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Honestly Local
Investigator: Shootings were over a woman
Guillermo
Vazquez-
Martinez,
43, attends
a committal
hearing Friday,
May 19. He is
charged with
attempted
murder in
the shooting
of two men
outside a Ross
Dress For
Less earlier
this year.
BEN ANDERSON
The Times
attempted murder in incident outside Ross
Man charged with
BY BEN ANDERSON
banderson@gainesvilletimes.com
A Gainesville man shot two men in
front of Ross Dress for Less in January
after he learned one was dating his ex
girlfriend, according to testimony by
a Gainesville Police investigator on
Friday.
Guillermo Vazquez-Martinez, 43, has
been charged with attempted murder
in the shootings at the Village Shoppes
on Dawsonville Highway.
Glenn Ewing of the Gainesville
Police Department said the double
shooting resulted from a dispute over
a woman.
“When I asked them why this hap
pened, they said it was over a girl,”
Ewing said of his interviews with the
two victims, Juan Carlos Serrano, 31,
and Uriel Ortega, 22, who are brothers-
in-law, he added.
The shooting occurred around 6:45
p.m. Jan. 30 by the entrance of Ross
Dress For Less, police said.
Vazquez-Martinez has also been
charged with aggravated assault
against both men, and aggravated bat
tery against Serrano.
Ewing said Serrano was shot “at least
five times” with a .38 caliber revolver
and had to have his leg amputated. He
said the gun wasn’t recovered but that
they found unspent .38 caliber rounds
at the scene.
Serrano may have taken the worst
of shooting, he said, but he was not the
intended target.
“Uriel was actually supposed to be
the subject of that attack. It just hap
pened to be that Juan Carlos inter
jected himself in the middle of it and
ended up being on the receiving end of
the bullets,” he said.
“She said that she used to be in a
relationship with Guillermo while they
lived in Mexico and when they had
come to the United States... she ended
■ Please see COURT, 3A
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Oakwood is the fastest-growing city in Hall County, with population spiking 23% in two years, according to the latest census
estimates.
Gainesville, other Hall cities growing rapidly
Oakwood is the fastest-growing city in Hall County, with population spiking 23% in two years,
according to the latest census estimates.
Census population estimates
Here’s a look at the latest population estimates from
the U.S. Census Bureau of cities predominantly in Hall
County:
2022
2020
% Increase
Clermont
1,125
1,027
9.5%
Flowery Branch
10,938
9,512
15%
Gainesville
45,282
42,655
6.2%
Gillsville
308
301
2.3%
Lula
2,963
2,839
4.4%
Oakwood
5,975
4,860
23%
Census shows
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
With a flurry of new apart
ment buildings and other
housing out of the ground or
on the way, Gainesville’s pop
ulation continues to surge.
As part of a nationwide
report released this week, the
U.S. Census Bureau estimates
that Gainesville was at 45,282
residents as of July 1, 2022,
up from the 2020 estimate of
42,655, an increase of 2,627
residents.
Gainesville appears to have
passed Newnan in population.
Newnan had 42,855 people in
2020, but like Gainesville, is
also fast-growing and is now
estimated at 44,485 people.
Gainesville grew by 6.2%
the past two years, the high
est rate of population growth
among Georgia cities its size
or larger. It is also second
only to South Fulton city in
numerical growth among that
group of cities.
South Fulton, which
became a city in 2017, grew
from 108,218 in 2020 to
111,158 in 2022, or 2,940 resi
dents. It grew by 2.7%.
Hall County’s county seat is
closing in on a key 50,000 pop
ulation marker. Comparison
charts released by the Census
Bureau in the report focus
on cities with populations of
50,000 or more.
Gainesville Mayor Sam
Couvillon said several factors
may play into the city’s rapid
growth, including a migra
tion from counties closer to
Atlanta, such as Gwinnett
and Cobb but also from other
areas in the U.S. recogniz
ing Gainesville as part of the
Atlanta area.
“We’re situated where
we’re convenient to Atlanta,
so we’re located nicely, geo
graphically,” he said.
Gainesville isn’t, however,
the fastest growing city in Hall
County.
That title belongs to its
neighbor to the south, Oak-
wood. Census estimates
show it increased from 4,860
residents in 2020 to 5,975
residents in 2022, or by 23%.
Coming in second was Flow
ery Branch, which grew from
9,512 to 10,938, or 15%.
“When we look at the num
ber of housing units Oakwood
has approved since 2017, it
is probably reflective of an
accurate increase,” Council-
woman Sheri Millwood said.
“I will say we believe the 2020
count for Oakwood was prob
ably a little low. So, the (23%
increase) is probably a little
low as well.”
Oakwood City Manager
B.R. White said, “I am not
surprised by the growth.
Oakwood has approved over
2,500 housing units in a little
over 5 years. An increase in
population does come with an
increase in service demand
for the local governments
across the board.”
Couvillon also said that
with higher numbers comes
bigger challenges, particu
larly traffic.
He said that’s a big push
for Gainesville as it tries to
improve key arteries such
as Green Street and Dawson
ville Highway. He also noted
that a planned Nov. 7 vote on
a transportation special pur
pose local option sales tax,
or TSPLOST, that, if passed,
might bring about “transfor
mational changes in traffic
patterns.”
TSPLOST would involve
projects throughout Hall,
which, as a whole, is also
growing rapidly.
The latest population esti
mates show Hall had 212,692
people, as of July 1, 2022, or
a 4.7% increase from 203,136
in 2020.
The data also shows Hall
grew at a 2.6% clip between
2021 and 2022, compared to
1.8% between 2020 and 2021.
At the 2.6% rate, Hall’s pop
ulation could be on pace for
218,222 people by July 1,2023.
Home values
in Hall spike
property taxes
BY BRIAN WELLMEIER
bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com
Since receiving assessment notices in the
mail, many homeowners across Hall County are
seeing sharp increases in the assessed value of
their homes.
For people like Babette Baker, the appreci
ated figures come with higher property taxes.
Baker, who lives on a fixed income, saw the
appraised value of her Flowery Branch home
reach $385,000 just last year. Now that her prop
erty has been reassessed at $415,000, Baker
is now faced with a $4,356 tax bill — a $1,200
increase since last year.
With inflation driving up costs across every
sector of the U.S. economy, Baker fears that she
can no longer afford to live there.
“It’s extreme in my opinion... it’s excessive,”
Baker said. “They’re taxing people out of their
homes.”
Similar to industrial and commercial prop
erties, Hall County Chief Appraiser Steve Wat
son cited specific methods used by his office
to calculate residential property values —
but the overall formula for doing so is mostly
dependent on the market. While the process is
regulated by Georgia’s Department of Revenue,
assessment figures are largely driven by activ
ity in the real estate market from the previous
year. In 2022, he said, Hall County had both
greater sales activity and rising home values.
Data provided by the tax assessor’s office
indicates that 3,982 residential single family
units were sold in Hall County last year for an
average price of $431,163.
■ Please see TAXES, 3A
Judge: UMC
churches can
vote to leave
BY NICK WATSON
nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com
A Cobb County judge ruled Tuesday, May 16,
that a group of United Methodist churches —
including three from Hall County — can con
tinue with the process to disaffiliate from the
North Georgia Conference.
Cobb County Superior Court Judge J. Stephen
Schuster made the ruling Tuesday after a hear
ing regarding the group of more than 180 Meth
odist churches, who filed a lawsuit in March.
Three churches in Hall were listed in the law
suit: Highlands United Methodist and Redwine
United Methodist, both of Gainesville, as well as
Lula United Methodist.
The recent surge of churches seeking to
disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church
began with debate over same-sex marriage and
LGBTQ+ clergy in the past few years.
Paragraph 2553 of the United Methodist
Church’s “Book of Discipline” offers a process
to disaffiliate from the denomination, but it was
paused by the North Georgia Conference.
David Gibbs III, president and general coun
sel of the National Center for Life and Liberty,
previously characterized it to The Times as a
“collective loss of confidence in what the con
ferences are doing.”
Following Tuesday’s ruling, Gibbs said the
churches were pleased with the outcome.
“The fact that they felt heard by the court is a
good feeling,” Gibbs said. “They feel vindicated
in the position they’ve taken. ”
If two-thirds of a church’s members vote in
favor of disaffiliation, then the conference trust
ees negotiate a disaffiliation agreement with the
■ Please see UMC, 3A
