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MONDAY, DECEMBER 10,2018 | $1.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly Local
120-townhome plan floated again
Complex was rejected in November by Oakwood Planning Commission
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
A 120-unit townhome complex
that could wind up part of a larger
mixed-use development goes
before Oakwood City Council on
Monday, Dec. 10.
Buford-based MB Endeavors is
seeking to build the 16-acre com
plex off Flat Creek and Oakwood
roads, with the entrance off Oak-
wood Road.
The townhome proposal was
rejected by the Oakwood Plan
ning Commission on Nov. 19 after
B.R. White, the city’s community
development director, said MB
Endeavors was looking to fuse the
development with another possible
development off McEver Road.
White said the blending might
reduce overall density of the
project and add single-family
homes and some commercial
development.
“The layout will change,” White
told the planning board.
“So, we really don’t have any
thing to look at?” asked board
member Tony Millwood, refer
ring to a map of the overall
development.
“That’s correct,” White said.
MB Endeavors has been trying
for a couple of months to get resi
dential housing approved between
McEver, Flat Creek and Oakwood
roads.
A 12-acre site featuring residen
tial and commercial components
off McEver and Flat Creek roads,
was rejected in November by Oak-
wood City Council.
And MB Endeavors had tried
Oct. 8 to get a 107-unit townhome
project between Flat Creek and
Oakwood roads approved. Council
voted down that proposal.
Several residents spoke at that
meeting opposing the project.
Concerns included that it might
infringe on the privacy of neigh
boring residents and increase
crime.
One resident spoke about how
the development would be another
example of “rapid, rampant devel
opment” that’s turning the area
into “another Gwinnett County.”
A couple of residents also voiced
opposition to the 12-acre McEver
development, saying they were
concerned about the housing
density.
South Hall growth continues
AUSTIN STEELE I The Times
Construction is underway Friday, Dec. 7, on Noble Vines apartments at the corner of Spout Springs and Thompson Mill
roads in Braselton.
248-unit complex being built on Spout Springs Road
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
A 248-unit apartment complex is
joining the growth on Spout Springs
Road in Braselton in South Hall.
Construction has started on the
complex off Thompson Mill Road at
the Gwinnett County line and next to
Oaks at Braselton assisted living and
memory care center.
The Noble Vines complex will fea
ture one-, two- and three-bedroom
units.
Amenities include a pool, fitness
center, car wash and a clubhouse, said
Kevin Keller, Braselton’s planning and
development director.
The complex could start leasing
units in summer 2019 and be com
pleted by early 2020, said Lee Terry,
managing member of Claret Commu
nities LLC, the developer.
As far as possible rent amounts,
“we’re too far off to determine that,”
Terry said in an email.
The area around the apartments
has been in high-growth mode for
several years, with shopping centers,
restaurants and banks lining an area
between the Gwinnett line and just
north of Cody Drive.
Side streets are now also filling
up, including a road behind a Publix-
anchored shopping center, where
The Venue at Friendship Springs is
located.
Also under development nearby, off
Thompson Mill Road, is an 860-home
subdivision straddling Hall and Gwin
nett counties. Build-out on the 385-acre
subdivision is expected in 2025.
What drew Claret Communities to
the area is “our research showed good
projected job growth and an unful
filled demand for high-quality rental
housing,” Terry said.
Friendship Road/Ga. 347, which
cuts through the area, leads to North
east Georgia Medical Center Brasel
ton and a burgeoning hub of medical
offices.
The four- and six-lane Friendship
Road offers some traffic relief to an
otherwise congested area.
In the works is a widening of Spout
Springs Road between Thompson Mill
Road and Union Circle. That project is
the second phase of an overall Spout
Springs widening, with the first phase
between Hog Mountain Road in Flow
ery Branch to Union Circle.
The first phase could start next year.
Light snow possible across Hall today
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Hall County is not out of the woods
yet with the winter weather system
passing through the area.
It dodged the ice, slick roads and
widespread power outages authori
ties feared as part of a winter weather
warning that had been issued earlier
this weekend by the National Weather
Service.
That warning was later downgraded
to a winter weather advisory, with area
officials reporting quiet conditions Sun
day, Dec. 9.
Also, roads were clear, as residents
got a reprieve from rain that otherwise
saturated yards on Saturday.
But Sunday afternoon, the weather
service put Hall in an advisory begin
ning at 7 p.m. and lasting until noon
Monday, Dec. 10.
The advisory includes a chance for
light snow with up to a half-inch accu
mulation and overnight temperatures
near freezing.
“This could cause refreezing of the
roads tonight,” the advisory states.
“With light snow moving across the
area tonight, roads could become slick
and hazardous.”
Jackson EMC, which was fighting
early Sunday to restore power to some
4,000 members in its 10-county ser
vice area, said in a statement, “As the
weather continues to be a threat in our
area, we are monitoring the situation,
and we will continue to send updates
on any outages and our restoration
efforts.”
The utility was reporting no outages
Sunday afternoon.
Rain could stay in the Hall area
through Monday night, but the high
temperature on Monday could hit 42
degrees, according to the weather
service.
FORSWH COUNW
Lanier sewage
facility plan
irks residents
BY KELLY WHITMIRE
Forsyth County News
A new water treatment facility near Lake Lanier has
brought up concerns for residents, and at a meeting in
Forsyth County this week, both Forsyth officials and
neighbors discussed the issue.
Though not formally part of the regular meeting of
the Forsyth County Commission on Thursday, Deputy
County Manager Tim Merritt read a prepared statement
regarding a planned water treatment plant at the end of
Millwood Road in north Forsyth. Commissioners
approved the purchase of 99.9 acres of land for the project
for $3 million at a work session in September.
In his statement, Merritt said the county had been look
ing to build such a facility in northeast Forsyth since at
least 2002 and that there were already similar facilities
in Gainesville and Gwinnett County. Treated water is
planned to be released into Chestatee Bay.
“Before (the Georgia Environmental Protection Divi
sion) approves the discharge location, they will use com
puter models to ensure the highly treated reclaimed
water will meet water standards for Lake Lanier,”
Merritt said. “Although Georgia EPD has not provided
standards that the treated water must meet or be cleaner,
we expect that these will be at least equal to the Lake
Lanier standards that Gwinnett and Gainesville are cur
rently required to meet.”
He added the standards would be “likely the most
stringent standards in Georgia” and would essentially
be “cleaner than the raw
water currently being
pulled from Lake Lanier.”
Merritt said the facility
would only be on about
25 acres of the land and
Forsyth was currently
doing due diligence on the
property. Construction is
expected to start in 2020.
Returning water to the
lake could also strengthen
the county’s argument for
pulling water out of the
lake. Merritt said no tax
increase would be needed
to pay for the facility.
Since the announce
ment, neighbors have
raised concerns tied to the project, even hosting a website,
StopLanierSewage.com, to share information. According
to the site, some of the main issues are with raw sewage
spill, increased silt in Four Mile Creek, foul odors, noise
pollution, increased traffic and light pollution.
Resident Art Thompson shared his concerns during a
public comments portion of the meeting and said he was
opposed to both the location and construction of the plant.
“We have been buying green space in Forsyth County,
and I think we’re throwing it away here,” he said. “The
increased water flow from the existing creek and devel
opment north will cause more and more erosion from
the new construction... fluctuations in lake level are also
heavily affected by this flow. As it comes through, mud
flats erode and transport into the lake. Increased flow will
make this worse.”
Neighbors have also raised concerns with potential
spills, citing last month’s spilling of 188,000 gallons of
stormwater and wastewater from a manhole into Big
Creek.
Merritt said the county would be testing that stream for
about a year to manage levels and said the wastewater
was heavily diluted from the rain.
Neighbors and county officials will have another
chance to discuss the issues next week. A meeting will be
held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, at the Forsyth County
Administration Building, 110 E. Main Street, Cumming.
Merritt’s comments are available at ForsythCo.com.
‘We have been
buying green
space in Forsyth
County, and
I think we’re
throwing it
away here.’
Art Thompson
Local Resident
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