Newspaper Page Text
8A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, October 26,2022
Outlet mall to tackle blight, other public concerns
DCN file photo
North Georgia Premium Outlets has proposed plans to
address complaints mounting over retail center's appear
ance, cleanliness and safety.
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
With complaints mounting
about the retail center’s appear
ance, cleanliness and safety, offi
cials with North Georgia
Premium Outlets have proposed
plans to address these issues.
That’s what Area General
Manager Randall Jackson told
the Dawson County Marshal’s
Office during an Oct. 3 meeting,
according to notes obtained
through an open records act
request.
North Georgia Premium
Outlets is privately owned by
Simon Property Group. This
company, which acquired the
premium outlets’ original owner,
Chelsea, in 2004, owns several
other retail sites in the state,
along with over 200 across the
country.
Concerns about the premium
outlets go back at least two years,
with a Sept. 8, 2020 letter from
then-Chief Marshal Jameson
Kinley to then-premium outlets
area manager, Johnathan
Andrews serving as a starting
point.
Kinley sent the letter to
Andrews as part of a mass
mailout to numerous businesses
reminding them of Dawson
County’s maintenance require
ments listed in section 121-99 of
the local land use ordinance,
Kinley stated.
Kinley also said he’d received
“multiple complaints” about the
premium outlets.
“The purpose of this letter is to
serve as a warning. Our goal is to
simply bring this property into
compliance with commercial
business maintenance require
ments. We look forward to see
ing progress soon or a response
within 30 days summarizing a
timeline for compliance,” his let
ter concluded.
Code issues
Angela Byers with the mar
shal’s office sent Andrews a fol
low-up email dated Sept. 18,
2020, detailing the premium out
let mall’s specific code viola
tions.
Byers, a marshal at the time,
now leads the office.
The violations included the
following:
• Trash in the grass and pal
lets stacked behind busi
nesses
• Overgrown grass,
untrimmed bushes,
unpruned trees, existing
plant/tree beds without
mulch and dead plants in
need of replacement
• Barely visible parking
stripes or spaces on the
premium outlets’ front
and back sides
• A closed road (North
Georgia Avenue, the road
by Dunkin Donuts) with
blocked access at the edge
of the parking lot due to a
large pothole; the road
warranted repair and sub
sequent re-opening
Andrews replied in a Sept. 19
email, explaining that the various
landscaping observations were
being addressed on a daily and
weekly basis via the onsite team
and landscaping contract.
Premium outlets management
was “currently awaiting a formal
bid” from a contractor in order
for the pothole to be fixed.
“It is taking a lot longer to get
quotes since COVID [19 start
ed],” Andrews stated.
There were also plans at that
time to submit a bid for the park
ing lot striping.
“Redoing the parking lot is a
capital project because of the
high cost,” Andrews added in an
additional reply. “This has to be
submitted to executives for
approval.”
Fast forward to Sept. 15, 2022,
when Byers reached out to pre
mium outlet mall management to
follow up on talks that had taken
place in 2020 and 2021.
On Sept. 23, DCN contacted
the marshal’s office in regards to
an anonymous tip received about
bodily fluids on the surfaces of
the premium outlets’ women’s
restrooms.
At that time, the marshal’s
office said unclean bathrooms
wouldn’t be an ordinance viola
tion but also mentioned the
upcoming meeting with the
premium outlet mail’s new gen
eral manager.
In her notes from the Oct. 3
meeting, Byers mentioned that
most leadership had changed for
the property.
“With that alignment, as well
as him (Jackson) stepping into
the GM role, they were very sen
sitive to the neglected appearance
of the property and the need to
elevate the look and feel of the
outlet mall,” Byers stated.
Proposed fixes
During the Oct. 3 meeting,
Jackson told Byers that a num
ber of premium outlets projects
were either in the works, “have
gotten preliminary approval or
are slated for approval by Q1
2023.”
They discussed updates on
attempts to repair the pot hole
near Dunkin.
“They believe a lot of the issue
with this currently is the large
trucks parking near the hotel,”
Byers stated. “He did note they
have repaired this in house twice
this year already, but it keeps
failing due to the weight of that
equipment.”
Byers then pointed out that the
pothole fixes thus far only con
stituted a patch, and that it
“hasn’t been holding up for the
past three years, which is longer
than when those trucks started
parking there.”
Jackson then mentioned a
larger-scale project to perma
nently repair the pothole,
explaining that that initiative is
currently being reviewed for
approval.
There is also an ongoing pre
mium outlets project to seal and
restripe portions of the parking
lot. They plan to have the front
side closest to Wild Wing’s Cafe
done before an upcoming food
truck event, Jackson told Byers.
(DCN will link to that story once
it is posted online).
There are also plans to restripe
parking spaces near Nike and
Under Armour by about
Thanksgiving, with a phased
project to update the outlet’s
entire lot in the next few years.
Plans likewise include replac
ing the 1000 block building’s
entire roof, with a similar phased
project to replace all section
roofs.
Jackson additionally men
tioned plans for installing a new
playground area, with a project
ed install during Q1 of 2023.
Premium outlets landscaping
has also been revamped in front
of the 900-1000 block, from
Auntie Anne’s to Polo Ralph
Lauren. Jackson called the
approach a “test design” that he
and his colleagues will finalize
before transposing to other exte
rior corridors.
Crews have also been working
to get bark for the landscaping
beds, trim trees and crape myr
tles that line the mall curb lines
and remove some large trees
near an outlet entrance.
Jackson and Byers also dis
cussed the general amount of
landscaping installed by the pre
mium outlets’ original owner,
Chelsea, and what Byers noted
as “extensive” upkeep required
with the outside arrangements.
Premium outlets officials have
also purchased new strollers for
the stroller vendor units,
replaced the partitions in rest
rooms near the food court and
replaced speakers in the proper
ty’s overhead music system to
ensure sitewide audio coverage,
Jackson added.
Restrooms
Byers brought up the rest
rooms complaint to Jackson dur
ing the Oct. 3 meeting, reiterat
ing that it wasn’t a code issue,
but she “was curious.”
“He explained that with the
labor shortage issues brought on
by the pandemic, they have had
issuefs] with housekeeping
staff,” Byers stated.
During the crunch with house
keeping staff, Jackson told the
marshal that in-house mainte
nance team members worked
additional hours, “some on 12+
hour shifts to ensure the property
maintained a level of cleanli
ness.”
To address the concerns, the
premium outlets brought back a
housekeeping manager who’d
previously worked for them and
had been promoted to a regional
role which was eliminated dur
ing the pandemic.
“He was very excited to have
her back on their team and said
she has already filled a number
of positions and is getting them
back on track,” Byers stated.
When contacted, Jackson said
he had no comment to add
regarding the Oct. 3 meeting.
“In closing, I shared my
excitement over the progress I
had observed (trimmed bushes,
trees, etc.) and over the plans
ahead,” Byers added. “I did
share that we would continue to
watch and that I would be back
to visit and discuss progress after
Thanksgiving.”
DCN will provide updates
when more information becomes
available.
"WHY HUY ANYWHERE FLSE"
CERTIFIED
Pre-Owned Vehicles
from Chevrolet, Buick, and GMC
THE AREAS LARGEST
/
4
- GM WORLD CLASS
TECHNICIAN
- ASE CERTIFIED MASTER
TECHNICIAN
4
- EV GM CERTIFIED
TECHNICIAN
MAP
\
Established 1948 FIND NEW ROADS
LIFETIME POWERTRAIN WARRANTY
AND LIFETIME OIL CHANGES AT
NO COST TO YOU «£&
WWW.ANDEANCHEVY.COM
527 Atlanta Rd, Cumming 770-887-2316
FREE Home Buyer Seminar
Saturday 11/05 at 2:00 pm
Pink Farmhouse in Downtown Dawsonville:
436 A cade my A ve
Learn the steps required to buy a home, including:
• How much money you earn by owning a home.
• How to plan & prepare an income/debt budget.
• How much money is required to buy a home.
• What is a credit score and what does it need to be.
• What does a credit report look like.
• Mortgage payment compared to a rent payment.
• How easy it is to buy a home.
• And much more!
Ask questions and/or get qualified. Eight refreshments provided
Don’t pay expensive rent that rises every year!
U& uiR prouixle, toots & insights to hdp yx)UL oun a hjomA
Join us!
This class is for educational purposes only. There is no
obligation of any kind from class attendees.
www.DestinyMortgageLending.com
...Destined to be your mortgage Choice!
(706) 265-2203
GA Residential Mortgage Licensee, Lie. #20553; NMLS #166294
