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THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS, WEDNESDAY. APRIL 30, 2008 - PAGE 5A
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Dr. James Bouchard explains the various
aspects of his proposed development to the
Commerce Planning Commission. The plan-
u ■ ft
ners voted unanimously to recommend that
the city council approve the rezoning request
needed for the development.
—Medical Complex Proposed Off Maysville Road
Cont. from Page 1A
— including a hospital. He told
the planning commission that he
has four 15-acre sites he’s willing
to donate for a public hospital.
Bouchard stressed “the impor
tance of having a medical cen
ter on the north side of the
river because we want this to
be the gateway to the city of
Commerce.’’
Perry made the motion to rec
ommend the rezoning. Members
Joe Leffew and Johnny Eubanks
voted for the motion, which
passed on a 3-0 vote since mem
bers Ronnie Seabolt and Donald
Nation were absent.
The Commerce City Council
will make the final decision at
its May 12 meeting, which will
be held at 6:30 in the Commerce
Room of the Commerce Civic
Center.
Bouchard’s developer, Fred
Fatemi, of EDT Group, the devel
oper, explained that the hospice
facility, which will have 12 rooms
and full-time nursing, will be a
single-story stone and stucco
building, while the medical build
ings will be brick. Both, he said,
will be made of “noncombus
tible materials.’’ The project will
include an extension of Steve
Reynolds Industrial Boulevard
into the property. The tract is
adjacent to Billy Cain Ford-
Mercury.
Kevin Attahara, senior devel
oper at EDT, estimated the cost
of the project at $50 million.
Bouchard became part of
the controversy over the loca
tion of a new BJC Hospital last
year. He’d offered a site for the
facility on the Maysville Road
tract, but ultimately the BJC
Medical Center Authority opted
to accept developer David
Chatham’s offer of 20 acres
wedged between old U.S. 441
and the bypass near the north
end of Hospital Road.
—BJC Seeks Partner To Build New Hospital
Cont. from Page 1A
months to make a decision.
The authority had hoped to get
Banks and Jackson counties to
issue bonds to build a new hos
pital on a site donated by David
Chatham on his holdings between
old U.S. 441 and the bypass at the
north end of Hospital Road. While
Banks County officials expressed
interest, Jackson County’s com
missioners were split on the issue,
dooming that support.
Blair says the Chatham offer is
intact, and the authority would
like to see a new hospital built on
that site.
“We think that’s an attractive
deal for anyone who comes in
and wants to build a hospital,’’ he
said, adding that use of the site is
“not a prerequisite.’’
He noted that the authority real
izes that “whoever comes in and
puts up the money will want the
control. What form that control
takes shape, we don’t know.’’
Blair said the authority’s con
sultant is “pretty confident’’ that
some entity will come forward.
Blair did not rule out the pos
sibility that any future partner
might utilize the Maysville Road
site being developed by Dr. James
Bouchard (see separate story).
Bouchard has previously offered
land to the authority, but the
authority accepted the Chatham
offer instead. On Monday night,
Bouchard brought his plans for
more than 100,000 square feet of
medical facilities to the Commerce
Planning Commission for rezon
ing.
Bouchard told the planning
commission that he would donate
a site to a nonprofit hospital if one
expresses interest.
— The Lure Of Advertising
Cont. from Page 4A
Post Office to see if we had
a package notice in the box.
But after a month I became
very apprehensive — had the
very mail truck carrying my
package caught fire or had an
accident?
Finally, after two months,
a very small package arrived.
The box was only about four
inches long: there was no way
the submarine I had envi
sioned could fit inside. When
I opened it, I found a two-
inch model of a submarine
with a hole in the middle, into
which you put a pinch of bak
ing powder. When you put
the submarine in the water it
sank. But the baking powder
caused a bubble of carbon
dioxide to form, which made
the sub rise. The bubble broke
and the submarine sank again.
I ate two entire boxes of that
crummy cereal and spent 75
cents for THAT?
I think that responding to
cereal box offers is a wonder
ful life lesson. By the time you
become a teenager advertise
ments hold no allure at all.
They are only come-ons and
you are going to get far less
than you were promised. I
don't know if having bought
an Actual Working Submarine
in childhood kept me from
becoming obese, but I don't
have a Mercedes either, so it's
possible.
Willis Cook is a retired electri
cal engineer who was born in
New Orleans and grew up in
the Mississippi Delta. He lives
on Varner Road in Franklin
County.
Blood Drive
Set May 13
At First Baptist
The American Red Cross will
hold a blood drive Tuesday, May 13,
from 12-6 p.m. at the First Baptist
Church of Commerce, 1345 South
Elm Street, Commerce.
The Red Cross has recently
issued a request for O-negative
donors in particular, due to a
regional shortage, but donors of
all blood types are needed.
For more information, call
1-800-448-3543 or visit wwwred-
crossblood.org.
Planners Recommend 'No' To
Walgreens' Variance Request
Walgreens will have to appeal
to a higher authority to get the
signage it wants at its Commerce
store.
Saying it was bound to uphold
the city’s sign ordinance, the
Commerce Planning Commission
voted unanimously Monday
night to recommend that the
Commerce City Council deny
the company’s request for a vari
ance in both the size of the sign
and for an LED message board.
Walgreens plans to build a store
at the corner of North Broad
Street and Homer Road.
The city council will have the
final say on the matter at its
May 12 meeting at 6:30 p.m. in
the Commerce Room of the
Commerce Civic Center.
“We didn’t write the ordinance,
we just have to go by it,’’ declared
Chairman Greg Perry.
What Walgreens sought, accord
ing to City Planner David Zellner,
was 24 square feet of signage for
its main sign and another 24
square feet for a manual read
er sign, both on the same pole.
Initially, the company had asked
for an 80-square foot sign plus an
LED reader board.
The Commerce sign ordinance
allows signs up to 24 square feet
in that location.
Perry said he had looked over
the city ordinance and conclud
ed that signs are limited to “one
per business.’’
Vice Chairman Joe Leffew said
that in the month since the plan
ning commission tabled action
on Walgreens’ request, he’d
seen more than 30 Walgreens in
Florida, New Orleans and Salt
Lake City, all but one of which
had signs identical to the original
request made in Commerce.
He said he did not object to
that sign.
“However, there’s nothing in
the zoning ordinance that would
allow me to vote affirmative on
that sign,’’ he noted.
Jean Edwards, whose North
Broad Street house is adjacent
to the Walgreens site, lobbied for
approval of the variance, saying
she thought it “would add to the
area we live in.’’
Leffew agreed, but reiterated
his stand.
“Don’t you think laws can be
bent or broken?’’ asked Edwards.
When Perry responded that the
group felt bound to uphold the
law and abide by the ordinance,
Edwards said, “I think you’ll be
sorry if you do.’’
Perry made the motion to rec
ommend that the city council
deny the request for a variance.
Leffew and member Johnny
Eubanks voted with Perry; mem
bers Ronnie Seabolt and Donald
Nation were absent.
In other matters, the planning
commission voted to amend the
zoning ordinance to increase the
height allowed for front-yard fenc
es from three feet to four feet and
to increase the allowable size of
utility buildings to 50 percent the
size of the principal dwelling’s
“footprint.’’ The second amend
ment would also allow for vari
ances on the number of buildings
and the building materials under
certain circumstances.
The Commerce City Council
will also act on those recommen
dations at its May 12 meeting.
Chamber President Calls For
New 'Vision' For Jackson Co.
The Jackson County Area
Chamber of Commerce thinks
it’s time to come up with a vision
of what the county’s future
should look like.
“If we don’t take control of
where we want to go, the devel
opment community will take
control of it,’’ Chamber President
Shane Short told the Commerce
Kiwanis Club last Thursday.
Short presented the program as
the guest of Commerce Mayor
Charles L. “Buzzie’’ Hardy Jr.
Nothing is set in stone, but
Short reported that the cham
ber has contacted local mayors
about the idea, with a positive
response, and will ask the board
of commissioners for an opinion
as well.
The idea is to develop a con
sensus, Short said, as to “what
Jackson County will look like
in 20 years.’’ What he calls a
“community visioning process’’
would require a year or more
and would include “lots of meet
ings’’ at which elected officials
and citizens alike would ponder
the county’s needs and desires
in areas including recreation,
the arts and culture, business,
housing, health care, transporta
tion and other issues. As trends
become apparent, Short said,
the group would focus on spe
cific issues.
Short pointed out that the pend
ing relocation of the Richmond
Braves to Gwinnett County
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706-367-5233
Shane Short
came out of a similar process
undertaken there.
“This will be truly a community
process,’’ he promised. “We’re
going to ask the people here,
what do you want in the com
munity?’’
And while there is yet no for
mal commitment to the idea,
Short said, “It’s looking like it’s
going to be a reality.’’
Other Changes
Short also said the chamber
will soon begin a new market
ing campaign, a centerpiece of
which will be an expanded web
site, which he called “your busi
ness card for the world.”
“There is lots going on to make
it more interactive, and we’re
putting more information on it,’’
he explained.
The chamber also plans to focus
on helping retain and expand
existing business, and reported
that he expects the chamber to
announce “a major, major expan
sion’’ of a local industry “within
30 days.’’
Also on the drawing board is a
stronger outreach to small busi
nesses that will include an educa
tional series dealing with market
ing, networking and accounting
and taxes, a restaurant guide, an
antiques guide and the creation
of a tourism council. In addi
tion, the chamber is starting a
newcomers’ program, and Short
said the chamber hopes to build
stronger ties to the business asso
ciations in Commerce, Braselton,
Hoschton and Jefferson.
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La Hacienda Commerce
173 Steven B. Tanger Blvd.
706-335-7458
La Hacienda Jefferson
605 Athens Street
706-367-5095
The Original Mexican Restaurant! Not affiliated with any other restaurant.
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1441 North
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Commerce's Only
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Family Haircare
Bill Wood, Owner
Walk-Ins Welcome
Wood Barber Shop
581 lla Road, Lot#l, Commerce
(706) 335-5392 • Mon.-Fri. 8-6
WE DELIVER!
All deliveries are Delivered and Dumped.
All products available in dump truck loads and tractor trailer loads.
473 I.i<:k Street
Jefferson, GA
Open €5 days per week
706-367-3862
LANDSCAPING SPECIALS!
Mulches & Bark
Red Dyed Mulch $25/scoop
Brown Mulch $25/scoop
Double Ground Hd $25/scoop
Cypress Mulch $28/scoop
Straw Matting for Slopes 71/2’xl20’
Reasonably Priced $40/Roll
Tractor Trailer Load discounts available
Delivery on 10 scoops or more free
up to 10 miles from lot,
then $1 per mile both ways thereafter
Straw
Wheat Straw/Mulch Hay $4/baIe
Long Needle Pinestraw $3.25/bale
100 Bales or more $2.95/bale
Delivery on 100 bales or more free
up to 10 miles from lot,
then $1 per mile both ways thereafter
Coastal Bermuda Feed. Hay
(Great for cows and horses)
Square Bales $7/Bale
Top Soil & Fill Dirt Available
Call for details.
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613 Hawthorne Ave. • Athens
Mon.-Sat. 9-6 • Appts. Available
706-369-0000