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4A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, February 9,2022
Variance option could entice more businesses to Dawson highway
Julia Fechter Dawson County News
The Dawson County Board of Commissioners began talking on Feb. 3 about
the merits of a provision allowing for potential incoming businesses along
Ga. 400 to submit alternative architectural designs.
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
There may soon be a
way for companies to
locate along Dawson
County’s bustling Ga.
400 corridor and other
future overlay districts
while keeping their cus
tom appearances.
During the Board of
Commissioners work ses
sion on Feb. 3, Planning
Director Sharon Farrell
presented the board with
a proposed amendment to
the county’s ordinances
that, if passed, would give
potential incoming busi
nesses a way to submit
alternative architectural
designs with permit appli
cations.
As an example, Farrell
talked about how busi
nesses with signature out
door facades or signage,
like restaurants, may
want to use a recogniz
able blend of exterior
materials for their build
ings in lieu of neutral-
toned brick and stone
only.
The proposed amend
ment would allow users
wanting to vary their
facade to come directly to
the Board of
Commissioners.
Applicants would have to
demonstrate how their
alternate design still
meets the intent of the
code and how architectur
al or structural reasons
why the existing stan
dards can’t be met. The
company would also have
to explain the historical
or iconic value of their
desired design.
BOC Chairman Billy
Thurmond reminisced
about losing a potential
Cracker Barrel about a
decade ago because of the
county’s unwillingness to
grant a facade-related
variance.
“I think you can easily
say that that was a
$500,000-a-year mistake
or more,” Thurmond said,
“because the Cracker
Barrel is a destination
location, versus some
other place that you
might just go and eat.”
If passed, the board
would have the final say
on allowing a variance
option for incoming busi
nesses.
District 4
Commissioner Emory
Dooley said that it can be
“hard to anticipate”
everything that might
come their way with busi
ness design specs. He
voiced support for having
a way to say “yes” to
incoming businesses if
there’s something unique
about designs, like trade
marks.
Thurmond added how
Chili’s ultimately decided
to locate in front of the
Dawson Crossroads
Shopping Center after ini
tially losing a fight to
install its signature pep
per sign on one side of its
building.
“Either you help them
(businesses), or you don't
get them,” he said.
Redesign plans
for Elliott Road
The county government
is now one step closer to
addressing drivers’ and
pedestrians’ concerns
about unsafe conditions
on Elliott Road in south
eastern Dawson County.
Davis Engineering &
Surveying submitted their
designs for the project
after the board approved
their $23,000 bid during
the Sept. 16, 2021 voting
session. Funds from
SPLOST VI were used to
pay for the design plans.
Elliott Road is about a
mile long, starting from
its intersection with Ga.
53 East and sharply bend
ing into a hairpin curve
before ending at Sunset
Drive. Its problems
include lack of connec
tion to key roads for resi
dential properties, narrow
travel lanes and rights of
way.
Public Works Director
Denise Farr reiterated that
the road’s poor alignment
contributes to limited
sight distance at several
points, making it a safety
hazard for pedestrians
and vehicles.
Commissioners Chris
Gaines and Tim
Satterfield both com
mented on how the
demand along the road
way has increased, with
more people living in ver
sus visiting lakeside
homes and delivery
trucks frequenting the
area.
The current proposal
would provide for a com
plete overhaul of Elliot
Road, she previously said.
The engineering firm’s
designs will account for
proposed road realign
ment and 20 more feet of
asphalt on each side. If
implemented, there would
be a consistent 40-foot
width of right-of-way and
accommodation for
12-foot travel lanes.
Farr didn’t mince
words about the estimated
cost, which could be at
least $675,000 after
March 1 for the base,
binder and topping levels.
“All of the asphalt will
have to be removed
because it’s very fine. It’s
deteriorating and laid on
red clay. There’s no
base,” she said.
The county would like
ly have to lay eight to 12
inches of base, though
perhaps the cost could be
cut by reducing the base
amount.
The $675,000 doesn’t
include the costs for
equipment rental or
employees, striping, tie-
ins and pikes for every
driveway, drainage by tilt
ing the road and acquisi
tion of land.
When Gaines asked
about the cost for a nor
mal full-depth road recla
mation, Farr quoted him
at $650,000 a mile.
“But we couldn’t do a
full-depth reclamation
here because there’s noth
ing to dig up,” she said.
“There’s no base, no
binder...so you’re basi
cally starting from
scratch,” added County
Manager David Headley.
Gaines guessed that
$1.5 to $2 million would
be realistic for a mile in
this case.
“This isn’t uncommon
with some of the roads
that we have where, years
ago, they just came in and
asphalted over the top,”
Headley said. “There was
no engineering, design
work or drainage systems
put in place... so we’re
kind of inheriting that
type of system that needs
to be brought up to a cur
rent standard.”
He reasoned that that’s
why the county will have
to bear more of the road’s
costs now and empha
sized that the road’s prob
lems would “only get
worse” rather than better.
District 1
Commissioner Sharon
Fausett added that the
county “do it right” to
avoid wasting money and
the newly-acquired engi
neering information.
“We inherited what we
did, but we’ve got to fix
it at some point,” she
said.
Farr asked the commis
sioners to move forward
with sending out requests
for the donations of
properties. She also
asked the board to host a
public meeting at Fire
Station 2 so Elliott Road-
area residents could see
the potential impacts of
future road reconstruc
tion. That way, any con
fusion about roadwork or
hesitancy to assist with
donations could be mini
mized, she said.
Photos courtesy of James Davis
Above, below: A local Dawsonville family has been painting rocks with scripture verses to place
around the community with the goal of encouraging those who find them.
FROM 1A
Stones
we’re at.”
The family started a
Facebook group, called
“Stones of Faith”, where
they post photos of the
rocks and hints of where
they’ve dropped each one
off. They put their
Facebook page on the
back of the rocks so peo
ple can visit it, and
they’ve even received
photos back from a cou
ple of the people who
have found the rocks.
“I put some out in
Blairsville and I found it
on their page that they
have, some lady said that
through the rain and her
migraine she hasn’t been
out and she actually
found one of ours and she
was just saying how it
made her day and every
thing,” Groves said.
The goal, Kellie Davis
said, is that the people
who find the rocks will be
encouraged and will
either place the rock
somewhere else or take it
home with them as a
reminder of that encour
agement.
“We just think in this
time and this world we
need some encourage
ment and help and just to
help people out,” Kellie
Davis said. “Somebody
could be having a really
bad day and they just find
a simple little rock that
says ‘God loves you’ and
that could just turn their
whole day around and
make a difference in their
outlook.”
James Davis said that
he places the rocks in the
community throughout
the week, and the family
estimates that they’ve
done more than 40 at this
point. They sometimes
even just hand the rocks
out to people they see in
the community that look
like they could use a
pick-me-up, and he said
that they plan on having a
basket of the rocks at
their booth at the
Amicalola Regional
Farmers Market in
Dawsonville.
An ultimate goal, he
added, would be to spread
the idea of the painted
rocks as far as possible.
“I’d also like to see
people share it all over on
Facebook, so maybe peo
ple all over the U.S. can
start doing it themselves,”
James Davis said.
In the end, Groves said
that the goal is to reach as
many people as they can
with the encouraging
scripture messages and
reminders that they aren’t
alone.
“We go to Harmony
Baptist here in
Dawsonville and we try
to help out all we can;
we’re trying to get
involved with the church
as much as we can,”
Groves said. “That’s what
started the idea was if we
can’t reach everybody,
maybe we can put these
out and they can find
them.”
And an added benefit,
James Davis added, is
that the project has
brought their family even
closer together than they
already were.
“We do it a lot just to
bring the family together
and have a good time on
the weekends,” James
Davis said. “That’s one
thing we stress a lot is to
take time out to spend
with your family; you’re
always so busy busy busy
but you need to take time
out to spend it with your
family.”
To see more photos of
the family’s painted rocks
and hints to where in the
community you can find
one yourself, go to
https ://www. facebook.
com/groups/
608395583602391.
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a no kill shelter
706-265-9160
Doggy Spotlight
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For more information contact the 706-265-9160 | 633 Martin Rd, Dawsonville
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Visit our RESALE SHOP & BOUTIQUE All proceeds benefits
Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | 54 S. Lumpkin Campground Rd. the Humane bociety
Bradley M. Maple
CPA, PC
706-216-2362
2390 Thompson Rd • Ste 100
Dawsonville
Dawsonville
Veterinary
Hospital
706-265-8381
ANH Collision
Specialists
706-216-0992
103 Industrial Park Road,
Dawsonville
