Newspaper Page Text
Outgoing
Commissioner
Cooper honored
by BOC for her
service to
community.
See story
Page 8A
Raiders defeat
region rival Wolverines
in boys basketball.
Page IB
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS
Midweek Edition-December 21-22, 2022 FORSYTHNEWS.COM forsythcountynews Q @ForsythNews @ForsythNews $1.00
Coal Mountain center takes a big step
By Ashlyn Yule
ayule@forsythnews.com
The vision for Coal Mountain
is finally becoming a reality fol
lowing unanimous votes at the
Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners meeting on
Thursday, Dec. 15.
The rezoning and changes to
the development code were years
in the making, District 4
Commissioner Cindy Jones Mills
said, as she expressed gratitude to
all who were involved in the proj
ect.
“I can’t believe we’re here ...
finally for a vote,” she said.
The Coal Mountain Town
Center Overlay will now require
a third-party architect to oversee
developments in the area, making
sure they abide by a “character
book,” which includes design
styles to be followed that will pay
homage to north Forsyth’s roots:
poultry agriculture.
Coal Mountain Town Center,
which has not gone through final
ized naming, is a mixed-use
development on about 140 acres
stretching between highways 396
and 9 and Settingdown and
Martin roads.
The development will include
73,300 square feet of retail space,
20,200 square feet of office
space, 300 multi-family units or
apartments, 219 townhomes and
261 single-family lots. It also will
have about 36 acres of greens-
pace with a natural trail network.
Going along with the project
are road improvements, such as
the widening of Highway 369,
the Highway 369 and Ga. 400
interchange and the Coal
Mountain Connector, a new road
way to connect highways 369
and 9 with two lanes in each
direction.
The Coal Mountain Connector
will run through the town center,
creating a main entrance at a pro
posed future roundabout on
Settingdown Road. The connect
ing road also requires a traffic
light at the entrance of
Bridgetowne neighborhood,
which Mills said has already
gone up.
Christopher Light, the attorney
representing the rezoning request,
said he was personally “extreme
ly excited [he] played a small
part” in this application as he is a
graduate of Coal Mountain
Elementary School, and North
Forsyth middle and high schools,
which are all across the street
from the project.
“This is ... the gateway to
north Forsyth,” Light said. “We
See Coal 18A
'Just an amazing experience'
Photos by Kelly Whitmire Forsyth County News
Even the food during the tour was provided by East Forsyth students, who had prepared
salad, lasagna and desserts in the culinary arts program.
State leaders tour East Forsyth career pathways
CTAE Commission members state Sen. Chuck Payne and
state Rep. Rick Jasperse share their thoughts on East
Forsyth's career pathway programs.
By Kelly Whitmire
kwhitmire@forsythnews.com
State leaders recently learned a
few things from students in
career pathways at East Forsyth
High School.
On Thursday, Dec. 15, mem
bers of Georgia’s Career,
Technical and Agricultural
Commission met at East Forsyth,
where members discussed state
wide workforce initiatives,
learned about career pathway
programs in local schools and
took a look at what students
were taking on in the pathways.
Student Jacob Zarfoss, who is
in the engineering and technolo
gy pathway, said it has given him
hands-experience by allowing
him to use 3D printers, compete
in robotics challenges and to
drive the program’s Electrathon
car, a competition electric vehi
cle.
“I’ve just always loved build
ing things, always been very
hands-on with different compo
nents,” he said. “I’ve been loving
the electrical side of it. Currently,
we have a student wiring up one
See Career 18A
Cox says school
choice, cyber
security among
his priorities
By Kelly Whitmire
kwhitmire@forsythnews.com
State House District 28 is new to north Georgia, but
the district’s next representative has a lot of experience
in the area.
After a long year of campaigns and meeting voters,
state Rep.-elect Brent
Cox, a business owner and
former football coach, has
been preparing for his new
role by attending meet
ings, going to training ses
sions and talking with
constituents ahead of the legislative session, which
begins on Monday, Jan. 9.
“I’m here to serve the people of the district, so what
ever that entails,” Cox recently told the Forsyth
See Cox 13A
Inside
Dunn sworn in as
next state judge of
Forsyth County, 6A
Rock ‘N’ Taco to
open new location
in city of Cumming
From staff reports
Roswell’s popular
taqueria, sports bar and
live music venue Rock
‘N’ Taco is expanding
with a second location at
the Cumming City Center.
“The City of Cumming
is a great fit for Rock ‘N’
Taco,” co-owner Brad
Hancock said. “We have
worked closely with the
mayor and the city and
appreciate their support.
We also have a great team
Inside
Tapas restaurant to
open in Cumming
City Center, 6A
of managers, kitchen
staff, bartenders and bus-
boys. We couldn’t bring
this dream to life without
them.”
Hancock developed the
original concept for Rock
‘N’ Taco and has roots in
See Taco13A
46/38
Forecast! 2A
Kids write letters
to Santa with
their wishes for
Christmas, 4-5A
Forsyth County News app
available for download
Find the app at
forsythnews.com/apps
for local news at your
fingertips.
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Volume 113, Number 97
© 2022, Forsyth County News
Cumming, Georgia
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