Thursday March 28th, 2024 7:59PM

Hall Planning Commission approves Friendship Rd. development

GAINESVILLE – The Hall County Planning Commission gave unanimous approval Monday evening to rezoning an 8.68-acre tract in southern Hall County along Friendship Road, allowing it to become another part of the significant commercial and residential growth taking place near the recently-opened Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton.

In fact, the development planned for the site will be both commercial and residential.  Friendship Road Development, LLC, plans to construct a 139-unit assisted-living / independent-living age-restricted facility in a three-level building and up to 10,000 square feet for commercial businesses in an adjacent building.

Brian Rochester of Rochester and Associates said the developer hopes to market the square footage to high-end businesses and homeowners.

“It is a very high-end development that would be here for a very high-end area of the community,” Rochester told Commissioners.

No one came forward to speak against the rezoning request.

Final approval by the Hall County Commission is expected on Thursday, June 25.

 

WORD MEANINGS CHANGE OVER TIME

The term “transient occupancy” is used in the Hall County Code.

However, the image that term brings to mind has morphed in the decades since it was first penned into the Code.  Today it paints a negative picture, a picture of property that is abandoned, neglected or significantly under-maintained.

So when someone in an established, intimate, lakefront neighborhood wants to get approval from the county for “transient occupancy” for their house, it stirs the property-value-protective imaginations of residents across the neighborhood.

To some measure that has happened in an informal neighborhood lining the north side of Mt. Vernon Road just south of the Wahoo Creek bridge.  Eight properties sit across the road from Wahoo Creek Park, and the homes that sit on those properties are not abandoned, neglected or significantly under-maintained by any means.

Michelle Gibbs owns the home at 3967 Mt. Vernon Road and she would like to rent her home when she is away and enjoy the high-dollar rental price it will command.

Hall County Code defines “transient occupancy” as “use by a paying guest or tenant for a period for less than thirty consecutive days”; therefore, Gibbs is creating a “transient occupancy” according to the code.

Tonight’s Commission meeting has hopefully mended the strained relationships, eased the anxiety and cleared the confusion Gibbs’ request for “transient occupancy” has generated.

Five neighbors expressed their opposition to Gibbs plan; one neighbor spoke in support of Gibbs.  Almost everyone in the small neighborhood has an opinion, a strong opinion.

But after thirty minutes of emotion and discussion and term-definition and wise-counsel things began to settle down, at least in part.  Commissioners voted 3-1 to allow Gibbs’ request to rent her home (transient occupancy) and most everyone involved walked away following the vote less agitated than when they arrived.

© Copyright 2024 AccessWDUN.com
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.