Hall County Planning Commission approves rezoning request for manufacturing near Hwy. 365

GAINESVILLE - Tuesday evening the Hall County Planning Commission gave approval to an application by the Hall County Development authority to rezone a 179-acre tract of land from light industrial to heavy industrial.<br /> <br /> The land (see picture) is along Highway 365 near Whitehall Road, and will be used for manufacturing and warehousing by Kubota, which already operates a plant in Gainesville.<br /> <br /> "Kubota is looking to do on that property what it already does in Hall County," said Time Evans, Vice President of Economic Development for the Greater Hall Chamber of Commerce.<br /> <br /> "This [request] was to setup the rezoning for the 188-acre tract that Kubota is considering for their manufacturing processes. It would be about 600 jobs and $100 million and capital investment (for the county)," said Evans.<br /> <br /> The motion passed unanimously, although one person did speak in opposition to the request.<br /> <br /> The concern raised was about the pollution the industrial area would bring--light, sound, and ground water, specifically.<br /> <br /> Representatives addressed those issues, noting the amount of natural barriers required by the county's codes and the drainage patterns of the planned facilities (towards Hwy. 365).<br /> <br /> County planning officials had recommended approving the motion with the condition that a site plan be approved by the Planning Director prior to the review process, since no initial plan had been submitted.<br /> <br /> The matter will come up for a final vote at a special called meeting of Hall County Commissioners at 11:00 a.m. on November 20.