Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2023
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 5A
Vote on another large
development tabled
By Ben Munro
ben@mainstreetnews. com
Another large-scale development is proposed for
Hoschton, but an answer from the city council is on hold
for at least a month.
City leaders on Monday (Sept. 18) tabled their vote
on a rezoning request for 55 acres on Nancy Industrial
Dr. and Amy Industrial Lane from light industrial to a
planned unit development. The matter will come before
the council again at its October voting session.
The rezoning would allow for a mixed-unit develop
ment of 712 residences (360 apartments and 352 town-
homes) and 63,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, office
and civic space. Amenities include a pool, greenspace
and pickleball courts. Five acres would be donated to the
city.
Charles Ross, who spoke on behalf of applicant G.P.’s
Enterprises, said the applicant was approached to build
a track terminal, allowed by right on the property, but
switched those plans after being asked “by some of the
local leaders” to reconsider.
Part of G.P.’s Enterprises’proposal includes a $125,000
donation to go towards the installation of a traffic signal
at the busy intersection of Hwy. 53 and Peachtree Rd.
In front of a standing-room-only crowd at Thursday’s
(Sept. 14) work session, seven citizens spoke out against
the proposal.
Resident and city council candidate Christina Brown
pointed to multiple inconsistencies of the proposal with
the city’s zoning ordinances, traffic problems, strain of
the project on the town’s water capacity and sewer treat
ment and the potential impact on emergency services,
police and schools. She contended that a track terminal
is not the only other option for the property if the council
doesn’t approve the mixed-use development.
“We should wait on something better,” Brown said. “It
will come. In the meantime, we can prepare and plan.”
City planner Jerry Weitz recommended denial of the
project. He cited 200 yet-to-be-constructed townhomes
from G.P.’s Enterprises in the city.
“It may be worth considering whether those units
should be built before approving any additional ones,”
Weitz said.
He also pointed to the density of the project, which he
called too intense. The apartment component calls for 31
units per acre. Weitz added that the city does not have
the water and sewer capacity needed to serve the devel
opment.
One resident said the city council should follow Weitz’s
recommendation.
“If the city planner says no, that’s what it should be,”
resident Jack Flint said.
ANOTHER VOTE POSTPONED
Meanwhile, one of the larger recent development pro
posals is in limbo.
The council tabled an annexation and rezoning request
from former Mayor Shannon Sell for an annexation and
rezoning to build a 300-plus gated community on a pro
posed 110-acre site fronting Hwy. 332, E.G. Barnett Rd.
East Jefferson St. and West Jackson Rd. Thirty-three
acres of the proposed site sit outside of the city.
But City Attorney Abbott Hayes said two of the three
property owners, including Sell, want to withdraw the
application. A developer, Providence Group, has the
third property owner’s land under contract, and the city is
uncertain of Providence Group’s plans. Due to a lack of
unanimity for withdrawal, the council voted to table the
annexation and rezoning requests to its October voting
meeting.
The much-discussed development was the subject of
two public hearings and nearly went to arbitration with
Jackson County before the proposed number of units was
reduced from 389 to 334.
Providence Group was the original applicant for the
development but later withdrew from the project.
Commissioner Clark
named a ‘certified
county commissioner’
Jackson County Commissioner Marty Clark has
completed all of the courses required for a certificate
of recognition as a certified county commissioner
by the University of Georgia and the Association of
County Commissioners of Georgia.
Clark will be presented with his certificate at a later
date.
Region, state see rise in
August unemployment
Georgia Labor Commissioner Brace Thompson re
cently reported that all of Georgia’s Regional Commis
sions reported a rise in August unemployment rates.
“August unemployment numbers continue to re
inforce the strength of a vibrant Georgia economy,”
Thompson said. “With the uptick in unemployment
over the past month, it requires diligent and deliberate
focus to balance opportunity with the needs within the
state’s workforce.”
The labor force rose in all areas, except the Central
Savannah River Regional Commission.
Employment was up in the Heart of Georgia, North
east Georgia and Southern Georgia Regional Commis
sions.
Highlights from the Northeast Region include:
•The unemployment rate was up six-tenths to 3.7%
over-the-month, the rate was 3.2% one year ago.
•The labor force was up 2,680 over-the-month and
up 8,923 over-the-year, to 329,030, an all-time high.
•The number of employed was up 542 over-the-
month and up 7,020 over-the-year, to 316,881.
•Initial claims were down 224 (-16%) over-the-
month and up 185 (19%) over-the-year, to 1,185.
The Northeast Region includes: Barrow, Clarke,
Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Jasper, Madison, Morgan,
Newton, Oconee, Oglethorpe and Walton counties.
Tabulation afterward indicated that a record 3,200 persons were in attendance at the annual meeting of
the Jackson Electric Corporation in 1973. JEMC officials said that the 1973 attendance was up some 25%
over 1972. Eating was the first order of business for the evening and the menu was barbecued chicken
with area FFA chapters doing the cooking.
Looking Back: Week of September 27
Take a look back at the headlines from this week over
the past 50 years:
50 YEARS AGO
SEPTEMBER 25,1973
•Park free; hearing set Oct. 4 —A. C. Cliff Park — twice
sentenced to the electric chair for the murder of Sol. Gen.
Floyd Hoard — was at home in Pendergrass in 1973. He
was free on a $50,000 bail, ordered by a New Orleans,
La., federal judge. Piedmont Circuit District Attorney Nat
Hancock of Jefferson and a representative of the Georgia
District Attorneys Association were set to appear before an
appears court for oral arguments opposing Par’s release un
der the habeas corpus petition.
40 YEARS AGO
SEPTEMBER 28,1983
•Groundbreaking held at Hurricane Shoals Amphtheater
— The groundbreaking ceremony for the Hurricane Shoals
Park amphitheater was held in 1983.
30 YEARS AGO
SEPTEMBER 29,1993
•Jackson to rejoin regional water efforts after compro
mise — After several weeks of intense, behind-the-scenes
negotiations, it looked like Jackson County was set to re-en
ter the Upper Oconee Basin Group in 1993. Jerry Waddell,
chairman of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners,
agreed to a compromise plan for a regional water authority
that would bring Jackson County back into the group.
•Jackson, Banks in 1-85 ‘boom belt’ but Georgia behind
S.C. andN.C. —Nearby South Carolina and areas in North
Carolina along 1-85 were in a “boom area,” said a 1993
Atlanta Journal Constitution Article. The Herald reported
that the AJC said “such development appears years away
between Atlanta and the South Carolina line... Northeast
Georgia lacks the infrastructure needed by major industry.
The area’s most visible development includes the Chateau
Elan resort near Braselton and a cluster of factory outlet
stores, motels and restaurants near Commerce.”
•Commerce land option and superintendent’s position
topics on BOE — A decision on the Griffeth property and
further discussions on hiring a new superintendent were
expected at the Jackson County Board of Education meet
ing in 1993. The option on the 64 acres of Commerce land
owned by Dr. R.H. Griffeth was to expire in September
1993. The school board had invested $10,000 in options on
the site and would lose the funds if it failed to exercise the
option. Plans to erect a middle-high school complex at the
site fell through after Commerce voters declined to merge
their school system with the county. However, the county
had earlier planned a second middle school at the site.
20 YEARS AGO
OCTOBER 1, 2003
•Big changes ahead in Pendergrass? — About 400 peo
ple called Pendergrass home, according to the 2000 Cen
sus. But if plans for two residential projects in 2003 were
approved, the North Jackson city could welcome more than
600 new houses.
•BOEs to meet on possibility of tax hike — State cuts
in funding led the Jackson County and Jefferson school
boards to look at tax hikes in 2003.
10 YEARS AGO
SEPTEMBER 18, 2013
•Howard named superintendent — April Howard was
named superintendent of the Jackson County School Sys
tem following action by the board of education in 2013.
•Historic one-room schoolhouse moved to Hurricane
Shoals — A one-room school house that served the Af
rican-American community in Nicholson from the mid-
1870s to 1948 was relocated to the Heritage Village at
Hurricane Shoals Park in 2013.
5YEARSAGO
SEPTEMBER 19, 2018
•Another Amazon — Another Amazon facility was plan
ning to open in Jackson County in 2018. Local officials
were mum on the plans, but Mainstreet Newspapers re
ceived confirmation about the project. Amazon planned to
open a sortation center in the former TigerDirect building
at 235 Hog Mountain Rd. in Jefferson.
• Aldi coming to Jefferson — Jefferson Mayor Steve
Quinn announced in 2018 that an Aldi grocery store was
planning to locate in Jefferson near the Kroger grocery
store.
•Agri-Cycle cleanup to take months, money — Work
was likely to pickup in 2018 at the abandoned Agri-Cy
cle site in Talmo as the state began plans to clean-up the
property.
1 YEAR AGO
SEPTEMBER 28, 2022
• County sets tax rates, budget — The Jackson County
Board of Commissioners approved its budget and tax rate
in a called meeting Sept. 26,2022. The BOC cut its millage
rates to 7.8 mills in unincorporated Jackson County and
9.138 mills in incorporated areas. Both rates were lower
16- to-18-year-old winners from Maysville’s Au
tumn Leaf pageant in 1993 were: Tonya David (L),
first runner-up; and Kim Albritton, queen.
Robin Brown gives the Reb. Griff Carithers, pastor
of Center First Baptist Church, a new look with the
help of clown paint at the Center Honeysuckle Fes
tival in 1983. A bystander was apparently amused
at the transformation.
There was magic in the air at the Fall Festival
Days festival in Hoschton in 1983 as “Skittles, the
Clown” presented a magic show to children and
adults alike.
than the official “rollback” rates.
• Community keeping an eye on the storm — The com
munity was preparing for potential weather impacts from
Hurricane Ian.
•Coach Smart attends game — Georgia Bulldogs head
football coach Kirby Smart attended the 2022 Jefferson
High School vs. Clarke Central game.
•Request for private lodging facility at SK withdrawn —
A request that would have allowed SK Battery America to
construct a private lodging facility on its Commerce cam
pus was withdrawn.
