About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 2023)
North Hall’s Jon Trawick lands scholarship to study neuroscience, play adaptive sports at Arizona, sports, ic Weekend Edition - FEBRUARY 10-11,2023 | $2.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local Commissioners table business park Decision made after residents voice opposition, citing fears of traffic, water quality BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com A commercial and industrial business park proposed for mixed uses on Ga. 365 was tabled by the Hall County’s Board of Commis sioners, Thursday, Feb. 9, after a half dozen residents voiced oppo sition to the project at the regular meeting. The park, composed of a 1 mil- lion-square-foot building, a 75,000- and 30,000-square-foot buildings, would sit on more than 91 acres off Cagle and Lula roads and includes additional room for either another 110,000-square-foot structure or 126 trailer spaces. Following a brief comment by Derick Wheelis citing fears of greater traffic congestion, Lula resident Brett Mattox, who lives on Cagle Road, spent much of the allotted time for public comments expressing his objection to the pro posed business park. “The plan that has been put forth is inadequate in every way. In fact, their own traffic report used the word inadequate to describe their plans to handle traffic (from the development) — that’s going to result in an extra 4,100 extra cars — big rigs and everything else — a day,” Mattox said, “...we are not saying ‘don’t develop.’ Make some thing useful. They have a large list of possibilities they could put there.” Mattox also cited aspects of the proposal that he said could com promise the North Oconee Water shed District, specifically details in the plan that he believes don’t align with existing regulations. “It can’t cover more than 25% of that with impermeable surface,” he said. “However, their own plans already show it covering more than 25% ... we worry about con taminating the water supply and things like that, so these things need to be gone over before we can even vote to approve this.” Mattox went on to remark that Commissioner Gregg Poole failed to disclose campaign contributions made to him from Philip Wilheit, whom he named as a supposed beneficiary of the park. “It has not been disclosed — some of the financial contribu tions of Mr. Wilheit,” Mattox said. “(The application) doesn’t have any campaign contributions made to Mr. Poole... it’s just an error and it needs to be corrected. It has to be corrected before it can be voted on — that’s at least what I’ve been told by my legal counsel.” After a third resident expressed opposition to the project, Roch ester sought to clarify comments made by Mattox regarding envi ronmental issues, telling commis sioners that “a vast majority of the site” drains into the Chatta hoochee, not the Oconee, basin. “Most of this is inside the Chat tahoochee basin,” he said. “The ordinance is 25% in the aggregate for the entire basin ... that’s not only parcel-by-parcel basis, they’re looking at it in the aggregate. It’s my understanding that in aggre gate, north Oconee basin is only about 5%, currently.” ■ Please see PARK, 7A A bittersweet victory for homeless Group to clear out camp to build transitional housing BEN ANDERSON I The Times David McPherson, 43, recently had brain surgery and had been living at the camp for two days before finding out out he had to leave. BY BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com Ken Gossage, the director of Good News at Noon, the city’s largest and most prominent homeless shelter, is both the good guy and the bad guy this week. He finds himself straddling both sides of the growing homelessness crisis — break ing up a large camp on the one hand, and announcing plans to build affordable housing for the homeless on the other. On Tuesday, he told about two dozen homeless people living at a camp across the road from his shelter at 884 Dorsey St. that they have a week to find someplace else to live. The next day, he closed a $400,000 deal to buy the property and has plans to trans form it into transitional housing for the homeless. Gossage said neighboring businesses were complaining about the camp. “I just felt like, you know what, if I’m going to own this building and be a good neighbor, I’ve got to go ahead and have them move on, so I had that conversation with them on Tuesday morning, I guess, so they’ve got about a week to find some where else,” he said. They are camped out behind the old Set Free Ministry building, which Gossage had been leasing for the last year or so, using it sporadically as a shelter for home less women. He said he will likely tear down the “dump” of a building and start anew. He estimates having to raise about $3 million and hopes to start construction in early 2024. When asked how concerned she is about having to find someplace else to live, 61-year-old Eileen Roe shyly said, “Kinda worried. I can get around. I’m able to get around as much as I can.” Her wheelchair was parked in front of her tent. David McPherson, 43, had been stay ing at the camp for only two days before finding out he had to find someplace else to stay. He said he just had brain surgery and spoke slowly and deliberately. “I’ve never been suicidal or anything like that,” he said. “It’s just more worry of where I’m going to go and what’s going to happen. Like, what do I do? Where am I going to live? How am I going to take care of myself?” Gossage said there are a couple other reasons he is disbanding the camp. “One guy went up there. There’s a big kind of like concrete patio. We already had to board it up to keep them from breaking in, and he went over there and set a campfire right next to the wooden boarded up area and just pretty much burned the door down,” he said. That campfire cost Gossage about $500 to $600 in repairs, he said. ■ Please see CAMP, 3A Graves hit by truck; police seek driver BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Police are looking for a driver that left the road and damaged three graves in the Oakwood Cemetery off Plainview Road. Oakwood Police were originally called out the morning of Feb. 3 about horses running loose in the area. Police Chief Tim Hatch said a car left the roadway, taking out a section of a fence for the house adjacent to the cemetery. Hatch said at least three graves in the cem etery were damaged. ■ Please see CEMETERY, 4A Man serving life in murder case seeks new trial BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com An East Point man is seeking a new trial from his 2019 murder case at the Park Hill Drive CVS in Gainesville, according to court documents. DeMarvin Ladale Bennett was sentenced in May 2021 by Hall County Superior Court Judge Kathlene Gosselin to life in prison with the chance of parole from the Feb. 7, 2019 shoot ing of Jack Hough. Hough, 73, was waiting in his car while his wife went in to the pharmacy. Bennett was convicted of killing Hough in an attempted robbery. Bennett and attorney Ralph Villani filed a motion for new trial Jan. 23. In the motion, Villani claims the prosecution caused “great and enormous prejudice” in its ■ Please see BENNETT, 4A ONLINE gainesvilletimes.com/newsletters: Sign up to receive email newsletters from The Times gainesvilletimes.com/apps: Download The Times’ app for a user-friendly online experience and app notifications for big stories INSIDE Advice 2B Calendar 2A Classified 6C Comics 1D Life 4C Opinion 6A Our Region 1B Sports 1C Puzzles 2B Television 4B 4 0 9 01 06825 9 THE FUTURE OF HEART CARE. 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