About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 13, 2024)
LOCAL The Times, Gainesville, Georgia I gainesvilletimes.com Sunday, January 14, 2024 3A North Hall seventh grader wins district spelling bee, advances New library in East Hall gets funding approved BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com Hall County commissioners approved funding for design of a new library com ing to East Hall Thursday, Jan. 11. That part of the county has been with out a library since the 2008 recession and budget cuts forced the closure of the East Hall Library in 2011. The two nearest facilities for those resources in eastern Hall are the Gainesville Branch or the North Hall Tech Center. Funding for the design of the new library includes a $3 million state grant and $3 million from Hall County SPLOST money. Director of Parks and Community Ser vices Brent Holloway said the proposed 10,000-square-foot facility is expected to be built in the East Hall Community Center, located at 3911 P. Davidson Road, in an area that will cause “very little dis turbance” as well as revive much-needed technological and literary resources to the community. With the community center's position between East Hall High School and middle school, Holloway called this a prime location for such services. “In East Hall, ever since the previous branch closed down, this has been a major need,” he said. “We're very excited to be able to bring that back. I know it's some thing the community has been eager to get... it’s just an added value to any com munity center.” Library Director Lisa Mac Kinney said specific resources — such as computer labs — offered in the new facility will be left up to members of the community to decide in the near future. She pointed to strong, reliable internet as a definite need in the area. “We’ll do some focus groups with the community to try to determine what they want to see,” she said. “That’s always the first step that we do is try to figure out what the community needs — computers, high speed internet, is certainly what we anticipate. The internet out there is not reliable.” Commissioner Gregg Poole said the future addition to the East Hall Commu nity Center will prove to be a major asset to youth in the area. “The biggest thing is for the homework — where the kids can go there and do their homework and have connectivity,” Poole said. “That’s the biggest thing ... so many of them go in there and play ball, and then they can do their homework, so it's big.” With the project still in design phases, Holloway said a specific date for con struction to begin hasn't yet been determined. Commissioners approve 307 new homes in northwest Hall By BEN ANDERSON banderson@gainesvilletimes.com Murphy Whitlow, a sev enth grader at North Hall Middle School, clinched first place in the 11th round of this year's Scripps Spelling Bee after cor rectly spelling the word “ceremonial.” Second place went to sixth grader Carter Satter field, also from North Hall Middle School. Christopher Inman, a seventh grader from DaVinci Academy at South Hall Middle School, had a strong showing and will serve as an alternate. Both Whitlow and Sat terfield will advance to the regional competition, which will be held Feb. 24 at West Hall High School in the fine arts center. BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com Hall County commis sioners approved a pro posal consisting of 307 “modern farmhouse” style homes in northwestern Hall after they first heard from one resident speak in favor and two who spoke against the item. The price of the homes built on the property, which was rezoned from agricultural- residential to planned resi dential development, will be up to $600,000. After Susan Doyle Por tillo offered support for the project for the new supply of water it will bring - as well “increased property values” - Michael Webb was the first to express opposition. “I'm not here to stop construction,” he said. “I do think that's a lot of houses...it's going to be an eyesore anyway you look at it.” Virginia Martin, who said she knew of at least 73 people who signed a petition opposed to the development, then went before commissioners and spoke at length against the proposal. She pointed out the proposed density of the project exceeds the 1 unit per acre recommended for lake area residential prop erty in Hall County's com prehensive plan. “I wish that we could back off the develop ment...we didn't just come to this area, but we grew up here,” she said. Commissioners went on to approve the item 5-0. With approval, the Estates at Lathem Creek will be built in three phases on 174 acres at 3955 and 4035 Leach Road near Lake Lanier. The single-family detached homes will be at least 1,900 square feet in size, and neighbor hood amenities include a swimming pool with clubhouse/pavilion, play grounds, pickleball courts, sidewalks with connected walking trails and pocket parks. Access to the develop ment will be along Leach Road, with three separate entrances for each phase. Homes would have septic tanks, though the neighborhood would have its own sewer system featuring a holding tank, pump house and under ground drip lines. Photos by Hall County Schools Murphy Whitlow, a seventh grader at North Hall Middle School, clinched first place in the 11th round of the 2024 Scripps Spelling Bee after correctly spelling the word “cere monial.” From left to right: Christopher Inman, Murphy Whitlow, Carter Satterfield. Hall County commission votes to object to corn maze annexation BY BRIAN WELLMEIER bwellmeier@gainesvilletimes.com Hall County commissioners voted to pose a formal objection to a request to annex the Buford Corn Maze into the city of Buford on Thursday, Jan. 11. Proprietors of the corn maze say they were never told of the property owner's plans to rezone the 31 acres for future industrial use. “The Buford Corn Maze owners Rodney and Kendra Miller and Jerome and Tina Beggs were taken completely by surprise by the recent annexation request involving the land on which the nationally recog nized, family-friendly attraction has oper ated for nearly two decades,” a statement from marketing agency Morton, Vardeman and Carlson said, “...knowing the farm ing history of the property, the Millers and the Beggs, who are both farming families, have put an emphasis on agricultural edu cation at the corn maze for school groups and others. The Millers and Beggs hope to continue to offer entertainment for all ages at the Buford Corn Maze for many years to come.” Regarding the annexation request, Hall County Attorney Bill Linkous pointed to property owner Chris Watford's applica tion, which in the comments leaves open the possibility for future industrial rezon ing, as the primary basis for the county's objection. “(The objection) is to the classification of property to more intense use,” Linkous said. “I believe it's designated as lake resi dential on (Hall's) future land use map. The designation from Buford looks like they're going to switch it to a higher intensity use and then they're going to move to industrial use.” Watford said his main intention is to con nect the property to Buford's sewer system. He said he requested commercial rezoning for the corn maze to continue to operate until their lease on the land expires in 2027. Once that happens, he plans to sell that property to a developer for industrial use, which he described as the “best use” of the land. Much of the land west of the corn maze already has been acquired by Atlanta-based real estate company Seefried Properties for industrial purposes. “That obviously impacts the value of the property - it makes any kind of develop ment viable,” Watford said. “It was either zone it industrial and then have the corn maze operate under a conditional use per mit, or just zone it commercial so they continue to operate...and then zone it to industrial.” Watford expressed indifference to the long-time business' concern regarding his annexation request and stated, “I have no reason to talk to them. They don't have any say-so over it, but it does keep them operat ing. . .it shouldn't have any effect on them one way or the other.” Watford went on to say the property is in Buford's sewer district and that Hall County doesn't have sewer services in the area for him to connect to. He said he desires annexation into Buford to elevate his property's value. “Hall County was unwilling or unable to run sewer to the property, and Buford is, so it's kind of a no-brainer,” Watford said. “I think Hall County is objecting to almost all of Buford's annexations...I don't think it was unexpected.” Linkous said the county's objection is to the potential for industrial rezoning in the future - not sewer connectivity. “Zoning is the primary issue - intensity of the use,” he said. Buford's Planning Commission recom mended approval of Watford's annexation request Tuesday, Jan. 9. North Georgia BBQlocation opens Saturday - with temporary hours BY DONNELL SUGGS dsuggs@gainesvilletimes.com North Georgia BBQ & Oyster Shop is finally opening its doors. Sort of. The city's newest BBQ fran chise will be open for business this weekend on Saturday, Jan. 13, and Sunday, Jan. 14, but only from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to owner Matt Harper. The truncated schedule will be only temporary, Harper said. North Georgia BBQ is still in the process of hiring front and back- of-the-house positions necessary for full operation, and regular hours will be announced soon. A soft opening took place the previ ous weekend for friends and fam ily, he said. This North Georgia BBQ loca tion — it seats 127 and features a full bar — is the third location for the franchise, the other two being in Cleveland and Dahlonega. The Gainesville menu will be similar to the menus at the Cleveland and Dahlonega counterparts. Offer ings include the signature Pig Melt, a grilled cheese sandwich filled with chopped pork. There are also chicken, turkey and reg ular grilled cheese sandwiches available. The barbecue plates feature two choices of sides, including traditional barbecue sides such as macaroni and cheese, baked beans and potato salad, to go along with the choice of BBQ pork, chopped chicken, ribs, brisket, a BBQ chicken leg quarter or turkey. The Brunswick stew is served in a cup, bowl or quarter, but the hot pig stew is served only in a bowl. The BBQ options also include smoked wings that can be ordered with a dry rub or with sauces such as lemon pepper, or with hot, medium and mild BBQ sauce. The sole salad option on the menu has a BBQ twist to it. The BBQ garden salad includes tradi tional ingredients such as mixed greens, onions, carrots and cheese plus your choice of chicken, tur- North Georgia BBQ Where: 117 Green St. NE, Gainesville More info: https://www. northgabbq.com key or pulled pork. The burger menu offers double and single cheeseburger servings. The des sert menu, at least for the moment, has only banana pudding on it. For the oysters lovers there will be two options: raw James River oysters and chargrilled oysters, available in servings of a dozen and half dozen. There is still interior construc tion taking place around The National, the new stay-and-play combination of hotel and dining mixed-use project near the square. The space occupied by North Georgia BBQ is located on Green Street inside the Walton Jackson Building and will join a number of other new businesses, includ ing Against The Clock, inside the 88-year-old building. Donnell Suggs The Times North Georgia BBQ on Green Street in Gainesville will open this weekend with limited hours starting on Saturday, Jan. 13, while owner Matt Harper continues to hire staff.
