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Forsyth CountvNews Vol. 95, No. 44 ■■ ■■ ■ ■ * *****»” ******* 3-DlL’ll Forsyth reps may be in s 4 By Nancy Smallwood and Harris Blackwood Staff Writers Forsyth state representatives Tom Knox and Jack Murphy could be forced to face off against each other in the fall if new district maps issued by three federal judges Monday remain final. Federal judges directed a Special Master to draw new maps of the Senate and House of Representatives districts after legislators failed to draw their own by a March 1 dead- Cumming duel fir/ Jl\l \ sfll Photos/David McGregor Above, 8-year-olds Mark Peter, left and Hunter Kent, react following a crash during their race Saturday during the North Georgia Quarter Midget Association's inaugural Kids Racing for Kids Spring Nationals event at Cumming Fairgrounds. The drivers were not injured, but neither car finished the race. Below, crew members from Hunter Kent’s car attempt to fix a problem with the car’s rear wheel which was damaged in a wreck. i-. -• a yT A !< Six Otwell students charged with possession of prescription drugs, two with distribution By Nancy Smallwood Staff Writer Six eighth-grade Otwell Middle School students will face charges of possession of prescription drugs in connection with the incident during the week of March 8 when school authorities were informed the stu dents brought painkillers and mus cle relaxers to school. Two additional students also will be charged with distribution of the Missed paper policy: For a replacement paper, call 8 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. -1 p.m. on Sunday - (770) 887-3126 Copyright ® 2004 For «yth County Now* J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J Knox are now placed in districts with a current House mem ber. In addition, 10 senators are thrown in the same district as another prescription drugs. All of the students involved in the incident are female, according to Maj. Gene Moss of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office. “We think they got the drugs from home.” said Moss. Two students brought the pills to school on March 8 and distrib uted them to seven of their friends, according to Jennifer Caracciolo. spokesperson for the school sys- INDEX Abby Classifieds.™ 1 IB Deaths ,2A Events 7 A Horoscope 6A Legals 3B Opinion 10A Sports IB WEDNESDAY March 17, 2004 line. The new maps were un veiled Monday by the judges to the legislators. According to the newly pub lished map. 66 members of the House of Representatives Advice Dear Abby dishes out good advice. Page6A Murphy senator. The new map directly affects Forsyth County since it puts Cumming Republicans Rep. Tom Knox and Rep. Jack Murphy in the same dis trict. A new state House seat also is assigned exclusively for the southern portion of the county. Only two Senate seats will be tern. Nine of the students took the pills at various times during the school day and classmates informed the teachers about the drugs. Moss said the school system contacted the sheriff’s office on Friday about the incident. A school resource offi cer assigned by the sheriff's office assisted the department in the inves tigation. See DRUGS, Page 2A given to Forsyth if the map remains in place. If the plan is followed, cur rent Sen. Bill Stephens of Canton, the Senate majority leader, would represent the largest portion of the county and the northern two-thirds of Cherokee County. Democratic Sen. Carol Jackson of Cleveland would represent a small northeastern sec tion of Forsyth. However, both sena tors are up for re-election this year. Stephens said he thought the new Senate district pairs counties with comparable interests. "It is an incredibly positive thing Commissioners OK tree ordinance; all sides not happy By Todd Truelove Staff Writer The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopt ed a revised tree ordinance Monday. However, all of the votes that were taken concerning the tree ordi nance were not unanimous. The board disagreed on several proposed amendments to the law which requires developers to maintain a set volume of trees on project sites or pay fines. The adoption comes after several discussions between the board, coun ty staff and residents. Opponents complained the ordi nance as originally drafted would force them to plant trees on property where trees did not originally exist, such as pasture land. While that requirement was changed in the revised ordinance, an amendment by District 2 Commissioner A.J. Pritchett to delete the word “forested" passed 3-2 making the ordinance applicable to any disturbed land, regardless of whether trees were originally there. April Atkins of the Greater Atlanta Homebuilders Association said eliminating that word is a con cern. County may allow lot size variance requests By Todd Truelove Staff Writer The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners Monday directed Planning Department staff mem bers to draft revisions to the coun ty's Unified Development Code that will allow developers to request variances for lot sizes when submitting rez.oning applica tions. Staff are working on a host of revisions for the county's develop ment code that will bring it in line with proposed land uses on a map the county government consults when considering rezoning requests. A main component of those revisions includes a new classifica tion for Mixed Use (MU) develop ments that combine commercial and residential uses within a com munity. Such zoning requests are cur rently allowed under classifications for Planned Unit Developments (PUD) and Conditional Use Permits (CUP). However, the coun ty is not accepting zoning classifi- Opinion Columnist Bill Shipp says Georgia inattentive to higher education. PagelOA 50 Cents Partly Cloudy LAKE LANIER LEVELS Date Level jjßisß, March 12 1069.88 ft r ) March 13 1069.85 ft i March 14 1069.86 ft « March 15 1069.86 ft Full 1071.00 ft High in the mid-60s. Low in the mid-40s. SPORTS, 1B Local man wins gold for me and fpr Forsyth and Cherokee counties," said Stephens. "It is bitter sweet because several of my friends are paired together across the state." Stephens, who was elected last year as the majority leader in the Senate after Republicans took con trol following the defections of two senators from the Democratic Party, said he would be a candidate for the new district. He has served in the Senate since 1998. Jackson said she plans to comment See REPS, Page 2A It's weaker than what we currently have. - Patty Durand “They took two steps back,” Atkins said after the ordinance passed, adding the requirement will hurt current property owners who are trying to sell their pasture land "by requiring the replacement of trees that were not there in the first place." Pritchett's amendment also included a compromise allowance for trees planted in buffer areas to count toward the total required volume winning the vote of District 5 Commissioner Eddie Taylor. District 1 Commissioner Charles Laughinghouse also voted in favor of the amendment. Chairman Jack Conway and District 4 Commissioner Marcie Kreager cast the dissenting votes. “We've worked on the tree ordi nance for quite some time." Conway See TREE, Page 2A Kreager cations for either of those cate gories each of which is being eliminated from the UDC. County Senior Planner Audra Miller said there are about 130 UDC revisions staff are working to complete by later this fall. For the most part, the revisions affect the county's commercial zoning codes and designate pre ferred businesses within the com mercial zoning categories of Neighborhood Shopping. Urban Village. Central Business District. Highway Business. Heavy Commercial. Business Park. Office and Institutional. Office Residential. Office Commercial Multi-story, Industrial and Mixed Use. Miller said until those changes are made, developers could still plan for mixed use communities See LOTS, Page 2A