The Hall County Board of Commissioners made decisions on two controversial rezoning applications at Thursday night’s meeting.
The first one was a rezoning and special use request for a property on Spout Springs Road in Flowery Branch.
It is a home currently owned by John Roger Moore, Sr. The application was to turn the home into a gas station on the three-acre property.
The board ultimately decided to table the application until the July 10 meeting.
Public comment was not required for the application, but they allowed the son of the estate, John Roger Moore, Jr., to speak at the meeting in support.
District 1 Commissioner Kathy Cooper said they typically do not allow people to speak once an item has been tabled.
“That was really not a proper thing, because the other people were not here,” Cooper said. “So you’ve got one side of it, but you didn’t get the other.”
Moore, Jr. is a pastor of the Global Methodist Church from Elbert County. He said the reason for the request was for his father to settle his affairs. The developer would be LJA Engineering, a Houston, Texas-based company with field offices in Georgia.
“Their argument is that they want to curb growth to preserve their lifestyle, their way of living,” Moore, Jr. said. “However, this is a contradiction by their moving here in the first place.”
Cooper said that the motion to table was due to uncertainty with the development and how the neighbors feel about it.
“You’re looking at a family that is looking to dissolve their estate, so a lot of weight goes into that,” Cooper said. “I’ve asked the developer to reach out to those neighbors and show his design, explain his work, so they can … feel more comfortable with it, so that was the work that needs to be done.”
Cooper added she would like the developer to present the plan to the neighbors and give them some input.
Moore, Jr. had some support from the crowd in favor of the rezoning in District 1.
Moore, Jr. also referenced arguments made online as well as people in the crowd wearing red shirts.
Those wearing red shirts were there as opposition to a separate development on Yellow Creek Road in Murrayville.
That application was to rezone from vacation cottage to planned commercial development on a roughly 50-acre property. The proposed use was a campground and event facility with rental cabins and a boathouse.
“This … is incompatible with your long term plan,” Greg Rutledge, a Murrayville resident, said. “The potential of a planned commercial development in a residential midst … is out of line.”
The planning commission unanimously recommended denial, and the Commission ultimately decided the same, which evoked cheers from the crowd.
It was a busy day for the commission, who heard six other rezoning applications and made proclamations recognizing May as Mental Health Awareness month and proclaimed May 11 through May 17 as National Police Week among other items.
