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THIS ISSUE
c«pyrigh<C 1998 Forsyth County New»
Employer appreciation
breakfast held.
Pagel9-20A
War Eagle FB in Class
AA playoffs.
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Page IB
INDEX
i*by 118
Business—........ 11A |
Classifieds . 4C
Deaths.-..-. -2A
Forsyth Life IB
Holiday Events 11A
Horoscope.—... 118
Opinion 26A
| Schools— -17A
COMING
WEDNESDAY
Commentary Galore
Read Bill Shipp and
Phil Danner in
Wednesday's edition.
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J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 ATHENS I GA AR 30602
Vol. 89, No. 148 .
Reaction to moratorium is mixed
By Jim Riley
Staff Writer
The 16-month moratorium on rezonings
imposed by the Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners last Monday has prompted a
strong reaction from many in the real estate
and development community.
“This sends a bad message to businesses
and home buyers that we can’t handle our
growth,” said Joe Padilla, spokesman for the
Greater Atlanta Homebuilders Association.
“Sixteen months is a long time to be catching
up, and there has been no concrete proof that a
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Photo/Tom Brooks
Shoppers were out early Friday morning for the after-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy for Furby, other toys.
WWII veteran Wiley Clifton
reflects on wartime stories
By Alton Bridges
Staff Writer
Wiley Clifton was born in Atlanta,
but Forsyth County has been a part of his
life since July 31, 1943. That was when
he married his bride of more than 55
years, the former Miss Jerry Otwell, who
was bom in Cumming and whose family
has lived in the county for generations.
After graduating from
old Tech High School,
Clifton went to work for
Georgia Power and worked
for Singer Sewing Machine
Company for five years
before going into the U.S.
Army in January of 1941.
Clifton was named for
an uncle, Wiley Sutton,
who was killed in World
War I. As a lad, Clifton
read a lot of the history of
Europe. He studied the mil
itary tactics of Caesar and
I New State Patrol
Post #37 awaits
i finishing touches
By Colby Jon—
Staff Writer
The staff at Georgia State Patrol Post 37
in Dawsonville is talking about conference
tables and fresh coats of paint. After nearly
four years in the works, the facility on
County Way Road should officially open
sometime in January, said Sgt. Richard
i Ashmore.
County officials and the state patrol
l agreed to build the post here in 1995 and
commissioners set aside $700,000 for con
struction costs in March of 1996.
See PATROL, Page 3A
Your "Hometown Paper” Since 1908
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 29, 1998
moratorium is needed.”
Forsyth County Commission Chairman
Bill Jenkins said he doesn’t feel that there will
be any adverse effects on the economy. “We
don’t see any drop in building permits,” he
said. “We would address any issue that has an
effect on the economy.”
Jenkins said that the county should be in
much better shape at the end of the moratori
um period, with several road and water pro
jects scheduled for the coming year.
Jenkins did say the moratorium may have
some effect on out-of-town businesses, but
other armies that crossed the continent.
He especially read the history of World
War I.
One of the top songs at the time was
“I’ll Let You Out in a Year, Little
Darling.” Young men going into the mili
tary knew they would be home in a year.
Within a year, the Japanese, Germans
and Italians invited the soldiers to
Europe and Asia.
Clifton spent four-and-a
half years traveling in the
footsteps of his uncle and
visiting many of the places
and roads he studied as a
youth.,
Clifton was inducted into
the Army at Fort McPherson,
but went to basic training at
Fort Jackson, S.C. Since he
was in the Reserve Officers’
Training Corps (ROTC) in
high school, Clifton went
See VETERAN, Page 3A
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Zoning applications halted for 16 months
shouldn’t affect Forsyth County residents.
Commissioner Julian Bowen wanted to
remind the real estate community that vested
rights are protected under the moratorium.
“Vested rights in the State of Georgia are fairly
easy to acquire,” he said. ‘We’re not trying to
hurt people, we’re trying to balance growth
with the quality of life.”
Bowen said that there would be no need to
cut any Forsyth County government jobs due
to the moratorium.
Subdivision groups speaking
out against commercial plan
By Jim Riley
Staff Writer
This month’s meeting of the Forsyth
County Planning Commission was full of
drama Tuesday night, with a large group of
homeowners from Old Atlanta Road subdivi
sions turning out to protest a proposed com
mercial development.
Attorney Emory Lipscomb
represented the applicant, the
Atlanta Company, which is
requesting that 26 acres on Old
Atlanta Road be rezoned from
Al (agricultural) to CBD
(commercial). The property
runs from the intersection of
Tally Drive to the intersection
of Mathis Airport Road.
“The property is not suitable for an Al
zoning,” Lipscomb said. He added that no
shopping area currently serves the many sub
divisions on Old Atlanta Road.
Many property owners from the surround
ing area spoke in protest of the planned devel-
Some of the projects that Bowen men
tioned such as offering future relief for the traf
fic flow are the proposed connector roads on
Ga. 400. “The collector roads are already
authorized to begin from Hwy. 20 to Old
Atlanta Road,” he said. At their workshop
meeting Monday, the board will discuss
extending the connector roads all the way to
Hwy. 141.
See MORATORIUM, Page 2A
Shoppers take to
the stores after
tackling turkey
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
Shoppers still stuffed with turkey loosened their belts and
reached for their wallets on the much-heralded busiest shopping
day of the year.
Retail stores throughout the county reported brisk sales
Friday. The 24-hour Wal-Mart Supercenter on Hwy. 20 closed
its doors from 3-6 a.m. to prepare for the rush. About 100 peo
ple were lined up outside when they opened. Checkout cashiers
Deana Goode and Margaret Weisgerber donned Santa hats and
began asking that familiar holiday question: cash or charge?
This year’s Elmo is Furby. The little gremlin from Tiger
speaks 400 words, comes in a variety of colors and costs
$29.99. If you can find more than one on the shelf, the manu
facturer claims they talk each other. Wal-Mart had 75 in stock.
“They disappeared in 10 minutes,” Goode said.
Kmart department manager Barbara Dunn said the last fur
ball left their store by 7:30 a.m. Teletubby luggage and
Hotwheels also sold well. However, everyone didn’t have
Christmas on their mind.
See SHOPPING, Page 16A
opment. “Roughly 20 acres of asphalt will be
running off into my property,” said Dennis
Larsen. “I bought my property because it was
zoned agricultural.”
“You and I and everyone else in this room
has the constitutional right to sell their proper
ty,” said Hanning Commissioner Ross Statham.
John Pickering with the South Forsyth
Coalition Inc., said that his group has received
hfe have received
no letters in favor
of this-The voice
of the people is
important &
responded. “The voice of the people is impor
tant.”
“When you do your research, that’s the
stuff that we appreciate," Statham said.
Planning Commissioner Charles Hall had
See PLANNING, Page 2A
• 50 CerJS '
300 letters of opposition to
this development “We have
received no letters in favor
of this,” he said.
“I don't care if you have
a damn truckload of letters,”
said Planning Commission
Chairman Dennis Martin.
“Then that’s sad," Pickering
Photo/Tom Brooks
At the polls
Lanier Gramling was voter
number 71 at Sawnee
Elementary School during
last Tuesday’s run-off elec
tion. In the non-partisan
race’s statewide balloting,
! L.W. “Bubba” McDonald, a
Forsyth County business
man, was elected to the
post io which he was
appointed eartier this year.
He soundly defeated chal
lenger Jim Cole. At the
Sawnee precinct, Betty
Perry, Neil Elzey and Lynda
Ledbetter worked the potts.