Newspaper Page Text
16 Pages, 2 Sections, Plus Preprints A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, August 11, 2021
BOC approves controversial rezoning request
for townhome development in Hoschton area
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barro wne wsj ournal .com
Despite objections from a large and vo
cal crowd in opposition, the Barrow Coun
ty Board of Commissioners on Tuesday,
Aug. 10. voted in favor of a controversial
rezoning request for a mixed-use develop
ment in the Hoschton area. The decision
came roughly 10 months after the board
denied the original request and followed a
settlement agreement reached last month
between the county and applicants for the
BOC to rehear the case.
After a more than 20-minute public hear
ing, the board was unanimous in its deci
sion to rezone and change the county’s
future land-use map designation for 53.2
acres at 1308 Lee Stone Rd. — about a
mile south of the intersection of highways
211 and 124 — which will allow for Ridge
line Land Planning to develop a mixed-use
project with 280 townhomes and 130,000
square feet of commercial space on 8.5
acres of the property.
The latest plans from developer Holt
Persinger marked a change from plans pre
sented last year that called for 280 apart
ment units, 158 townhomes and commercial
space. Aaron Kappler, an attorney repre
senting the developer, said the apartment
component had been entirely removed from
the plans, and a prohibition on apartments
was one of 20 conditions attached to the
BOC's approval of the requests Tuesday.
Among other conditions:
•A traffic study must be prepared by a
registered engineer in Georgia and submit
ted to the county’s planning department,
and the developer must comply with any
and all recommendations, standards and re
quirements set by the county and the Geor
gia Department of Transportation.
•The owner/developer must dedicate
right of way necessary to “safely realign”
the intersection of Highway 211 and Free
man Johnson Road.
•The commercial component of the de
velopment must not include any mini-ware
houses or storage units or “grocery stores
smaller than 30,000 square feet.”
•The residential portion of the develop
ment must have restricted gate access.
•The townhome units must be a mini
mum of 1,800 heated square feet with no
vinyl siding.
See BOC, page 3A
Google Maps image
The Barrow County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, Aug. 10, granted a rezon
ing request for 53.2 acres at 1308 Lee Stone Rd., Hoschton, in between Highway 211
and Freeman Johnson Rd., which will allow for a mixed-use development of 280
townhomes and commercial space to be built there.
New
COVID
cases
continue
to increase
in county
The spread of COVID-19
continued to worsen over
the past week in Barrow
County, while the county
did not move the needle on
its vaccination rate.
Another 39 new cases
in Barrow were confirmed
Tuesday, Aug. 10, by the
Georgia Department of
Public Health with a roll
ing seven-day average of
37.7 new daily cases as the
county, state and country
continue to see the highest
infection levels since the
winter peak.
As of Tuesday, 466 new
cases had been confirmed in
See Virus, page 3A
Index:
Public safety
5A
Local news
2-3A
Classifieds
4B
Legals
5-7B
Obituaries
6-7A
Opinion
4A
Sports
1-3, 8B
MAILING LABEL
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Raising awareness
Submitted photos
The Barrow County School System and Northeast Georgia Medical Center
Barrow recognized the system’s Tar Wars poster contest winners during the
county board of education meeting Aug. 3.
‘Tar Wars’ tobacco-free education
program makes impact in schools
This past spring, all fourth- and fifth-
grade students in the Barrow County
School System (about 2,100) participat
ed in Tar Wars, a tobacco-free educa
tion program developed by the Ameri
can Academy of Family Physicians.
It was the third consecutive year that
Northeast Georgia Medical Center Bar-
row partnered with the school district
to teach students about the short-term
health effects of tobacco use, the cost
associated with using tobacco products,
and the advertising techniques used by
the tobacco industry to market to youth.
“The future health of Barrow County
communities rests in the lifestyle choic
es of the youth today,” Sunita Sing,
public relations manager for NGMC
Barrow, said in a news release. “With
tobacco, nicotine and alcohol being
at the root cause of many illnesses, it
is important for our youth to be aware
of the impact of decisions made today
on the rest of their lives. With the goal
of reducing tobacco use among young
people and beginning a discussion
about changing culture, we are honored
to partner with Barrow County School
System in our fight against smoking and
(substance) abuse among our children.”
As part of the program, students also
designed a poster to discourage tobac
co use. Each class selected the top three
posters, which went on to participate in a
district-level competition with over 200
poster entries. NGMC Barrow narrowed
the submissions to 36. which were then
voted on through Facebook to select the
top three poster entries for the school
system, which then were submitted for
the statewide competition.
Jailyn Delira-Castaneda, a fifth-grad
er at Yargo Elementary School (now
in sixth grade), was voted the system
winner for her “Be a Fighter, Put Down
Yargo Elementary School fifth-grad
er Jailyn Delira-Castaneda’s “Be a
Fighter, Put Down the Lighter” post
er won first place in the systemwide
competition.
Yargo Elementary fourth-grader
Noah Self’s “Hit Tobacco Out of the
Park” poster was voted second place
in the system but also finished third
in the statewide competition.
the Lighter” poster. Yargo Elementa
ry fourth-grader Noah Self (now in
fifth grade) was the system runner-up
but also placed third in the statewide
competition for his “Hit Tobacco Out
of the Park” poster. Azul Velazquez, a
fifth-grader at Bethlehem Elementary
(now in sixth grade), placed third in the
district for her “Say No to Smoking!”
poster.
Traditionally implemented during
Red Ribbon Week in October, the Tar
See Tar Wars, page 3A
Several apply for vacant
Winder council seat
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjoumal.com
At least seven people so far
have put their name in the hat
to fill the at-large Winder City
Council seat left vacant after
Holly Sheats’ resignation last
month, including a former
council member. And there
could be more on the way
before the special qualifying
period closes at the end of this
week.
Former Ward 2 councilman
A1 Brown, who was appointed
to the council in 2013 to fill the
remainder of the late Charlie
Eberhart’s term following his
death, was among the seven
people who had applied to be
appointed to the seat by the
rest of the council as of 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 10. Brown was
elected to a full term in 2015
and was defeated by Kobi Kil
gore in his bid for re-election in
2019.
Other candidates who had
qualified as of Tuesday after
noon were Robert Lanham,
Bobby Yarbrough, Power Ev
ans, Pam Powell, Jerry Martin
and David Brock.
Lanham, a longtime observ
er of city government and reg
ular attendee of council meet
ings, ran unsuccessfully against
Sheats for the at-large post in
2019. He was also among the
seven candidates who inter
viewed for Eberhart’s seat in
2013. Lanham currently chairs
the Winder Planning Board
and is a member of the Barrow
County Planning Commission.
Brock is also a member of the
city’s planning board. Mean
while, Powell was among a
large contingent of residents
who recently spoke out against
the city’s planned doubling of
its millage rate during a slate
of public hearings on the in
crease. That proposed increase,
amid intense backlash from
residents, along with the city’s
adoption of a fiscal year 2022
budget in a split vote, played a
large part in Sheats’ decision in
late July to step down a little
over 18 months into her first
term on the council.
Qualifying for the at-large
seat is free and open to all city
residents and is scheduled to
end at noon Friday, Aug. 13.
Anyone interested in filling the
seat is asked to contact Moni
ca Franklin, Barrow County’s
director of elections and voter
registration, by phone at 770-
307-3110, by email at mfrank-
lin@barrowga.org or by fax at
770-307-1054.
The council is scheduled to
appoint Sheats’ replacement
at its Sept. 2 meeting, and the
new member will be sworn
in at the Sept. 7 meeting. The
person chosen will fill the re
mainder of Sheats’ term, which
expires at the end of 2023, and
will be up for election that year.
GENERAL
MUNICIPAL ELECTION
QUALIFYING
Meanwhile, qualifying for
the Nov. 3 municipal elections
across the county is set for next
week.
In Winder, qualifying for
the seats held by Sonny Mor
ris (Ward 1), Jimmy Terrell
(Ward 3) and Chris Akins (at-
large) will be Monday through
Thursday, Aug. 16-19, from
8:30 am. to 4:30 p.m., and Fri
day, Aug. 20, from 8:30 a.m. to
12:30 p.m. at the county elec
tions office, 233 East Broad
St., Winder. The qualifying fee
for each of those seats is $180.
In Auburn, qualifying for
the city wide council seats held
by Robert Vogel m and Bill
Ackworth will be held from
8:30 am. to4:30 p.m. Aug. lb-
19 and 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Aug. 20 at city hall. 1369
Fourth Ave. The qualifying fee
for each seat is $144.
In Statham, qualifying for
the city wide council seats held
by Tammy Crawley. Betty
Lyle and Dwight McCor-
mic will be held from 9 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m. Aug. 16-19 and
9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Aug. 20 at
city hall, 327 Jefferson St. The
qualifying fee for each seat is
$180.
In Bethlehem, qualifying for
the town council seats held by
Bryan Bell (Post 1), Joe Price
(Post 3) and Tommy Buchan
an (Post 5) will be from 12-
4:30 p.m. Aug. 16-19 at town
hall, 750 Manger Ave. The
qualifying fee for each seat is
$22.50.
And in Carl, qualifying for
the mayor’s seat currently held
by David Brock (no relation
to the Winder council can
didate) and the town council
seats held by Frank Cheely
and James Shedd will be from
9 a.m. to 4:30 pm. Aug. 17-18
and 9 am. to 1 p.m. Aug. 19 at
town hall, 1690 Carl-Bethle-
hem Rd. The qualifying fees
are $86.40 for the mayor’s seat
and $72 for each council seat.
