About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 9, 2020)
Midweek Edition - September 9-10, 2020 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com LOCAL New Holland housing development moves ahead with planning board OK SCOTT ROGERS I The Times White picket fencing has been added along Quarry Street Wednesday, Sept. 2, as work continues on The Norton Agency’s Liberty Lakeview housing development. The 30-home community is on 14 acres off Lakeview Drive and Quarry Street, near the New Holland community. BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com A New Holland housing development marketed to medical residents took a step Tuesday, Sept. 8, toward enlarging its presence in the historic community. The Gainesville Plan ning and Appeals Board gave its OK to an annexa tion meant to bring five properties into the devel opment off Quarry Street between Highland Street and Lakeview Drive, the northwestern edge of the historic mill community. The proposed changes to Frank Norton Jr.’s “Liberty Lakeview” proj ect now go before the Gainesville City Council for a final vote. “We want to clean up (the development) so we have a blanket (residen tial zoning category) over the entire development and so we’ll have consis tency in product, and con sistency in appearance and feel,” Norton said in a previous interview. Norton’s Ncredible Properties, a residential development and invest ment arm of Gaines ville-based The Norton Agency, plans to build 30 cottages in the area and restore several original mill houses as part of the project. The 16.6-acre rental community will feature a gated entrance off Quarry, opening onto a new road running by the cottages, which will fea ture a farmhouse design, complete with tin roofs. A playground and fire pit have been built in a stand of tall trees next to an old, abandoned road that empties onto Highland. Walking trails and a dog park also are planned. The development is being targeted particu larly to residents in North east Georgia Medical Center’s graduate medi cal education program, which began in 2019. “These (homes) will feel like old mill village houses rather than some thing that’s multi-colorful or bungalows,” Norton has said. The project drew oppo sition from Odis Sisk, a Quarry Street resident, who said, “This is not a neighborhood. It’s a com pound, and that’s how it’s being marketed as. We have a neighborhood. People walk everywhere. “To me, this looks like greed, not need.” If Norton succeeds, the development will end up with a mix of two- and three-bedroom cottages, duplexes and townhomes for a total of 49 residential units. Rents would range from $1,200 to $1,400 for duplexes to $1,800 for three-bedroom cottages. Leasing is already underway, with the entire project set for completion in 2022, Norton said. Braselton selling home it bought for lift station BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Braselton is getting into the real estate business, temporarily. The town is looking to sell a vacant home at 520 Reisling Drive in Jackson County it had bought for a sewer lift station project and is accepting bids until 3 p.m. Oct. 2. “The property owner didn’t want to sell us a portion of her property but was interested in selling it all,” Town Man ager Jennifer Scott said. “So, we purchased the home and lot, built the lift station, have replatted (the property), and are now selling the home.” The town, which only needed a portion of the back yard, had paid $149,500 for the property, she said. Braselton needed the lift sta tion to handle rapid growth in the town, which is also in Hall, Gwinnett and Barrow counties, Scott said. The entire project cost $753,000, funded through the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority. It was estimated to cost $852,500, Scott said. Making an offer Minimum amount: $110,000, with bidder providing proof of funding source and a $5,000 deposit in the form of a cashier’s or certified check made payable to “Town of Braselton.” The bid deposit will be returned to non-successful bidders or forfeited if the successful bidder fails to close. How to submit: By mail to the Town of Braselton at P.O. Box 306, Braselton GA 30517 or in person at Braselton Town Hall, 4982 Highway 53 Deadlline: 3 p.m. Oct. 2 Contact: Jennifer Scott at jscott@braselton.net The home, now with a smaller lot because of the town’s project, has been appraised at $130,000, she said. The minimum bid on the property is $110,000, with the bid opening set for 3:15 p.m. Oct. 2. The Town Council “doesn’t have to take any bid if they don’t want to,” Scott said. If the council accepts a bid, property closing will take place by Oct. 30. JEFF GILL I The Times Braselton is looking to sell a vacant home at 520 Reisling Drive in Jackson County it had bought for a sewer lift station project. BACKLOG ■ Continued from 1A accused of killing Gainesville businessman Jack Hough in February 2019. The case was then postponed. Assistant Public Defender Matt Leipold said he remembered polling mem bers of the jury pool about their COVID-19 concerns, as schools and professional sports started to shut down. Few raised their hands back then, Leipold said. Leipold said he expects the Bennett case will likely be one of the first to go. “One of the issues that we’re concerned about... is we don’t want to start a trial and then there’s some sort of outbreak in the jury or somebody in the courtroom, and then you have to perhaps declare a mistrial and start over because of virus con cerns,” he said. Both sides are concerned about cases languishing before trial, as witnesses dis appear and their recall fades with time. Leipold mentioned bond conditions, such as electronic monitoring, curfews or drug screens, which normally last for months before trial. “If this drags on, those could hang over people for a very long time,” he said. Superior Court Judge Clint Bearden said there were several significant cases that he expected to close out this year. Some of these cases, even before the COVID-19 circum V GROWING rr, north GEORGIA 2020 REED SUMMIT REGIONAL EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Join us for a one-day virtual event that brings together business and community leaders, educators and students to explore how the convergence of agriculture, technology and education are impacting the north Georgia region. Wednesday, September 23 8:15 a.m.-2:50 p.m. WEBINAR FORMAT VIA ZOOM EVENT IS FREE BUT REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED PARTICIPANTS MAY REGISTER FOR ONE OR ALL SESSIONS ATTENDANCE IS CAPPED AT500 PER SESSION, SO REGISTER EARLY! 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These more significant and high-profile cases will likely be in 2021, “hopefully sooner than later, as I think every one involved understands the great importance of hav ing these cases tried before a jury as soon as it’s practicable and safe to do so,” Bearden said. Other homicide cases and serious crimes will be given priority, Darragh said. Leipold said the delays will likely not violate the defen dant’s constitutional Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial because of the Georgia Supreme Court’s emergency judicial order, which allows for normal case deadlines to be suspended or tolled. “In the case of the pan demic, neither the pros ecution nor the defense is responsible,” Leipold said. “It’s a health issue that’s out side of our control.” Typically, if a person files a statutory right to a speedy trial, that case becomes No. 1 on every judge’s calendar, Leipold said. 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