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News 1A Where to go trunk- or-treating this Halloween. See story Page 6A Football: Preview of Week 10 matchups Page IB FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Weekend Edition-October 21-22,2022 FORSYTHNEWS.COM P?forsythcountynews Q@ForsythNews (@J@ForsythNews $2.00 City considers short-term rental rules By Kelly Whitmire kwhitmire@forsythnews.com The city of Cumming may soon have new regulations for short-term rentals. During a work session on Tuesday, Oct. 18, City Attorney Kevin Tallant presented a pro posed short-term rental ordi nance to regulate sites like Airbnb and VRBO, which allow owners to rent out a room or their house for short-term stays. “The concept is not to shut that down,” Tallant said. “The concept is to regulate it in a way that the city is protected so that we don’t end up with hous es that are turning into party pads every weekend where you have 25, 30 or 40 people spend ing a weekend in the house, disturbing neighbors, messing up sewage systems and septic systems, causing noise ordi nance violations and that sort of thing.” Tallant said currently if there is a disturbance caused by short-term renters, the only action that can be taken is through the city’s noise ordi nance. If approved, the proposed ordinance would require the owners of short-term rentals to pay a fee and receive a permit from the city. Tallant said the rules would also help track which owners pay hotel/motel taxes, which they are legally required to pay but do not always do so. Along with well-known sites like Airbnb and VRBO, Tallant said the ordinance would also be in place for newer concepts, like Swimply, which he said allows homeowners to “rent out your swimming pool for the day to a bunch of people, and then they all come have a party at your house.” “Frankly, it’s a way that the city can, and some people would say should, regulate when people take their residen tial properties and essentially turn it into a side business by leasing it out on VRBO or Airbnb and certainly Swimply, leasing out your pool on week ends for people to come have parties,” he said. Tallant said surrounding areas had adopted rules for regulating short-term rentals, including the city of Alpharetta, Cherokee County and Forsyth County. No action was taken at the work session, and the ordinance will come back to the council at a future meeting. 'We are so excited for this school' Sabrina Kerns Forsyth County News Forsyth County Schools held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Midway Elementary School at its construction site on Mullinax Road onTuesday, Oct. 18. Groundbreaking ceremony marks new Midway Elementary campus construction By Sabrina Kerns skerns@forsythnews.com Forsyth County Schools held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Midway Elementary School at its construction site on Mullinax Road on Tuesday, Oct. 18. Board of Education members and Superintendent Dr. Jeff Bearden attended the ceremony along with representatives from Carroll Daniel Construction and Lindsay Pope Brayfield & Associates, the construction and architectural teams working together on the project with FCS’ facilities team. “We are so excited for this school,” Bearden said, thanking the board members, facility team and community for helping to support the project. He said the facility for Midway Elementary needed to be replaced as the school has faced overcrowding in the last several years and Forsyth County continues to grow. Right now, the school serves 750 students in a building with the capacity for 700. During a BOE meeting last year, Chief Communications Officer Jennifer Caracciolo explained that the current Midway Elementary could not be expanded because of its loca tion on Atlanta Highway. But this new 136,920-square- foot facility, located right next to Denmark High School’s campus between Mullinax and Fowler Roads, will be able to serve more than 1,770 students on its 87.14 acres. “And this school will serve our community probably for the next 60-75 years,” Bearden said. “The current Midway Elementary was built in 1961, so more than 60 years old and we expect the same life expectancy out of this school.” Bearden explained the school will also be completely paid for with the Educational Special Local Option Sales Tax, or See Midway 12A Developers hear concerns about North Park plan By Ashlyn Yule ayule@forsythnews.com Developers hosted a pub lic participation meeting Thursday, Oct. 13 for a mixed-use development project called North Park that could bring retail opportunities, a medical center and over 800 resi dential units to north Forsyth. What it is Retail Planning Corporation, of Marietta, has requested to rezone approximately 140 acres from agricultural district to mixed-use center district for six residential lots, 172 attached residential units or townhomes and 650 apart ments with a projected den sity of 5.98 units per acre. The request also includes commercial buildings total ing 701,800 square feet, 2,259 parking spaces and 27.8 acres of open space. No variances have been requested. The land in question is located on Keith Bridge Road to the west of Ga. 400, and it also encompass es area along State Barn Road on either side. According to an informal report from the county, planning and community development staff have not yet made a recommenda tion for the project. As detailed by the proj ect’s master development handbook, North Park will combine “commercial, office, light industrial and residential uses” to create a Inside Rezoning requests set for public hearing on Oct. 25,6A project that is “compact and walkable with street and trail system connectivity to promote a genuine work, live and play environment.” According to the hand book, 500,000 square feet is expected to be used for light industrial purposes while the remaining 201,800 square feet will be commercial uses, such as retail and restaurants. Of the 828 residential units, 100 units will exist for a five-story senior hous ing building. Christopher Light, local zoning attorney represent ing the development, said 44 percent of apartments would be one-bedroom, 44 percent two-bedroom and the remaining 12 percent three-bedroom. Regarding the proposed medical center on the mixed-use development’s property, Northside Hospital has joined the team of developers to create a product to provide patient care. What residents had to say Traffic Abdul Amer, traffic engi- neer with A&R Engineering, said he is in the process of completing a traffic study and will be See Develop 18A BOE OKs property tax abatement for sports park By Sabrina Kerns skerns@forsythnews.com The Forsyth County Board of Education approved a 10-year tax abatement at their regular meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 18, for an upcoming major sports park in south Forsyth. Formerly proposed as Winner’s Circle Park, SoFo Sports Park will sit on 62 acres of land off Peachtree Parkway and Brookwood and Caney Roads, and will feature dia mond fields, a 125,000-square- foot indoor sports center, 21 pickleball courts and a com mercial area. But SoFo Sports Group, the developers behind the project, asked for help from the county to get the park up and running as property values and prices continue to rise. At the board’s work session the previous week, leaders with SoFo Sports Group and the Forsyth County Development Authority encouraged board members to approve a 10-year tax abatement for the property the park will be built on. The abatement would allow the property tax rate to freeze in place with it increasing slightly over the next 10 years, “which means SoFo Sports will continue to pay the current assessed value of that proper ty,” Superintendent Dr. Jeff Bearden said. “I know for me, I’m not a tax abatement person and I actually voted against the last one,” BOE Chairman Wes McCall said during last week’s work session. “However, I think this is an exciting project .... This is going to benefit the community, and it’s going to help SPLOST. For us, we took a big step last year and created a capital improvement plan based solely on SPLOST, so we pay as we go. I think we don’t know what that looks like, but this can only benefit [everyone], so I do sup port it.” The board members voted unanimously to approve the 10-year tax abatement, and the Development Authority also voted to approve it in September. The Board of Commissioners will make the final vote on it later this month. For more information, visit the district’s website at www. forsyth.kl2.ga.us. 68/40 Forecast 12A Rezoning requests set for public hearing on Oct. 25,6A Forsyth County News app available for download Find the app at forsythnews.com/apps for local news at your fingertips. □ 7 Volume 113, Number 80 © 2022, Forsyth County News Cumming, Georgia