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Wednesday, December 21,2022
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 3A
Bowen holds successful ‘Mistletoe Magic’ card party
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
On Monday Dec. 12, com
munity members came out to
the Bowen Center for the Arts
to participate in the center’s
“Mistletoe Magic” card party
event.
The event featured a chance
for attendees to play some of
their favorite card and domino
games and to enjoy lunch
together.
According to the Bowen’s
executive director Ginny
Greenwood, the attendees
enjoyed coffee and treats, then
a lunch that included salad with
blueberries and raspberries,
handmade quiche and desserts
produced by the Bowen crew,
headed by Nancy King and
consisting of Theresa Bradley,
Margaret Looney, Dianne
Leonhardt, Diane Coward,
Janet Spaulding, Ginny
Greenwood and Tina Sant.
The event also featured over
15 door prizes donated by local
businesses in the community.
For more information about
the Bowen including events
coming up at the art center, go
to https://www.bowenarts.org/.
Photos courtesy of the Bowen
"Mistletoe Magic" card party attendees enjoy playing
games together during the Bowen Center for the Arts' Dec.
12 event.
FROM 1A
Industrial
has owned the land since
2002. He now owns it with
business partner and
Atlanta Gear Works
(AGW) president Jack
Conway Jr.
King told the board that
the front part of the parcel
was rezoned commercial
highway business (CHB) in
2009 for a potential shop
ping center that ultimately
did not come to fruition.
Then, in 2020, Dawson
County changed its zoning
ordinance, taking uses
from CHB and putting
them under the new com
mercial industrial restricted
(CIR) designation.
Looking at the county’s
Future Land Use Plan,
King pointed out that the
property has been desig
nated as industrial, along
with the property just south
of it, which is already
zoned CIR.
Planning and
Development Director
Sharon Farrell explained
that Sub-Rural Residential
(RSR) zoning made up a
good portion of the request
but added that 13.74 acres
was already zoned CHB.
Since the county created
the CIR classification in
2020, King has been
before the board multiple
times advocating for uses
to be added back to his cli
ents’ properties.
Multiple Stowers Road
West-area residents cited
quality of life and preserv
ing the environment as key
to maintaining quality of
life in the area.
The state’s Department
of Natural Resources pre
viously wrote to the
Georgia Mountain
Regional Commission
about a range of endan
gered and/or threatened
species that could be
impacted by the project.
Runoff and erosive
flooding, pollution and
reduced groundwater
recharge have also been
listed as potential negative
impacts. As part of the
development’s stipulations,
King agreed to a 25-foot
buffer to the Etowah River
tributary bordering his
property.
However, he balked at
requiring 50 more feet of
land for a 75-foot buffer,
saying that much more
“would render it (the prop
erty) undevelopable.”
Resident Fred Stowers
shared that approving the
rezoning would subvert the
intent of the county’s zon
ing regulations and said a
commercial retail property
would be preferable.
“If you zone it industrial,
there’s no limitations on
that unless you put limita
tions on that,” Stowers
said, citing noise concerns
and an impact to others’
property values.
Others opposed did not
want industrial uses to be
added since that type of
facility doesn’t already
exist on a proximate parcel.
King said he and his
business partner envision
potential uses such as self
storage, RV and boat stor
age, general light industrial
and heavy manufacturing
with AGW.
A 100,000-square-foot
area would ideally be set
aside as a future location
for AGW, given the manu
facturer’s “rapid” expan
sion over the past decade,
King said at November’s
Planning Commission
meeting.
“Where his current loca
tion on Hightower
[Parkway] is, they have no
more expansion room, so
it’s either go here or possi
bly up into Lumpkin
County,” King said then.
The developer consultant
added that they might be
open to, say, a cement ven
dor as one of the uses.
Satterfield clarified that
having lubricants like oil
on hand for AGW
wouldn’t be considered
storage of hazardous man
ufacturing materials.
“You want to be able to
accommodate as many
[uses] as possible to bring
jobs to the county,” King
said to the board.
As part of the prohibited
uses, Farrell later men
tioned that they couldn’t
pad grade a site and then
look for a tenant-there
would have to be specific
plans and usage in mind
first.
King reiterated that the
Future Land Use Plan was
developed by a board of
county citizens and “not
the Board of
Commissioners and not
me.”
He explained that if the
plan is followed, his parcel
would be the last commer
cial one on that part of Ga.
400 and that a majority of
the properties bordering
the state highway are
zoned for either commer
cial, industrial or multi
family uses.
“That’s where you want
your growth. You want
your growth confined to
[Ga.] 400,” King said.
“Therefore, all the proper
ties further out, especially
in the northern part of the
county, are preserved.”
He, along with
Development Authority of
Dawson County members
Tony Passarello and Dr.
Carroll Turner, have sup
ported the proposal’s plan
to attract businesses with
higher-paying wages and
diversify the county’s tax
base with necessary reve
nue.
King mentioned that rev
enue generated by conser
vation easements are “10
percent” of what commer
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cial taxes are, comparing
his roughly-$5,000 annual
tax bills to proximate agri
cultural properties with
around $500 bills.
Satterfield nodded to the
county’s future land use
and comprehensive plans.
“We can [either] go by it,
do away with it or change
it,” Satterfield said. “We’ve
got a plan for a reason, so if
we don’t go by that plan,
somebody’s going to
[legally] challenge us.”
District 4 Commissioner
Emory Dooley agreed with
Fausett but seconded
Satterfield in terms of the
property’s CIR classifica
tion jiving with the Future
Land Use Plan.
“I love conservation, but
we do have to work on our
tax base, or we can’t afford
to keep lands in conserva
tion. It’s Ga. 400-adjacent,
so to me, this is where
these types of properties
have to be located ... as
close to a state road as pos
sible.”
Several speakers decried
the dangers to pedestrians
and bikers from an expect
ed increase in traffic.
Doug Powell said the
approximate 135-degree
left-turn onto Stowers
Road from Ga. 400 would
be doable for cars but not
so for tracks, which may
not be able to “make the
turn and get out of the way
fast enough, so it’s a disas
ter waiting to happen.”
Despite what others said,
King said the sight dis
tance toward the hill by
Ga. 136 is feasible, with
visibility past the traffic
signal and 1,667 feet of
room to turn.
However, traffic engi
neer Abdul Amer acknowl
edged the difficulty of the
wide turn, given the
55-mph speed limit on that
part of Ga. 400.
With potential challeng
es with right-of-way avail
ability, grading and exist
ing guardrail at the
Stowers Road approach,
Amer recommended a
“channelized right turn
lane with a larger radius
return” be installed at Ga.
400 southbound and
Stowers Road.
Resident Scott Wallace,
who’s worked 23 years
with Dawson County
EMS, said he’s ran “count
less calls to Ga. 400 and
Ga.136” as part of his time
at Fire Station 3.
“Stowers Road at the
angle it comes in is a huge
concern to me,” he said,
“because as tricky as it is,
when you add the traffic
volume that’s expected to
come with this, I see
Stations 2 and 3 there
every day.”
King reiterated a will
ingness to eliminate a third
driveway from draft site
plans and just have two on
Stowers Road, though he
pointed out that there
would be “more than 700
feet” between the entranc
es for the development and
an existing neighborhood.
He commented that
vehicles leaving the indus
trial park should have “no
reason to turn left” but said
he’s “happy to post signs
saying ‘no left turn’” to
mitigate that potential
problem.
Farrell subsequently
clarified that with the
board’s approval, the
Georgia Department of
Transportation would look
at the Stowers Road West-
Ga. 400 intersection.
f
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