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Forsyth County News
•/ Your "Hometown Paper" Since 1908 J
Vol. 95, No. 54
New tree ordinance may be v
By Nancy Smallwood
Associate Editor
Schools, developers and busi
nesses are taking a closer look at
the economics of planting trees
since Forsyth County approved
revisions to its tree ordinance.
County commissioners voted
March 15 to require a set amount of
trees on all land proposed for devel
opment requiring trees even where
trees were not previously present.
Residential subdivisions of
seven units or more will now be
required to have 20 tree units on
each acre that is disturbed, accord
ing to the newly adopted ordinance.
Commercial developments will
need at least 15 tree units per acre.
Montessori
site sought
Neighbors concerned
By Todd Truelove
Staff Writer
Luz Cafferatta has been teaching
students ages 2 to 6 at the
Chattahoochee Christian Church on
Bell Road in Duluth for almost two
years.
She says it's time to move the
school into its own facility and is
asking the Forsyth County govern
ment to rezone an acre of property
off Old Atlanta Road from agricul
tural to residential with a conditional
use permit so a house can be built
where she can continue running the
operations of her Montessori school.
However, some residents of
neighboring subdivision Old Atlanta
Club want the local government to
place more conditions on the parcel
before allowing the school on it.
Due to their concerns, members
of the Forsyth County Planning
Commission Tuesday postponed
making a recommendation to the
Board of Commissioners allow
ing Cafferatta and residents near the
proposed building, including Paul
Corbeil. president of the South
Forsyth Homeowner's Coalition, the
opportunity to continue negotiations.
Cafferatta said Wednesday she
wants to build a 5.000-square-foot
See SCHOOL, Page 2A
‘Spring forward’
this weekend
From staff reports
Once again, it is time to “spring
forward." Daylight Saving Time offi
cially begins at 2 a m. Sunday, the
night that most
Americans give up
that extra hour of
sleep. The phrase
“spring forward" is
a reminder that this
is the time that
clocks move ahead
by one hour.
Daylight saving
time is observed in
fnrS w 8 2 \
UM
most of the continental U.S., with the
exception of Arizona and portions of
eastern Indiana. The program of shift
ing an hour of daylight from the
morning to the evening was first used
• during World War I to preserve fuel
reserves.
The first attempts to formalize the
observance occurred in the late 19605.
In 1986, Congress passed a law mov
ing the time change from the last to
the first Sunday in April and continu
ing until the last Sunday in October.
The time change also is used by
local fire departments to remind resi
dents to check the battery in their
smoke detectors.
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) 887-3 1 26.
Copyright C 2004 Forsyth County Nows
i
Sewell
their site plans and running cost fig
ures of future projects. The new
ordinance will have a definite effect
on the housing industry, according
to April Atkins of the Greater
Atlanta Home Builders Association.
"We support any type of tree
preservation as long as it is fair and
Pinwheels for the children
r -r4 i
SiJ ‘
Photo/Audra Perry
HESS (Home Educators Support System) in partnership with
the Forsyth County Child Advocacy Center, placed 150 pin
wheels on the lawn of the Forsyth County Courthouse on
Tuesday. Nine-year-old Josh Krout and 7-year-old Joy Krout
helped place the pinwheels which represent the 811 investigat
ed cases of child abuse in Forsyth County in 2003.
Rodeo time is here again
By Antonia Hertwig-Benson
Staff Writer
Though its participants get
kicked, bucked and thrown, there is
one sport where your competitor
cheers you on and helps you out.
That is why Kevin Taylor, 30. of
Dawsonville, likes what he calls
“rodeoing.”
“It's the camaraderie in it,” he
said.
Born and raised in Montana,
Taylor has participated in rodeos
since he was 13 and has competed
professionally since 1993.
"My father was the county sheriff
and a deputy rodeo'd and got me into
it,” he said.
Taylor, one of six local riders will
compete in the International
Professional Rodeo Association’s
World Championship Rodeo this
weekend.
Competitors from Forsyth include
INDEX
Abby BA
Church events 9A
Classifieds .........4B
Deaths .2A
Food .................................... 1 0A
Horoscope 8A
Opinion 11A
Sports IB
FRIDAY April 2, 2004
The ordinance
defines a tree unit
as an existing tree
with a diameter
of 13.5 inches or
two newly plant
ed trees each with
diameters of 6
inches.
Builders and
developers are
now re-examining
Cheese recipes that are
sure to please everyone’s
palate.
PagelOA
equitable,” said Atkins. “It all boils
down to economics and demograph- 1
ics. The county needs more housing
choice and this will add to the
expense of housing."
The cost of developing the land
and tree saving or planting eventu
ally will be passed on to the home
owner. Atkins said she would have
liked the county to be more specific
on the tree replacement fund set up
by the ordinance. The fund will act
as an “emergency relief valve" and
will be utilized at the county's dis
cretion. Developers who cannot
meet the required site density factor
of planted trees can contribute S4OO
per unit for each unit short to the
fund.
“They fell short on when and
World Championship
Rodeo
Cumming Fairgrounds
Friday, April 2, 8 p.m. and
Saturday, April 3, 8 p.m.
For more information call
(770) 781-3491
Moe Modzelewski, Wendy Rafferty
and Sherri Thornton, all competing
in barrel racing, Friday night. Todd
Holbrook, team roping, and Todd
Walls, bull riding, will compete
Saturday night.
Taylor said he has competed at
the Cumming Fairgrounds, “every
time they’ve had it, but one." He has
also placed every time he has com-
See RODEO, Page 2A
See what’s
happening in
local churches.
PageSA
where th? money will be used,” said
Atkins. “They need to be held
accountable.”
Forsyth County Schools
Facilities Director Robert Sewell
said he would like to see the county
contribute some of the tree replace
ment funds to the schools. Since the
approval of the tree ordinance,
school officials have been trying to
find a solution to how they will pay
for tree planting at new school sites.
The site for the next high school on
Drew Road was chosen specifically
for its center pasture area which
was perfect for the school facility
"footprint,” Sewell said.
See TREES, Page 2A
Sheriff debuts new
reverse 911 system
Area residents notified during standoff
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
A suicide threat in north Forsyth
County resulted in a standoff
between the subject and the sher
iff’s office Tuesday, prompting the
debut of the county's new reverse
911 system.
S. W. AT. team negotiators
worked with a 38-year-old man who
was threatening to shoot himself in
his Hamptons subdivision home.
Meanwhile, in the first use of the
reverse 911 system, the Forsyth
County Sheriff's Office alerted
nearby residents to remain in their
homes. School bus routes to the
area were delayed, Sheriff Ted
Paxton said.
The man surrendered to sheriff's
deputies at 3 30 p.m. after having
barricaded himself in his house for
more than an hour. The suicidal
man was taken into custody for a
mental evaluation, said sheriff's
spokesperson Capt. Frank Huggins.
A domestic dispute between the
husband and wife was reported ear
lier in the day. Paxton said drug use
may have been a factor.
The reverse 91 1 system left an
"all clear" message for residents
after the standoff concluded. “The
Reverse 911 System worked exact!)
as we had planned,” Paxton said.
“With it, we were able to keep the
neighborhood informed about what
————————
Photo/ Nancy Smallwood
K-9 Unit visits students
Forsyth County Sheriffs Cpl. Josh Cox and his K-9 "Kalito"
attended Chattahoochee Elementary School's Career on Wheels
Day on Wednesday. Kindergarten students at the school listened
as Cox gave a brief description of his job.
fV \ \W e
K-
Photo/David McGregor
Greg Wallace, county arborist,
looks over a map of develop
ments that will be affected by
the new tree ordinance.
f
L 1 »
E JT
, 4
4/
LJI. A.
Paxton
time last weekend. Forsyth County
residents and businesses may have
received an unexpected call from
the sheriff on Saturday or Sunday.
The Sheriff’s Office will continue
to make the test calls until all
129,000 phone lines in the county
have been contacted, sheiff's offi
cials said.
The system can make 250 prere
corded calls every two to three min
utes to selected phone numbers.
Warnings of a chemical spill, an
escaped criminal or missing child
can be distributed quickly to those
in the vicinity of the incident.
Reverse 911 also can be used to
check on the welfare of homebound
residents in the county. As part of
the “Guardian Project." the reverse
911 system will place a prerecorded
call to a list of homebound individ
uals. If the call is not answered, the
See 97 1, Page 2A
Partly Cloudy
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
I. March 28 1069.88 ft
March 29 1069.89 ft
March 30 1069.89 ft
'■ March 31 1069.93 ft
Full 1071.00 ft
High in the low 60s.
Low in the low 40s.
5,1 B
•ps rival North
was going on and.
at the same time,
arranged for the
children to be
safely secured
away from a
potentially haz
ardous situation.”
The sheriff’s
office tested its
new Reverse 91 I
system for the first