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20 Pages, 2 Sections
A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. Winder, Barrow County, Georgia $1.00 Copy Wednesday, March 8, 2023
BOC approves 187-lot mixed-use
subdivision on Carl-Bethlehem Road
A rezone and amendment to the county's future land use map
(FLUM) requested by Inline Communities, LLC for a proper
ty on W Star Street and Carl-Bethlehem Road received approv
al by the Barrow County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 14
in a 4-2 vote, with commissioners Joe Goodman and Deborah
Lynn opposed.
The applicant requested to rezone roughly 45 acres from ag
ricultural (AG) to high-density residential (R-3) and a FLUM
amendment for 27.6 acres from the rural neighborhood charac
ter area to the 316 Innovation Corridor to allow the development
of a 187-lot open space subdivision with mixed residential uses.
The development will consist of 78 single-family detached
lots and 109 townhomes with 14.2 acres of open space, four
parking spaces per home and 95 guest parking spaces.
The single-family homes will have lots 50 feet wide with a
density of 1.73 units per acre. The townhome lot size will be 22
feet wide with a density of 2.6 units per acre. The total density
of the 187 units is 4.15 units per acre.
A traffic study was conducted for the intersections at Hwy.
11 and Christmas Avenue and W Star Street; Carl-Bethle
hem Road and Arch Tanner Road; Carl-Bethlehem Road and
Briscoe Mill Road; and Carl-Bethlehem Road and the proposed
project driveways.
The traffic study, which was done in August of 2022 by A&R
Engineering, concluded the development would have minimal
impact on traffic operations. It also concluded that, per GDOT
standards, a left turn lane isn’t warranted at either proposed
Credit: InLine Communities
The 187-lot development will consist of 78 single-family
homes and 109 townhomes.
driveway on Carl-Bethlehem Road, but a deceleration lane is
warranted at both.
Both full-access driveways on Carl-Bethlehem Road will
have one entering and one exiting lane, a deceleration lane for
entering traffic, will be stop sign-controlled at approaches with
Carl-Bethlehem Road and will have adequate sight distance per
AASHTO standards.
A list of 14 conditions came with the approval, including
requiring an additional 10-foot landscape strip for the length
of the property to be dedicated to the county for additional
right-of-way, a minimum of 1,500 square feet of heated space
for townhomes and 2,000 square feet of heated space for sin
gle-family detached homes and other landscaping and architec-
New elementary school named
By Hannah Barron
hannah@mainstreetnews.com
The Barrow Board of Education
voted to name the district’s new
school Austin Road Elementary at
its March 7 board meeting.
Austin Road Elementary will
open in the fall. Both the flooring
and ceiling grid are currently being
installed.
SALARY INCREASES
The BOE also approved an in
crease in the local supplement for
certified staff, as well as a 3% in
crease for non-certified employees
in the FY23-24 budget.
The salary increases will cost an
estimated $3.59 million, covered
by an anticipated increase in prop
erty tax collections due to growth
in the county.
“Both of the salary increases
will allow the school system to be
more competitive so it can attract,
employ, develop and retain high
ly effective, diverse staff,” district
leaders said.
The increase would be in addi
tion to the $2,000 state increase
proposed by Gov. See BOE, page
J
Credit: City of Winder
Visitors can drop in to learn about the project, complete interactive exercises and talk to the project team during
the city’s next open house Thursday, March 30 from 4-6 p.m. at the Community Center. Pictured above are mem
bers of the Winder City Council and city staff at the City of Winder Utilities Complex.
Winder launches comprehensive
planning and zoning update
MAILING LABEL
The City of Winder
has initiated a planning
process to develop its
first comprehensive
plan and rewrite its zon
ing ordinance, which
officially kicked off
at the March 2 Winder
City Council work ses
sion.
The city’s comprehen
sive plan will be a vi
sion document guiding
future growth, develop
ment, investment, and
land use within the City
of Winder. While the
Barrow County Com
prehensive Plan cur
rently includes a small
section for the City of
Winder, the city be
lieves it’s important that
it document and create
a plan to implement its
own vision. This will
be the first city-specif
ic comprehensive plan
for Winder and will be
updated every five years
— a requirement from
the State of Georgia.
See Winder, page 2A
County reduces large
volume water rates,
invests in infrastructure
'0 4879 14541 7
By Morgan Ervin
morgan@barrownews-
journal.com
The Barrow County
Utility Department re
quested the Board of Com
missioners (BOC)establish
and adopt a new large vol
ume water user rate sched
ule, which was approved
on Feb. 14, and will take
effect April 1.
The large volume rate
is determined by the cus
tomer’s meter size, daily
gallon volume water de
mands and only applies
to customers with meter
sizes between three and 12
inches.
The large volume water
rates reflect the county’s
economic development
goals to be more compet
itive in attracting business
and industry.
Large volume users al
low for more water to be
See Water, page 2A
Bethlehem shooting
results in one arrest,
juvenile victim hospitalized
One person was shot and another person was arrested
Friday night following a shooting in the Barrow Crossing
shopping center in Bethlehem.
Deputies responded to a shooting call at 916 Loganville
Highway at 11:21 p.m. on Friday, March 3, to find ajuve-
nile male with gunshot wounds. The juvenile was trans
ported to an area hospital for treatment.
Edwin Emiliano Rodriguez-Pena, 18, of Athens, was ar
rested by Barrow County Sheriff’s deputies on the scene
of the shooting. He was transported to the Barrow County
Detention Center and was charged with the following:
•Aggravated Assault (5 counts)
•Aggravated Battery (2counts)
• Criminal Attempt to Commit Murder (1 count)
•Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a
Felony (1 count)
Rodriguez-Pena remains in the Barrow County Deten
tion Center with no bond.
The investigation into this case is continuing and no mo
tive for the shooting has been determined. If anyone has
any information regarding this case, they may contact the
Barrow County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations
Unit at (770) 307-3080 ext. 3083.
County managerresigns
The Barrow County Board of Commissioners
accepted county manager Kevin Little's resignation
letter following an executive session Tuesday, Feb.
28.
The board also approved a motion to allow county
operator Billy Pittard to assume day-to-day
operations as interim county manager.
Statham ’s first St. Patrick’s
Day parade set March 18
The City of Statham will
be hosting its first annual St.
Patrick’s Day Parade on Sat
urday, March 18, through the
historic district of Downtown
Statham beginning at 10 a.m.
“We are very excited to
bring this international hol
iday to the City of Statham.
There are so many great cel
ebrations of St. Patrick’s Day
in this country and other coun
tries and we wanted to bring
that to the City of Statham
and grow it each year for the
benefit of this area of Geor
gia,” said Joe Davis, Statham
utility clerk and parade orga
nizer. "The parade will consist
of floats, a vintage fire engine,
classic cars and walkers from
several different clubs and or
ganizations.”
The Grand Marshals of the
City’s inaugural St. Patrick’s
Day Parade are brothers Drew
and Wade Casto whose fami
ly-owned hardware and retail
store, Casto Trading Co., lo
cated in Statham, have been
big supporters of the Statham
community for many years.
“Every community has some
one or some group of people
who pride themselves on giv
ing back to their community,
and for us, it’s Drew and Wade
Casto,” said Mayor Joe Piper.
“We appreciate all they do for
our community and they are
very deserving of being the
first Grand Marshals of our St.
Patrick’s Day Parade,”
The Winder-Barrow High
School JROTC will lead the
parade with their Color Guard
team and platoon. Following
will be the Grand Marshals,
leprechauns and other partic
ipants, including the Carpen
ter Academy of Irish Dance
of Athens, Encourage HER
Academy, baseball teams,
Girl Scout troops, classic cars,
hot rods and more.
Hand-crafted Shamrock
Awards will be given to the
Best Float, Best Walking
Group, Best Vehicle and Most
Creative Entry. The judges
for the inaugural parade are
Kierra Herring, Angela Man
or and Tasha Colquitte, all of
Statham’s community-driv
en financial institution. Bank
OZK.
“There will be tossed can
dy and green beads, people
dressed in their best Irish
green and a lot of smiling fac
es will be seen. We hope to see
everyone there,” said Davis.
To participate in the pa
rade, contact 770-725-5455
or email staff@ cityofstatham.
com. Registration is free.
New townhomes
on Hwy. 81
get green light
A rezone request allow
ing for a townhome devel
opment was approved by
the Barrow County Board
of Commissioners during
its Feb. 14 meeting.
Applicant, Stanton Por
ter, applied for a rezone
of 12.52 acres, located at
1192 Loganville Highway
in Winder, from intensive
commercial (C-3) to medi
um-density residential (R-
2) with a special use to al
low for a five unit per acre
residential development
consisting of 53 townhome
units.
After three defeated mo
tions, the BOC approved
the rezone request with
See BOC, page 2A
