GAINESVILLE – The Gainesville Planning and Appeals Board decided Tuesday evening to combine three separate requests on their agenda pertaining to a planned Dawsonville Highway development and consider them as one single entity.
“Board members,” GPAB Chairman Doug Carter said to begin the meeting, “if you are alright with this…there are three items on our agenda, all of these are obviously integral and a part of the overall quest here.”
Developers of the 235-acre active adult community were requesting two parcels situated in Hall County to be annexed into the city, and then for a third parcel to be rezoned as Planned Unit Development (PUD) and General Business (GB).
The massive development by Oak Hall Companies, LLC, has been much publicized, debated, tabled and modified since its initial inception; little wonder, it brings 880-residential units to the heavily congested Dawsonville Highway corridor.
The board agreed with Carter’s suggestion to consider the three agenda items as one, somewhat to the chagrin of several in the audience of the packed courtroom at the Gainesville Justice Center.
Those speaking in opposition to the development had one common thread in their argument to deny recommendation: traffic.
Jerry Hulsey has lived near Dawsonville Highway all his life; currently he has a home on Sportsman Club Road. Hulsey says he has seen the two-lanes of Dawsonville Highway expand to four lanes and then morph into four very congested lanes. He said the time has come to limit the growth.
“Chick Fil-A causes a traffic jam,” Hulsey said with a measure of irony. “They have extended the (left turn lane) so people can get in there!”
Hulsey was referring to the current project lengthening the westbound left turn lane onto Green Hill Circle which happens to be where the new Chick Fil A is located.
“Our quality of life is in living here. Nobody has moved here because they said there was great traffic…but with a development of this size something is going to have to be done with the traffic,” Hulsey added.
Attorney and area resident Clyde Morris was joined by Harbor Point Community Association President Gary Lawrence in asking that the board table their decision to recommend approval until two traffic studies of the corridor currently underway could be completed and their results studied.
Morris said the traffic data provided by the developer from such sources as the Georgia Department of Transportation is erroneous. “We have come to the conclusion that the data that has gone into those studies is defective…used to project about a 2% growth track record when we think the number is about 9.8% growth rate.”
“Anyone who has driven up and down this highway,” Morris continued, “can attest that the traffic has gotten significantly worse in this corridor over the last year or a year and a half.”
Ethan Underwood represented the developer and said, “This is one of those projects that we think that you’ll look back ten years from now and say, ‘You know, that was the right thing to do.’”
“This property is already zoned in the (Hall) county; it can be developed for commercial use now; so even if this application is denied this property is zoned and ready to go,” Underwood explained.
“We would rather it be in the City of Gainesville and work with you all.”
The opinions were divided and so was the vote to recommend approval: by a five to two vote (board members Jane Fleming and Carmen Delgado dissented) the requests were approved for recommendation.
Fleming expanded on her “no” vote after the meeting: “I’m not against it totally because I feel like it’s an excellent development and been well planned, but I would like to see more time and thought put into the traffic pattern.”
The requests by Oak Hall now go to the Gainesville City Council for final approval and will be on their June 6th voting session agenda.
