About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 17, 2024)
8A Midweek Edition-July 17-18, 2024 The Times, Gainesville, Georgia I gainesvilletimes.com LOCAL Medical office proposed on Ga. 211 near Hall Braselton Planning Commission What: Public hearing on proposed commercial building featuring a medical office and retail space off Old Winder Highway/Ga. 211 When: 6 p.m. July 22 Where: Braselton Police and Municipal Court Building, 5040 Highway 53 BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Editor’s note: This pub lished in a previous E-Paper edition and is being provided here for print-only readers. A commercial building housing a medical office, possibly one occupied by Piedmont Healthcare, is pro posed just off Old Winder Highway/Ga. 211 near Hall County. The 5,600-square-foot building would be at 3745 Village Way in the Liberty Village shopping center off Ga. 211 near Liberty Church Road. The building would include 4,200 square feet for a medical office and 1,400 square feet for a retail shop. Braselton planning docu ments don't mention any spe cific tenants, but renderings show Piedmont Healthcare as the health care provider and Gloss and Glow Nail Salon as the retailer. Piedmont officials couldn't be reached for comment, and no other information was available about Gloss and Glow. Piedmont has no Hall County locations but does have offices in Cumming, Jefferson and near the Mall of Georgia in Gwinnett County. Fayetteville-based Land Engineering and Develop ment is seeking a change in a planned unit develop ment zoning to allow for the building. Currently approved on the 1.2-acre site is a 4,228-square-foot building for restaurant and retail uses. Two other neighboring commercial buildings are under construction. A site plan shows four restaurants - Chicken Salad Chick, Tropical Smoothie Cafe, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Papa John's Pizza - and Sage Dental, which has locations throughout metro Atlanta, including Gaines ville, in those buildings. The overall 4-acre site was approved in October 2023 by Braselton Town Council, changing previous plans that called for a 5,841 -square-foot bank and a 14,951-square- foot pharmacy. A public hearing on Land Engineering and Develop ment's request is set for July 22 before the Braselton Plan ning Commission and Aug. 8 before the Braselton Mayor and Council. Brent Moye, listed as the contact for Land Engineer ing, also couldn't be reached for comment. Authorities investigating alleged abduction after driver stopped on 1-985 BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com Editor’s note: This published in a previous E-Paper edition and is being provided here for print-only readers. An 18-year-old Louisiana man traveling with a 12-year-old girl was pulled over Wednesday, July 10, on Interstate 985. That traffic stop has now led to an abduction investigation involving law enforcement from three different states, according to authorities. The case began with Kenton Jesus Enamorado Ventura, of West Mon roe, Louisiana, driving a BMW 528 on 1-985 southbound near Spout Springs Road. Hall County Sheriff's Office deputies pulled over the car and cited him for driving without a license and using a wireless com munication device while driving. Deputies spoke with the driver and his pas senger, a 12-year-old girl from Leicester Town ship in North Carolina, but their stories didn't match up, according to the Sheriff's Office. Investigators with Hall County then worked with the Sheriff's Offices in Buncombe County, North Carolina and Ouachita Par ish in Louisiana. “According to the preliminary investigation, Ventura met the girl online, and the two used What- sApp to communicate for roughly a year," according to the Hall County Sheriff's Office. “Inves tigators believe Ventura drove from Louisiana to North Carolina and picked the victim up from her home at approximately noon on Wednesday." Investigators believe Ventura was heading to his home in Loui siana, and the 12-year-old girl's father didn't know she had left. Ventura was booked in to the Hall County Jail, where he remained Friday. The Times has reached out to the Buncombe County authorities for more information, as they are handling the investigation. Ventura FROM 1A Decoy three days of the week. Here are the hours: • 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays-Mondays • 11 a.m. to midnight Thursdays-Saturdays Unlike many other so-called eatertainment venues, Carswell said, Decoy prioritizes eat and drink over play. This is not Dave & Buster's or Chuck E. Cheese, he said. “We are kind of unique in the eatertainment industry because of the fact that most of them have everything open together, so it's more focused on the games,” he said. “This, however, is more restaurant and bar focused and then you keep going through the space and it brings you into the games.” In fact, that's where the name Decoy comes from. “The restaurant and the bar is kind of like the decoy for the bigger space,” Carswell said. The entertainment side of the venue includes duckpin bowl ing, tech-infused minigolf and high-end golf simulators. “The simulators that we have are top tier like what Tiger Woods might use,” Carswell told The Times in a previous story. A longtime restaurateur, Car- swell is the owner and head chef of Chattahoochee Grill. He is a Gainesville native but graduated from culinary school in Miami and operated some restaurants in South Florida before moving back up here a few years ago. He described the menu as “contemporary new American.” His two favorite dishes are the braised short ribs with polenta and baby carrots, and the grilled salmon quinoa bowl drizzled with a top-secret vinaigrette. “Everybody asks for the rec ipe, but we're not giving it out,” he said. Carswell said the menu is heavy on appetizers and share- ables. Other dishes include chicken wings, duck burger slid ers, truffle mac and cheese balls, beer-battered onion rings, duck fat fries and a charcuterie board. The venue is housed in the historic 35,000-square-foot Wal ton Jackson building, which was built after the 1936 tornado that devastated much of downtown Gainesville. The building is owned by Cap stone Property Group, which is responsible for various devel opments in downtown Gaines ville over the past couple years, including the Courtyard by Mar riott, The National apartment complex and an event space called The Vault. “Ten years ago, you really couldn't give this property down town away,” Capstone chairman and Gainesville native Jeff Payne told The Times in a previous story. “Nobody wanted it, and there was nothing really going on down here. It was really sort of sad. Over the last four or five years, you've seen a huge change down here.” At Friday's ribbon cutting, he said he decided to purchase and restore the Walton Jackson Building as part of his goal of creating an “entertainment dis trict” downtown. Most recently, that included the opening of the North Georgia BBQ earlier this year. ‘And this was the last piece of the puzzle,” Payne said of Decoy. Carswell said hundreds of people have already secured their reservations for Friday night. The doors open at 5 p.m„ and there will be live music. “We hope that tonight is just a really big party, just to celebrate kicking this off for this commu nity,” he said. Expect nightly lane closures along SR 13 Drivers should be cautious when traveling on Ga. Highway 13 this month. Georgia Department of Transportation road work crews will shut one lane while they patch SR13 from 7:30 p.m. until 5:30 a.m. from Sunday through Wednesday for about the next three weeks. Both lanes will be open during the rest of the day during that part of the week. The work on Ga. 13 will start at the entrance of Interstate 985 and continue up to Jesse Jew ell Parkway/Ga. 369. The roadwork will impact traffic in both directions. Drivers should be aware that flag gers will be used at certain times during this project and are cautioned to reduce their speed while traveling through work zones. Motorists should consider alternate routes as delays can be expected. Travelers can get real-time information on work status and traffic conditions by calling 511, visiting 51 lga.org or downloading the Georgia 511 app. From staff reports NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL Look to Northside for a team of experts focused on you From routine needs to complex procedures, we deliver comprehensive care and support you every step of the way. To experience the difference compassionate expertise can make, look to Northside Hospital. Find a Northside campus near you at northside.com COMPREHENSIVE CARE FROM MEDICAL EXPERTS CLOSE TO HOME
