GAINESVILLE – Monday evening saw applications for nearly 2.05-million square feet of industrial, commercial and warehouse space and 778 multi-family residential and rental-units filter through the Hall County Planning Commission on their way to the Hall County Commission for final consideration next month.
It was just a typical night for the Hall County Planning Commission which meets bi-monthly to consider rezoning, special use and variance requests for the county, meetings that in recent months have been exceeding three hours in length.
And those applications only cover locations in unincorporated Hall County; applications to build within the city limits of Gainesville, Flowery Branch, Lula, Oakwood, and portions of Buford and Braselton are not included. All this is evidence that people and businesses are flocking to our area.
Applicant Jeff Reedy, one of the founders of Gainesville Freezer, said during the presentation of his company’s rezoning application, “This is all driven by the needs of our customers. The north Georgia food processing industry has grown and is continuing to grow, and we need to expand just to meet the needs of our existing customers.”
Reedy’s company is looking to add 451,439-square feet to its existing facility on Athens Highway, Eskimo Cold Storage.
And with all the new commercial growth and the jobs it generates comes a need for housing. The bottom line is people want to live near the place where they work, so developers are lining up to seek approval to construct affordable housing.
William Brothers Development, LLC, of Atlanta, had its rezoning application heard Monday evening. If approved the developer hopes to construct 300 one, two and three bedroom apartments along White Sulphur Road.
Cameron Grogan, speaking on behalf of the developer, called the project “work-force housing”. “Our idea on this…is to be able to offer a more-affordable product. Our plan would be to stay a few hundred dollars lower than our other competitors south of us and in Gainesville,” Grogan explained.
Beau Weber, General Counsel for Gold Creek Foods, a nearby poultry processor, said his company welcomed Grogan's 33.9-acre housing development. “We are fully supportive of the apartments and the work-force housing. Gold Creek has over 1500 employees and we have seen a need for, and a lack of, work-force housing in the area.”
Another developer, hoping to build 298 multi-family housing units on 30.7-acres along I-985 near Oakwood, asked the commissioners to continue with his rezoning application even though he has been unable to secure sewer service.
Din Webb, representing applicant Brand Properties, said he knew the denial of his request for sewer service by the City of Oakwood was a deal-breaker, but wanted to continue the application process in spite of that setback.
“Would you prefer, tonight, to table this for thirty days and try to work on that issue and come back to us?” Planning Commission Chairman Chris Braswell asked Webb.
“I think we’d like to proceed,” Webb answered. “We recognize that if we don’t have sewer, regardless of what happens in this meeting, or at the next, we’re not going to be able to move forward.”
Such is the demand for housing in Hall County and the urgency by developers to provide it.
The Planning Commission serves as a recommending body to the county commission. The Hall County Commission has the final say on whether or not an application is approved and construction may begin.
The following are some of the recommendations made Monday evening by the Planning Commission. The final decision on those applications will take place at the September 9th meeting of the Hall County Commission:
- Rezoning application by FIDES Development to construct 180 lakefront rental units near Buford recommended unanimously for denial
- Rezoning application by Provident Partners 129, LLC, to construct 648,120-square feet of warehouse space along Athens Highway at Roy Parks Road recommended unanimously for approval
- Rezoning application by Brand Properties, LLC, to construct 298 multi-family rental units along Atlanta Highway recommended for denial by a 4-1 vote
- Rezoning application by Williams Brothers Development, LLC, to construct 300 apartment units on White Sulphur Road recommended for approval unanimously
- Rezoning application by Solidum Holdings, LLC, to construct 950,000-square feet of mixed-use commercial and industrial space on 105-acres along Barrett Road at Dorsey Peek Road was recommended unanimously for approval
- Rezoning request by Gainesville Freezer, LP, to add 451,439-square feet of cold storage warehouse space to its site on Athens Highway was unanimously recommended for approval
The Hall County Commission meeting, where these applications will be considered and public comment taken, begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Hall County Government Center on Thursday September 9, 2021.
