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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2021
Auburn council approves annexation, rezoning of Fowler Farms property
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barro wne wsj ournal. com
The Auburn City Council approved on
Thursday, Aug. 5, the annexation and re
zoning of the Fowler Farms property off
Apalachee Church Road, clearing the way
for over 500 single-family detached homes
and townhomes, along with commercial
space, to be built there over the next few
years.
The council's decision to annex in and
rezone the 172-acre tract south of Atlanta
Highway and east of Auburn Station will
allow developer Chafin Land Development
to build a “planned suburban village” with
335 single-family homes, 174 townhomes,
20 “model units” and space for offices and/
or restaurants fronting the development.
Construction isn’t slated to begin until
2023 and will be phased in with an antici
pated five-year buildout. Among the several
conditions attached to the council's approv
al, only a certain number of building permits
will be issued each year.
The conditions also include improvements
to Apalachee Church Road and its intersec
tion with Atlanta Highway that were recom
mendations in a traffic study for the project.
The Fowler Farms project is the second
large mixed-use development greenlit in re
cent weeks by the council, which in June ap
proved a request to annex and rezone land to
the west of the Atlanta Highway/Hill’s Shop
Road intersection for 253 townhomes, 133
single-family homes and commercial space.
The council is now set to take up another
request by Chafin Land Development and
Clayton Properties to annex and rezone 98
acres on Carl-Cedar Hill Road on the east
ern end of Auburn in order to build 315 sin
gle-family houses.
The city’s planning commission will hold
a public hearing and likely make a recom
mendation on the request at its Aug. 18
meeting, and the council will discuss it the
following night before a scheduled vote at
its Sept. 2 meeting.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business Thursday, the council:
•approved a $13,600 proposal with En
gineering Management Inc. for a city wide
roadway evaluation and report. Public
works director Iris Akridge said the eval
uations and scoring of each road and their
conditions will allow the city to prioritize
needed improvements and better plan for
them in budgets.
•approved the appointment of Danielle
Purvis to the city’s zoning board of appeals.
BOE approves architect for
planned renovations at pair
of elementary schools
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjoumal.com
The Barrow County
Board of Education ap
proved on Aug. 3 an archi
tectural services proposal
for planned renovations
at Bethlehem and County
Line elementary schools, as
well as for other non-state
funded projects.
The district will contract
with Cunningham Fore
hand Matthews and Moore,
which has done work on
several school projects in
the county in recent years.
Joe Perno, assistant super
intendent for system op
erations, said the work at
the elementary schools is
targeted to begin next sum
mer.
The district will pay the
architectural firm 5% of the
cost of construction for the
work at the two schools,
and the district will be re
imbursed for those costs by
the Georgia Department of
Education.
The non-state funded
projects, which Perno said
will need attention in the
coming months and years,
include work at the dis
trict’s athletic and agricul
ture facilities, its mainte
nance department property,
pod and mobile units, the
old Bethlehem and County
Line elementary buildings,
Sims Academy, the profes
sional development center
and the Center for Innova
tive Teaching.
The school board will
have to approve any guar
anteed maximum price rec
ommendations higher than
$25,000 before construc
tion begins at any of the
locations.
eligible, home-school stu
dents would have to enroll
in at least one “qualifying
course” facilitated by the
district, maintain good aca
demic standing and be sub
ject to the same tryout rules
and expenses associated
with any team or group.
•approved the use of Aus
tin, Texas-based ESS for
substitute and staffing ser
vices, effective Sept. 6. It’s
a change from the district’s
current provider, Kelly Ser
vices, and district officials
said they anticipate the dis
trict will save 7% on sub
stitute teacher and parapro-
fessional fees and 4% on
substitute and permanent
positions in school food
nutrition. The estimated
savings are $40,000 based
on the district’s $800,000
substitute budget.
•approved the payment
of $50,085 to Audio En
hancements for the use of
ViewPath in 797 district
classrooms for the 2021-
22 academic year. Teachers
use the system to record
and distribute classroom
sessions. The system re
quires an annual license fee
of $106 per classroom. Of
the payment total, $34,397
represents a one-time 50%
discount the district is re
ceiving ($53 per classroom
for 649 classrooms where
the system was installed
in 2020) because the class
rooms didn’t utilize it due
to the coronavirus pandem
ic. The remaining $15,688
covers the full $106 fee
for 148 classrooms where
the system was installed in
2019.
•recognized the student
winners of the 2021 Tar
Wars poster contest that
took place last school year.
The school district partners
with Northeast Georgia
Medical Center Barrow on
the contest, in which stu
dents demonstrate what
they have learned through
the tobacco-free education
program. District win
ners included: first place,
Jailyn Delira-Castaneda,
fifth grade, Yargo Elemen
tary; second place, Noah
Self, fourth grade, Yar
go Elementary; and Azul
Velazquez, fifth grade,
Bethlehem Elementary.
Self also finished third in
the statewide competition.
•recognized Bramlett El
ementary for being named
a Title I Distinguished
School and Auburn Ele
mentary and Russell Mid
dle for being named Title
I Reward schools by the
Georgia Department of
Education. A Title I Re
ward School is a Title I
school among the top 5%
in the state determined to
be “making the most prog
ress in improving the per
formance of’ students over
the most recent two years
on statewide assessments.
A Title I Distinguished
School is considered
among the top 5% of Ti
tle I schools statewide that
have the “highest absolute
performance” based on the
most current statewide as
sessment.
August 11,2021
Statham proposes provisional-use
permits for backyard chickens, livestock
By Scott Thompson
sthompson@barrownewsjournal.com
Backyard chickens and other live
stock would be permitted in residen
tial zoning districts in Statham through
provisional-use permits under a new
ly-proposed city ordnance change.
The latest development is one that
Mayor Joe Piper, who vetoed a coun
cil-approved ordinance allowing back
yard chickens in residential districts,
hopes will ease a controversy that has
been brewing over the issue for several
months.
The city council on Thursday, Aug.
5. was presented with an ordinance that
lays out the procedure for applying
for a provisional use once lot-size and
setback requirements are met. A vote
is scheduled for the council's Aug. 17
meeting.
Property owners with a minimum lot
size of half an acre would be allowed
to apply for the provisional use for
backyard chickens. There would be a
limit of six hens on parcels less than an
acre and 12 on properties with one or
more acres. The city’s ban on roosters
remains in place.
Chickens in residential zones would
require written approval from the city's
zoning administrator.
Property owners’ applications would
have to include a survey of the prop
erty, the proposed location for the ani
mal housing quarters, and a signed and
notarized statement from any and all
adjoining property owners consenting
to the use.
Backyard chickens have not been al
lowed in residential zones going back
to a 2007 ordinance, Piper noted, but
that rule has not consistently been en
forced.
This spring, the city faced com
plaints from residents on both sides of
the issue — some centering around the
presence of backyard chickens in res
idential zones and others on citations
that were given.
In June, the council voted 3-2 in favor
of city code amendments that allowed
backyard chickens in most residential
districts and reduced the minimum lot
size for chickens from one acre to a
quarter of an acre.
But a week later, Piper vetoed the
change, saying it was pushed through
without proper research and was ini
tiated to “appease a small number of
residents.” He said the quarter-acre lot
size was too small and cited an increase
in noise and nuisance complaints from
other residents. The council on July
20 voted 3-2 against Piper’s veto but
failed to reach the required four votes
to override it.
Piper said Thursday the provision
al-use process would strike a balance
by allowing property owners to apply
to have the backyard chickens and for
their neighbors to have a voice in the
process.
“I’d like to think that this gives some
opportunity, but this also maintains
some (city) control (over the issue).”
Piper said. “This puts the onus on the
property owners. It’s not like this is a
new thing, but this is a way to allow for
(the chickens) if someone wants it and
their surrounding neighbors are fine
with it. It also gives the city a way to
police it from time to time.”
City attorney Jody Campbell noted
that the provisional use on a property
would not apply if a property owner
sells their property. Also, he said, if a
person were to buy adjoining property
after the provisional use is granted and
objects to the livestock, the property
owner with the provisional use would
have the right to continue it.
“If new neighbors come in, they buy
with knowledge of (the provisional
use),” Campbell said.
Councilman Gary Venable asked if
there would be “any wiggle room” for
properties that don’t quite measure a
quarter-acre, but Piper said such an ac
commodation would make the discus
sion of the past few weeks and his veto
“a moot point.”
“I did not agree that a smaller patch
of land was acceptable. Other citizens
felt the same way,” he said. “(Half an
acre) is a reasonable starting point.”
~ Crossword Puzzle
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business at its
meeting last week, the
board:
•heard from Jennifer
Houston, assistant super
intendent for business
services that the district
brought in a monthly record
$1.47 million in ELOST
collections in July.
•approved three policy
changes to bring the dis
trict in compliance with
recently-approved chang
es to state law. Those in
cluded: allowing up to
120 hours (three full work
weeks) of paid parental
leave for teachers who have
been employed at least six
months and worked at least
700 hours; new procedures
that outline how teachers
can appeal performance
ratings they receive from
their district and how they
can claim “procedural de
ficiencies” on the part of
the district conducting the
evaluation; and allowing
home-school students to
participate in sports and
extracurricular activities at
the public school they are
zoned for. In order to be
Considering
((TM*R) )) buying or
selling?
770-867-9026
www.maynardrealty.com
Across
1. Secondhand
5. Juice from a maple
8. Robbers’ pursuers
12. Change position
13. Fruit-filled dessert
14. Hawaiian feast
15. Frost or Keats, e.g.
16. Troublesome tyke
17. Land amid water
18. Tennis shot
20. Huffed and puffed
22. Reversing
24. Bank
27. Cattle holder
28. In times past
31. Bowler’s target
32. Houston baseballer
34. Fellow
35. Noshed
36. Buck’s mate
37. Harvest
39. Traveling salesman
41. Chinese temple
44. Commands
48. Footed vases
49. Black-eyed vegetable
51. Hurt
52. Oceans
53. Klutz
54. -handed
55. Despise
56. Open with a crowbar
57. Begonia beginning
Down
1. Refs’ kin
2. Grime
3. Continually
4. Long way around
5. Secretly watched
6. Get a bead on
7. More vivacious
8. Adhere
9. Unseat
10. Whiten
11. Took to court
19. Massaged
21. Irritated
23. Made a choice
24. Health haven
25. Triple, e.g.
26. At with
(attuned to)
28. Beer’s kin
29. Sal, for example
30. Strange
33. Soft drink
38. Purple flowers
39. Search party
40. Covered in foliage
41. When comes
to shove
42. Field of study
43. Pesky bug
45. Small bay
46. Shoe or clothes
47. Convey
50. Lend an
(listen)
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