GAINESVILLE – With a strong word of caution and a split vote the Hall County Planning Commission recommended approval for a rezoning application from THW Design to expand the footprint of Lanier Village Estates.
“I sat right here (chairman’s seat) when this was zoned before,” Planning Commission Chairman Don Smallwood told representatives with THW Design. Smallwood was referring to the original construction of the Acts Retirement-Life Community off Thompson Bridge Road in 1998.
“And there was some problems,” Smallwood said reflecting back two decades ago. “There was some construction problems…and you turned a blind eye to it. And we as a board don’t want to see that happen again.”
“Lanier Village is a good thing, we think it's a good thing, but there’s certain people that live around there that don’t live in Lanier Village, and there’s certain properties and stuff that has to be looked after, that you can’t just come in and walk on people to do what you want to do,” Smallwood warned the developer.
“When it was new and it was being built there was some construction problems that (you) didn’t seem to want to address and (you) just let it go. It’s not going to happen this time. It’s not going to happen this time,” Smallwood said repeating his caution to the applicant.
Neighboring property owner Lee Smith and his son Chris opposed the rezoning application saying they were one of the victims of the original construction project nearly 20-years ago referred to by Smallwood. Soil runoff was the major problem on the Smith’s property on Mt. Vernon Road and he does not want to have to deal with siltation again.
“They covered me up when they was building,” the senior Smith reminded commissioners. “I had a fish pond… with rainbow trout, and they killed 54 rainbow trout that weighed from seven to nine-and-a-half pounds.”
“I’ve got two springs… that fill the pond up…the water coming out of the springs stays 52-54 degrees year round…and they busted it,” Smith said.
According to staff members the Smiths were eventually compensated for their loss but Smith says he wants to avoid a repeat of the siltation event.
“I didn’t get to build my trout pond back,” Smith explained.
The plan submitted by THW Design and recommended for approval in a 4-1 vote (Commissioner Johnny Varner voted against the application) by the Planning Commission calls for an additional 31 cottage homes to be constructed on an additional 15.07 acres of land and for an access gate to be constructed on Mt. Vernon Road.
While several area residents complained about allowing an entrance into the development from Mt. Vernon Road commissioners explained that the Georgia Department of Transportation will have sovereign control on whether or not the request is granted, and if so how it is to be constructed.
A THW Design representative said a preliminary traffic study has just been completed but that information had not yet been submitted to GDOT.
The rezoning application now goes to the Hall County Commission for final approval or denial at their September 27th meeting.
DAWSONVILLE HIGHWAY BUSINESS RECOMMENDED FOR APPROVAL
A unanimous recommendation for approval was given to Bernadette and Larry Johnson, licensed auto retailers operating under the name of Benchmark Auto Pros, LLC, to sell used vehicles on a 1.91-acre tract at 2341 Dawsonville Highway.
Recently owners of the property to the west of the Johnsons in an unrelated application requested zoning to allow for construction of a 12,000-square-foot Ace Hardware Store. That application is also being processed by Hall County at this time. Both properties are near the intersection of Dawsonville Highway and Venture Drive.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2018/9/709374/hall-planning-commission-cautious-about-recommending-lanier-village-estates-expansion-application