Curt Tomlin, who retired to Habersham County from Texas in 2006, didn't mince words in his opposition to the proposed Soque Scenic Byway. (Photo/Rob Moore)
CLARKESVILLE - The Habersham County Commission voted 4-1 Monday night to reserve any further action or conversation on the proposed Soque Scenic Byway until additional steps are taken.<br />
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The move came near the end of Monday's lengthy meeting, in which nine residents spoke nearly an hour earlier in opposition to the proposed Scenic Byway designation for a portion of Georgia Highway 197.<br />
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The most vocal of those opponents was U.S. Army retiree Curt Tomlin, who moved to Habersham County from central Texas in 2006.<br />
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"If this Byway thing passes, I will immediately cash out my several hundred thousand dollars I have invested in property, and I will relocate!" Tomlin announced.<br />
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The matter has been discussed for more than a year, but Habersham County Commission Chairman Chad Henderson said county leaders just learned - thanks to resident Pete Davitto - that not all of the 300 property owners along the proposed route were notified of the first two public hearings as required. <br />
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Henderson acknowledged many of those property owners have yet to be notified.<br />
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"We have to notify that group of people," Henderson said. "And we have to actually hold two more public hearings before we can go any farther."<br />
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Henderson said county leaders will do what is required.<br />
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"We will do what is prescribed by law, by the regulations," Henderson said. "We will notify them. Until that point, it would be my suggestion that we pull support for that resolution until that is done, and ask that the application be put on hold - that the City of Clarkesville stop that for right now."<br />
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In 2013, at the request of Clarkesville leaders, the commission adopted a resolution of support for the potential Soque Scenic Byway. Since that time, a firestorm of opposition has followed commissioners.<br />
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Henderson said after all property owners are notified and the additional public hearings are held, then the county can either ratify its resolution of support for the Soque Scenic Byway designation or could rescind that resolution.<br />
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Commissioner Sonny James, who lives in and represents District 1 where the majority of the proposed Byway falls, cast the dissenting vote. <br />
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During the meeting, James said he was challenged by a municipality to contact a commissioner in each county that hosts one of the 14 Scenic Byways in Georgia.<br />
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"I contacted a commissioner or the clerk in each one of those counties, and in that contact I got no news that would make me believe that it was necessary to have a Scenic Byway along 197. The majority of my constituents do not want a Scenic Byway, and I can appreciate that."<br />
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Following the meeting, Commissioner Andrea Harper discussed the vote.<br />
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"It came to our understanding that we needed to notify every property owner, and that had not been done, so we are going to delay any decision until such time as all those property owners have been notified and we have those two public hearings again," Harper said. <br />
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Asked who has to notify the 300 property owners, Harper said, "It's the county's responsibility because it falls within our jurisdiction. The people of Clarkesville had to be notified by the City of Clarkesville. We have to notify the people in the county."
