FLOWERY BRANCH – The opposition was vocal, so much so that one member of the audience had to be escorted out of Thursday evening’s Flowery Branch City Council meeting by a police officer.
Thirty people spoke during public comment, most in opposition to a rezoning request that would allow for the construction of nearly 337,000-square feet of warehouse/distribution space on 38-acres along Thurmon Tanner Parkway near Phil Niekro Boulevard.
Hines Acquisitions, LLC, applied for the rezoning in June, and almost immediately opposition to the project began.
But the factors leading to that rezoning request predate the June filing by more than two decades.
According to Councilman Joe Anglin the decision to try and change the existing zoning designation of Highway Business (HB) to Light Industrial (M1) is the result of 23-years of being unable to attract highway business investors to the property.
“That property has sat there since 1988,” Anglin said of the site commonly known as the Forbes Property. “They have attempted to sell it as Highway Business…and it has not gone.”
“And now these folks are being offered money for a particular use (of the property) and they are asking the local government to grant them that use,” Anglin explained.
Catcalls from the audience halted Anglin’s comments so he asked one audience member, “If that piece of property belonged to you, how would you like it if a city council arbitrarily made a decision to not allow your piece of property to sell because they thought a grocery store would be a better use of that piece of property?”
Mayor Mike Miller called for order, was ignored by some and found it necessary to have one individual removed from the room.
As order was restored he said, “I will say that this project…has probably taken up more time than any other individual project that I have dealt with in the twelve years that I’ve done this.”
Flowery Branch resident Tammy Duckworth-Doyle said she opposed the rezoning based on the city’s recently approved Comprehensive Plan. “Rightly this council has pointed us back to the Comprehensive Plan repeatedly during the process of discussing these rezoning issues, (which) was passed or adopted on June 17th of this year.”
“To rezone you should have to have a compelling reason to change the zoning,” Duckworth-Doyle said. “You should not have to have a compelling reason to keep the zoning the same.”
“I would say that the Comprehensive Plan that you passed mere weeks prior to this request for rezoning is a very compelling reason to keep it the same,” she added.
Flowery Branch resident Duane Sudderth was one of just a few who felt differently. “I’m just here to remind the council that we have freedoms in this country to buy and purchase land to do with as we wish. We don’t need people telling us by mob-rules what we can and cannot do.”
Jack Rafferty lives on Falling Branch Court near the Forbes Property. He told council members they would be held accountable for the decision they made and the voters would remember. “We’re not going to fight city hall, we’re going to take it over at the ballot box.”
Local real estate agent David Woo agreed. “On Google people are going to know exactly who voted for this warehouse…we want to hold you accountable. We’re taxpayers and this is the least we can ask for.”
After months of discussion and numerous revisions to the project by the developer the time to decide the issue had come. Mayor Miller called for the vote and the final count was 3-1 in favor of approving the rezoning application. Councilwoman Leslie Jarchow cast the lone dissenting vote.
