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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Christmas on Green Street to be
bigger than ever, get out, sa
Honestly Local
HALL COUN^ PANNING COMMISSION
Industrial park, homes on planners’ list
BY MEGAN REED
mreed@gainesvilletimes.com
Three developments — an over
500-acre industrial park, a 72-home
subdivision and a 380,000-square-
foot distribution center — will go
before the Hall County Planning
Commission for a public hearing
and a vote on Dec. 3.
North Hall industrial park
A 522-acre industrial park could
be coming to North Hall off of Cor
nelia Highway on Chiplan Drive, if
the project is approved by officials.
The development could include
up to 2.6 million square feet of
floor space, with most of that
being set aside for manufactur
ing. According to plans submitted
to the county, the development
could also have offices, indoor and
outdoor testing spaces, retail and
warehouses. A future public safety
facility and wastewater treatment
plant are also being considered for
the site.
The property is near Healan’s
Head’s Mill and is across from the
Gateway Industrial Center, which
houses Kubota Manufacturing of
America.
Planning staff is recommending
approval.
The land is zoned agricultural
Hall County Planning
Commission
When: 5:15 p.m. Monday,
Dec. 3
Where: Hall County
Government Center, 2875
Browns Bridge Road,
Gainesville
residential, planned residential
development and planned com
mercial development, but it would
be rezoned to planned industrial
development if the request is
approved by the Hall County Board
of Commissioners on Dec. 13.
Plans for the site have been
adapted from a previously
approved 476-acre mixed use
development. Gateway Village was
first proposed in 2014 and would
have had 186 single-family homes,
310 apartments and townhomes
and about 600,000 square feet of
commercial and office space.
The Georgia Mountains
Regional Commission has also
seen plans for the site because
it is a “development of regional
impact.” The GMRC found no neg
ative inter-jurisdictional impacts,
or no potential conflicts between
municipalities.
The planning commission’s rec
ommendation will then go to the
Hall County Board of Commission
ers for a final vote on Dec. 13.
Subdivision on Price Road
The planning commission will
also consider a 72-home subdivi
sion on Price Road at the intersec
tion with Thomas Road.
The 99-acre subdivision would
require rezoning of the land from
agricultural residential to resi
dential. According to the planning
staff’s report for the request, the
neighborhood would have a den
sity of 0.8 units per acre, which is
consistent with the county’s com
prehensive plan that is used to
■ Please see AGENDA, 10A
Golden Corral opening delayed
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
The long awaited Golden Corral restaurant under construction at the intersection of Pearl Nix Parkway and Browns Bridge
Road now plans on opening in mid-January, instead of before Christmas, as had been reported.
New Gainesville location to start serving in January
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Golden Corral won’t be
open for Christmas, afterall.
The long-awaited restau
rant off Browns Bridge Road
and Pearl Nix Parkway in
Gainesville now should be
open by mid-January, Flor
ida-based franchisee Eric
Holm said Wednesday, Nov.
28.
“I just don’t want to push
it for December,” he said.
“There’s a lot of moving
parts to it. We want to make
sure we’re all good and
ready there.”
Holm said in a July inter
view he had hoped to open
the buffet-style eatery by
Christmas.
“That would would be a
great time to open,” he said
at the time. “Everybody is
out shopping ... and having
family time together, so that
would be awesome.”
“Normal stuff pops up,”
he said Wednesday, speak
ing of delays. “(Mid-Jan
uary) should be for sure.
There shouldn’t be any ifs,
ands or buts on that.”
The restaurant — Holm’s
■ Please see OPENING, 10A Construction of Golden Corral continues.
Gainesville
Sears store on
auction block
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
The Sears store at 150 Pearl Nix Parkway in Gaines
ville is one of nearly 500 stores nationwide that could be
sold as part of the retail chain’s bankruptcy filing.
Sears, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Octo
ber, will announce by Dec. 15 whether it has an inter
ested buyer in the stores, according to a notice filed
earlier this month in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern
District of New York.
A potential owner can “submit a bid for all or some”
of the stores, including “on a liquidation basis,” the docu
ment states.
Gainesville’s store is the only Sears location in Geor
gia on the list.
Chicago-based Sears Holdings has said it is moving for
ward with “a series of actions to position the company
to establish a sustainable capital structure, continue
streamlining its operating model and grow profitably
for the longterm.”
■ Please see SEARS, 10A
Two Buford women
sentenced in huge
sweepstakes scam
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
Two women from Buford were sentenced last week
after pleading guilty to their part in a sweepstakes scam
that took more than $3.5 million from elderly victims,
according to court documents.
Silvia Sanchez Valverde, 47, pleaded guilty to con
spiracy to commit mail fraud and was sentenced to five
years in prison. Priscilla Sibaja, 21, pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to commit money laundering and received
a three-year prison sentence.
Two co-defendants — Rodolfo Orozco Aguilar, 44, of
Costa Rica, and Daniel Sibaja, 28, of Buford — pleaded
guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and were sen
tenced earlier this month to four years in prison.
■ Please see SCAM, 10A
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