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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS —Wedne*d«y, November 29. 1995
COUNTY from 1A
•
Also regarding meeting dates,
the Commission meeting sched
uled for Dec. 25 will not be held
on Christmas. It will be postponed
until Thursday, Dec. 28.
Nine rezoning requests were
heard at Monday’s meeting.
Several had been postponed
including the request by Billy
Evans for commercial zoning to
plate a convenience store on
Bethelview Road near Chamblee
Gap Road. The request was
opposed by 40 people at the Sept
26 meeting of the Planning
Comjnission.
Due to the absence of David
Filson the Planning Commission
the vote was split leaving no rec
ommendation for the Board of
Commissioners.
This marks the second time the
hearing has been postponed. When
askjed why it was postponed,
Commissioner Lamar Suddeth said
the Commissioners were still
studying it.
TOWER from 1A
growth is expected.
“Being a not-for-profit compa
ny, we have no other reason to
build there except to help the con
sumer,” he said.
Homeowners in the area are
concerned the sub-station and new
lines will bring property values
down, will cause environmental
problems and could potentially
cause health problems.
“We’re talking about well over
1 .(XX) homes involved opposed to
the towers,” said David (A.J.)
Pritchett, an organizer of the South
Forsyth Homeowners Coalition,
put together specifically to address
this issue.
Jones said Oglethorpe has been
listening to homeowners all along
and has made several costly modi
fications to the plans at the request
of the homeowners including
rerouting the lines to avoid dis
turbing an old oak tree.
Health risks, Jones said, have
not been substantiated by studies.
Although a few statistical studies
have made links between health
problems and electric or magnetic
fields, as a whole, the scientific
community has found no basis for
those claims.
“Those fears, although under
standable, are not founded,” he
said.
Pritchett said health concerns
remain in the minds of residents.
“Even one test saying there are
health risks is enough for us,” he
said.
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“Okay.” said Jim Kidwell of
the Cove Creek Subdivision who
opposes the store. “Study it hard.”
Also included in the postpone
ments was a 150.2 acre subdivision
on Little Mill Road near Browns
Bridge Road. Five people had
opposed this rezoning at the Oct.
31 Planning Commission meeting.
The Planning Commission recom
mended it be approved but had list
ed 13 conditions.
A rezoning request for a motor
cycle repair shop on Castleberry
Road and Piney Grove Road was
denied by the Commissioners at
the Monday meeting. Tommy
David Pruitt’s request was opposed
by eight people at the Planning
Meeting on Oct. 31. Two opposed
the rezoning at Monday’s
Commissioner’s meeting.
Pruitt had hired an attorney,
Lisa G. Shippel of Rolander &
Rolander in Roswell, to speak on
his behalf.
Shippel showed photographs of
To help maintain the aesthetic
value of the area, homeowners
have asked Oglethorpe Power to
bury the lines rather than build the
unsightly towers.
Jones said independent studies
have shown that it is not practical
to bury the lines in this case.
Buried lines not only cost more
money to install but are more diffi
cult to maintain. When repairs are
necessary, outages can pot be
found easily underground, he said.
Several meetings between the
homeowners and Oglethorpe have
not settled the matter to the satis
faction of the residents. Even after
Ga. Sen. Clint Dav (R-Norcross)
mediated a discussion between the
homeowners and Oglethorpe
Power, a compromise could not be
met. Pritchett said the homeown
ers came up with several options
but Oglethorpe would not accept
any of them.
“Everyone of them they shot
down for one reason or another,”
he said.
Oglethorpe Power sees it dif
ferently. Jones said Oglethorpe has
tried to stay involved with the
homeowners since the beginning
of the project. The line towers will
be spaced as far apart as possible
and will be single-pole structures
made from concrete or steel. They
will run primarily along the road
side and will only touch a few lots.
“We want to make it as pleas
ing as possible within reason,”
Jones said.
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existing businesses up and down
Piney Grove Road and Castleberry
Road including a junk yard and
pine straw sales.
The shop, Shippel said, would
be contained and have no noise or
unsightliness. It would be as if
someone were fixing their motor
cycle in their own garage, she said.
Dan Wolf, a near-by resident,
said he still believes there would
be a noise problem.
“I still have concerns that a
repair shop for motorcycles would
not be in the best interest of the
community,” he said.
Wolf also pointed out that most
of the businesses sited by Shippel
were on the other side of Piney
Grove Road.
“This area is distinctly differ
ent,” he said.
Shippel also brought up a simi
lar rezoning approved by the
Commissioners two weeks ago.
Zoning for a vinyl siding company
was approved on a lot previously
Oglethorpe has offered to bring
representatives of the homeowners
to other areas with similar struc
tures to help quell their fears of
looming towers, Jones said.
But the homeowners remain
unconvinced that Oglethorpe is
doing all it can to eliminate the
eyesore. Pritchett balked at
Oglethorpe’s offer to put a buffer
of trees and bushes around the
sub-station.
“If you’ve ever seen one of
those sub-stations, they’re
hideous, they’re huge. You can’t
hide them,” he said.
At the crux of the final deci
sion about the power sub-station
and the power lines is a federal
law that allows power companies
to install what they think is neces
sary to provide adequate power.
The homeowners have little
recourse.
“There is a federal law on the
books that allows them to do
whatever they want,” said Forsyth
County Commissioner James
Harrington.
Because federal law provides
Oglethorpe the ability to place the
sub-station and towers where they
want, federal help is needed to
alter the situation, Harrington said.
Pritchett said Ga. Sen. Day is
on their side in the matter as is
Harrington, but they cannot help
with congressional matters. Letters
have been sent to U.S. Rep.
Nathan Deal (R-GA. 9th dist.) ask
ing for his help.
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Like a good neighbor. State Farm is there.®
approved for a convenience store
despite the protests of residents.
Commissioner Seder said that
case was different because he
expected a siding company to be
TREASURY from 1A
Jack Branson, of the U.S.
Department of the Treasury,
Criminal Investigation Division of
the Public Corruption Task Force.
The subpoena was issued by
the United States Attorney.
Layne, who is second in com
mand of the Sheriff’s Dept., was
made aware he was under investi
gation by the U.S. Treasury
LIBRARY from 1A
midst of a battle. First, the Forsyth
commissioners asked local library
board members to resign because
four out of five of them refused
their requests to put Woman's Body
by Dr. Miriam Stoppard, a health
book with pictures of couples
engaged in sex acts, behind the
check-out counter or in an adults
only area. And on Nov. 13. the
Gwinnett Library Board voted to
drop Forsyth from the counties’
39-year-old agreement.
The Friends held a county
wide meeting Nov. 14 at the court
house, during which White gave
an emotional, impromptu speech
stating his stand on the library
issues.
“Due to the recent turn of
events, we as the Friends of the
Library have found ourselves in a
more adversarial position with the
county commissioners,” White
said Monday night. “But the
Friends need to take a more posi
tive stand. Nobody wins in a fight.
KO H N from 1A
against each other. “I made the
National Team last year. We went
to Dallas Texas and placed sixth,”
she said.
Cheerleaders can never rest
because they must try out for their
varsity spot and scholarship each
year. “You fight for your spot
every year. It is really competitive,
with 50 or 60 girls trying out for
seven spots.”
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less obtrusive to the neighborhood.
The rezoning for the motorcy
cle shop was denied unanimously.
The only other rezoning request
opposed by members of the com-
Department in late August when
agents came to the Sheriff’s
Department and talked with him
for about 15 minutes.
At that time, Layne stated that
the agents “asked me about my
tax returns...l don’t know what all
of this is about.”
When asked on Monday after
This issue with the ACLU has to
be stopped now.”
Charles Hobgood, who sits on
the Friends five-member advisory
board, agreed.
"The ACLU is a third party not
familiar with our community,”
Hobgood said. “It’s not time for a
last resort. The two sides can still
come together and resolve the situ
ation.”
The Friends also voted unani
mously Monday to renew its mis
sion statement, which reads, “The
mission of the Friends of the
Library as stated in the by-laws is
to support the library’s effort to be
the best connection for free access
to informational educational and
leisure interests, fostering the love
of reading and encouraging the
pursuit of knowledge in a chang
ing and diverse community.”
White said the ACLU may still
pursue an investigation of the
library controversy in Forsyth, but
the Friends of the Library will not
Above all, Kohn is thankful for
the friends she has made while at
the University and the opportuni
ties that cheerleading has given
her. “Because of cheerleading I
have gotten to meet a lot of people
and have visited a lot of places
that I never would have if I was
not involved in cheerleading.”
Another thing that Kohn is
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munity was for William Clarke
Rawson’s 1.13 acre lot of land on
Old Atlanta Road near McGinnis
Ferry Road. The Commissioners
approved the rezoning unanimous
ly
noon to comment on the subpoena,
Layne said he had no knowledge
that the subpoena had been served
and had no comment. Sheriff Jerry
Padgett also had no comment
regarding the subpoena.
No representatives of the U.S.
Treasury Dept, could be reached
for comment.
help with the effort.
In other business,
White said one of the main
purposes of the Friends of Library
is to offer support to the Forsyth
Library staff, which is under
“tremendous strain” because of
the sexually explicit materials con
troversy. To show their apprecia
tion of the staff, the Friends voted
unanimously to buy the turkey and
ham for the library’s annual holi
day party Dec. 8. They will also
present the staff with a floral
arrangement.
The board voted unanimously
to make the Friends’ advisory
committee official. The advisory
board will work closely with
White and make recommendations
to the 21-member Friends of the
Library Board. The advisors are
Hobgood, Joni Booker, Mary
Helen McGruder, Pam Boles and
Doug Smith.
looking forward to is the
University of Georgia
Cheerleading squad has recently
tried out to be in the opening and
closing ceremonies for the 1996
Olympic Games in Atlanta.
“I’ve got two more years and
I’m looking forward to cheering
for the school. It’s hard work, but
it is definately worth it.”