Large commercial development planned for Gainesville's east side

GAINESVILLE - Watch for a large development in less than two years on Jesse Jewell Parkway near I-985 in Gainesville.

Gainesville City Council members were told Tuesday night that Pacolet Milliken Enterprises, Inc. will go before the Gainesville Planning and Appeals Board on May 8 to request annexation for a tract of land on Jesse Jewell.

According to Community Development Director Rusty Ligon, the property is located on the north and south side of the roadway between and across from its intersection with Limestone Parkway and White Sulphur Road.

The initial development will encompass 55 acres of the 68+ acres to be annexed.

"It will include a 120,000 square-foot anchor store," said Ligon. "There will be additional stores coming later and also there are outparcels across Jesse Jewell Parkway, likely for restaurants."

Ligon said the anchor store that will be the central point of the development is Kroger.

"They've actually set an unofficial opening date for February 1st of 2014, and they're working backwards from that date," said Ligon when asked for a timetable for the development.

He said after the public hearing on May 8, Gainesville City Council will consider the annexation request in June.

"They plan to break ground in September of this year, deliver a site to Kroger in February of 2013."


CITY BUSINESS OCCUPATION TAX TO INCREASE

As expected, occupation taxes for Gainesville city businesses will increase come July 1, and City Administrative Services Director Melody Marlowe said the blame can go to House Bill 87.

The state immigration compliance law has increased the man hours and paperwork for the city and that means extra staff will have to be hired.

Average increase for a business will be around $20, although the fee scheduled is tiered, according to Marlowe.

"So the first level if you have just one employee, it's a $10 increase going on up to if you have over a thousand employees, it's a $50 increase," said Marlowe.

Council members had discussed the increase at last week's work session and unanimously approved the hike on first reading Tuesday night, although most expressed displeasure at the move.

Councilwoman Ruth Bruner called HB 87 a "bad law" and said the additional work it had caused amounted to an "unfunded mandate" for municipalities all over the state.