appeared before the Bra
selton Planning Commis
sion in late March.
Pulte’s expansion plans
called for the addition of
345 homes. But to pro
ceed with those plans, the
See Withdrawal, page 12A
MAILING LABEL
South Hall
Jackson Co.
Flowery Branch teen faces
charges in I-985 shooting
near Friendship Rd.
A Flowery Branch teenager has
been charged as a juvenile follow
ing a Sunday (July 9) afternoon
shooting incident on 1-985 north
bound that left a woman injured
and several vehicles with dam
age, according to a press release
from the Hall County Sheriff’s
Office (HCSO).
Hall County Sheriff’s Office
investigators have charged the
16-year-old male suspect with
one count each of aggravated
assault and terroristic threats
and acts. Additional charges are
pending as investigators complete
reports on at least nine other ve
hicles that sustained damage from
pellet gun fire.
Investigators believe the teen
fired a pellet rifle into northbound
traffic in the area of Mile Marker
10 just north of Friendship Road
between 5 and 5:30 p.m. Sun
day. The woman who was injured
sustained a non-life threatening
wound when she was hit in the
back of the head with a pellet
from the suspect’s weapon.
The suspect was released into
the custody of juvenile authori
ties.
This investigation remains ac
tive.
Open houses for
West Jackson
schools set for Aug. l
Open houses for the West Jackson
cluster of schools will be held on Aug.
1.
The schedule is as follows:
Elementary schools
•9-10 a.m.: last name, A-G
•10:30-11:30 a.m., last name, H-N
•1-2 p.m., last name, O-T
•2:30-3:30 p.m., last name, U-Z
West Jackson Middle School
•4-5 p.m., last name, A-L
•5-6 p.m., last name, M-Z
Legacy Knoll Middle School
•10 a.m. to noon, 3-5 p.m.
Jackson County High School
•5-6:30 p.m., grades 9 and 12
•6:30-8 p.m., grades 10 and 11
Empower
•5-8 p.m., all students
'0 4 8 7 9
1 4 5 4 0