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PAGE 12A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. SEPTEMBER 23. 2021
Public hearings for rezoning request Sept 28 & 30
270-unit apartments proposed
on Highway 515
Jasper Planning & Zoning Commission will hold two public hearings next week to hear
a request and public input for a rezoning that could bring apartments to the parcel high
lighted in red and a smaller adjacent parcel off Hwy. 515.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
The Jasper Planning &
Zoning Commission will
hold a public hearing for a re
zoning request that, if ulti
mately approved by council,
would bring 270 apartment
units as well as mixed com
mercial area to Highway 515.
For readers sensing deja
vu, it is purely coincidence
that the last major develop
ment approved in Jasper was
for the same number of units
270 — though those were
townhomes. A city official
acknowledged the odd coin
cidence of the same number
of units, saying, “it just hap
pened that way.”
The two adjacent proper
ties under consideration, one
43.37 acres and the other
6.96 acres, are located at the
Highway 515 and Philadel
phia Road intersection on the
southbound side of the high
way near Microtek
The request was made by
land owners Marie Collins
c/o Janet Mueller and
Onzelle R. Fowler c/o An
drea Vann and Integrity De
velopment Group to have
those parcels rezoned from
R-1 and R-A designations to
a Planned Unit Development,
or PUD. The first public
hearing will be on Tuesday,
Sept. 28 at 6 p.m. at Jasper
City Hall, followed by a sec
ond public hearing on Thurs
day, Sept. 30 also at 6 p.m. at
Jasper City Hall.
This rezoning request
comes just a few months
after council approved a sep
arate rezoning for a 270-unit
townhome development at
the corner of Philadelphia
Road and Talking Rock
Highway. Council’s approval
of the Philadelphia Road re
zoning drew harsh criticism
from some members of the
public concerned with strain
on infrastructure, traffic, neg
ative aesthetic impacts, and
other issues. Price point for
those townhomes is over
$300,000.
Then in August the city
implemented a moratorium
on rezonings for residential
development until March of
2022 to “give the city a little
breathing room,” but not in
direct response to the town-
home development. The most
recent request for the apart
ment/mixed commercial de
velopment was already
underway when the morato
rium was implemented. Note:
the moratorium applies to
residential rezoning requests,
not annexations, variances, or
commercial rezonings.
Jasper mayor and council
will consider the planning
commission’s recommenda
tion at their Monday, Oct. 4
meeting at 6 p.m.
At those two public hear
ings the planning commis
sion will also
discuss/consider:
•A request to annex and
rezone 17.28 acres on Gen-
nett Drive from county Rural
Residential to city R-2 resi
dential. Applicant is Loyd
Development Services. This
request is for a future subdi
vision.
•A request to annex and
rezone 3.85 acres at the inter
section of Noah Drive and
West Church Street from
county Highway Business to
city C-2/general commercial.
Applicant is Bob Wigington.
•A request by Beacon Re
alty of Georgia to have sev
eral parcels on West Sellers
Street currently zoned R-3
given a variance.
Three sent to hospital in 515 crash
Upcoming flu season
could be worse than
last year, doctors say
By Tim Darnell
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - The presi
dent of the Medical Associ
ation of Georgia said
Wednesday this flu season
could be worse than last
year’s, and again stressed
the importance of getting a
COVID-19 vaccine.
“COVID-19 is a respira
tory infection, so co-infec-
tion can bring a much
higher risk of mortality,”
said Dr. Lisa Perry-Gilkes.
“Getting vaccinated is the
best way to protect yourself
from the COVID-19 and flu
viruses, period.”
Perry-Gilkes said pa
tients should “not to get
lulled into a false sense of
security because last year’s
flu season was so mild. This
could be a worse flu season,
which is why I am encour
aging every Georgian to get
vaccinated as soon as possi
ble, and no later than the
end of October.”
She added patients can
now get the COVID-19, flu
and other vaccines adminis
tered at the same time.
On Tuesday, the state
Board of Public Health was
told almost 60% of new
COVID-19 outbreaks are
now in Georgia’s K-12
schools.
Cherie Drenzek, state
epidemiologist for the Geor
gia Department of Public
Health, said the highly con
tagious delta variant is re
sponsible for the surge.
“The delta variant began
spreading in Georgia around
July 4,” Drenzek told a vir
tual meeting of the state’s
Board of Public Health.
“There has been an expo
nential increase in cases,
hospitalizations and deaths
over the last 60 days.”
According to Tuesday’s
CO VID totals provided by
the state Department of
Public Health, more than
1.1 million Georgians have
contracted coronavirus
since the pandemic began in
March 2020. A total of
20,806 Georgians have
died, and there have been
more than 76,000 hospital
izations.
According to data pro
vided by Drenzek to the
board, there has been a 20-
fold increase in cases; a 13-
fold increase in
hospitalizations; and a 17-
fold increase in COVID
deaths since July 1.
However, both Gov.
Brian Kemp’s office and
Drenzek said state data has
begun to show decreases
over the last seven days.
Dr. R. Chris Rustin, di
rector of the department’s
Division of Health Protec
tion, said as of Tuesday,
more than 10 million vac
cine doses have been ad
ministered in Georgia, with
4.7 million Georgians, or
45% of the state’s popula
tion, being fully vaccinated.
About 5.4 million of the
state’s residents, or 53%,
have received at least one
vaccine dose.
Highway 515 was closed after a two-vehicle crash at the Worley Crossroads intersection
last week.
By Angela Reinhardt
Staff Writer
areinhardt@pickensprogress.com
A two-vehicle crash at the
intersection of Highway 515
and Worley Crossroads
Thursday, Sept. 16 injured
three people, all of whom
were all transported to the
hospital.
The crash occurred at ap
proximately 10:30 a.m. when
Dennis Wright, 20, Kenne-
saw, attempted to cross High
way 515 from Worley
Crossroads to Dowda Mill
Road in a 2017 Ford F-250.
According to GSP reports,
Wright failed to yield and
crashed into a 2021 Toyota
Highlander traveling in the
northbound lanes. The High
lander was driven by Bonnie
Padgett, 42, Jasper.
Padgett and her daughter
both sustained injuries, as
well as a passenger in
Wright’s vehicle. All three
were transport to Kennestone
Hospital. Wright was not in
jured.
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