Newspaper Page Text
Forsyth County News
Vol. 95, No. 020
Marathon meeting brings a crowd
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A standing-room crowd filled the county administration building Monday night for a lengthy meeting of the Forsyth
County Commission, which included revisions to the county’s tree ordinance and consideration of a smoking ordinance,
in addition to numerous public hearings.
Commissioners hear opposition to tree ordinance
By Todd Truelove
Staff Writer
The Forsyth County Board
of Commissioners conducted a
marathon nine and half hour
session Monday night stretch
ing public hearings and regular
business until 2:45 a.m.
Tuesday morning drawing
comments on everything from
tree ordinance changes to com
munication towers.
Most were there to comment
on proposed revisions to the
county's tree ordinance which,
in part, increased the number
and types of trees a developer
would be required to have
before construction could com
mence. Commissioners did not
take action Monday night but
said they wanted to alter the
revisions after they heard from
the audience.
County Arborist Greg
Wallace presented the board
Patterson saw lake
grow from infancy
Dam, benefits built on his watch
By Harris Blackwood
Community Editor
Cecil Patterson saw the development of Lake
Lanier from its infancy. His 35-year career with the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began six years before
the 1954 completion of Buford Dam and continued
until 1983, when he retired as resource manager for
the reservoir.
Patterson, 76, of Cumming, died Saturday. He was
remembered by colleagues and friends as an outgoing
man who was enthusiastic about the Lake Lanier proj
ect.
“He had a real rapport with the counties that sur
round the lake,” said Mark Williams, a Corps
spokesman.
Williams said that among Patterson’s legacies was
the hiring of a number of professionals to guide the
future of the lake.
“A number of those people remain on the staff to
this day,” said Williams “He hired some very talented
people. Some of them are nearing retirement now.”
Williams said that Patterson did not forget his
work after retirement and was a regular attendee at
See LAKE, Page 2A
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Copyright © 2003 Forsyth County News
90994 04001
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/t s just one
more attempt to
take away
private
property rights.
- Bobby Thomas
99
with the changes which as writ
ten would, among other things,
increase the density of trees in
subdivisions and require
inspections to assure compli
ance with builders before the
Planning Department would
issue Certificates of Occupancy.
However, based upon previ
ous discussions, Wallace also
recommended a host of addi
tional changes before the board
adopts the new tree ordinance.
Those changes included
placing more of the authority to
INDEX
Classifieds 128
Comics... 3B
Deaths 2A
Education 6A
Events.. 4A
Legate 4B
Opinion 10A
Sports IB
WEDNESDAY February 4, 2004
assure compliance with the
director of the Planning
Department instead of the
county arborist, allowing the
required tree density in pasture
land to only be based on the
disturbed area, and keeping the
required density for new subdi
visions at its current amount of
15 units per acre.
Wallace also said the board
might want to consider deleting
the requirement for the ordi
nance to apply until staff issues
a CO. He said the county would
need at least two additional
inspectors to enforce that
requirement.
Wallace also said it needs to
be clarified that the ordinance is
not supposed to apply to indi
vidual home owners.
“The ordinance is not
intended to apply to the con
struction of single family
detached dwellings,” he said.
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File Photo
Cecil Patterson was included in the Forsyth County News “Men of Forsyth” section
in 1998. In a photo from that edition, he examines old photographs which chroni
cle the construction of Buford Dam in the mid-19505. Patterson, who served as
resource manager of Lake Lanier prior to his retirement in 1983, died Saturday at
the age of 76.
Advice
Dear Abby:
Girl stands her ground
against molester
Page3B
“If you want to add a garage
behind your house, you can do
so without coming under the
requirements of the tree ordi
nance.”
Six people spoke in favor of
the ordinance, including Patty
Durand, who sits on the tree
preservation committee that
helped develop the revisions,
and resident Jan Hill.
“I’ve been concerned, since
I’ve been a resident of the
county for the last 12 years, at
the alarming rate the trees have
been disappearing,” Hill said.
Most of the attendees, how
ever, were there in opposition
to the tree ordinance revisions.
Bobby Thomas, the chair
man of the group Citizens for
Property Rights, questioned
why the ordinance needed to be
changed.
“We contend that this is not
See COMMISSION, Page 3A
Opinion
Columnist Bill Shipp glad
governor doing some
straight talking.
PagelOA
Turner jury
selection
must wait
Effort to whittle 125-person pool delayed
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
MARIETTA The highly anticipated murder trial of
Julia Lynn Turner began Monday without the expected
climax when jury selection was postponed 24 hours.
Turner also pleaded not guilty to one count of murder
on Monday.
Media cameras were poised at
10:30 a.m., waiting for Cobb
County Superior Court Judge
James G. Bodiford to begin the
monthlong trial of the Cumming
woman accused of poisoning her
former husband. Turner had plenty
of time to converse with her attor
neys and the row of family mem
bers in the court room. The judge
was an hour late, detained by unre
lated proceedings.
The court also recessed for the
funeral of a prominent Cobb attor-
ney, leaving no time to question
jurors on Monday.
“Voir dire,” the jury selection process, was scheduler
for 65 of the 125-member jury pool on Tuesday and 60
today.
Turner’s attorney, Jimmy Berry of Marietta, told the
judge of his concern about widespread media coverage of
the case. He requested a private interview with jurors
who admit to having heard or read about the case.
“We do not want to educate the other jurors about
what one juror read,” Berry said.
Bodiford said he will ask the jury pool four questions,
which would indicate whether the juror could deliver an
unbiased verdict at the end of the murder trial. In hopes
of expediting the long trial, the judge said he will refer
for attorney questioning only those jurors who show par
tiality for or against the defendant.
“I think perhaps you’re being too cautious, but there’s
nothing wrong with being a little too cautious,” Bodiford
said.
“If we have to individually voir dire every individual,
so be it,” he said.
Berry said that as the jury selection proceeds, he will
consider whether a change of jurisdiction will be needed
due to media saturation.
Turner's former husband, Glenn Turner, a Cobb
County police officer, died in 1995 of what was thought
initially to be natural causes. His body was re-examined
after the similar, unexplainable death of Lynn Turner’s
boyfriend and Forsyth County firefighter, Randy
Thompson, in 2001. Both bodies contained high levels of
See TURNER, Page 2A
Poultry blood
carrier spills
cargo again
By Steven H. Pollak
Staff Writer
For the second time in less than
eight months, a Leon Jones Feed &
Grain truck carrying thousands of
gallons of chicken blood overturned
and spilled its contents onto the
roads of Forsyth County.
The most recent incident occurred
Saturday morning shortly before 10
a.m. when a 25-year-old driver
named Billy Barnes II was traveling
south on Old Federal Road just west
of Blanton Road in a 1995
Freightliner truck owned by the feed
and grain company located on
Leland Drive in Forsyth County.
According to a report by the
Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office,
Barnes was negotiating a curve in the
road when he lost control and the
vehicle skidded approximately 20
feet across the opposite lanes and
overturned in an embankment on the
north side of Old Federal.
See SPILL, Page 2A
Sunny
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
Jan. 30 1067.90 ft
WHE’ Jan. 31 1067.90 ft
Feb. 1 1067.92 ft
Feb. 2 1067.92 ft
Full lo7l.oe"ft
High in the low 50s. „ . --~
Low in the high 30s. *'**
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Turner