Commissioners act on business park proposal after public opposition at meeting

Feb. 9—A commercial and industrial business park proposed for mixed uses on Ga. 365 was tabled by the Hall County's Board of Commissioners, Thursday, Feb. 9, after about 10 residents voiced opposition to the project at the regular meeting.

The park, composed of a 1 million-square-foot building, a 75,000- and 30,000-square-foot buildings, would sit on more than 91 acres off Cagle and Lula roads and includes additional room for either another 110,000-square-foot structure or 126 trailer spaces.

Following a brief comment by Derick Wheelis citing fears of greater traffic congestion, Lula resident Brett Mattox, who lives on Cagle Road, spent much of the allotted time for public comments expressing his objection to the proposed business park.

"The plan that has been put forth is inadequate in every way. In fact, their own traffic report used the word inadequate to describe their plans to handle traffic (from the development) — that's going to result in an extra 4,100 extra cars — big rigs and everything else — a day," Mattox said. "...we are not saying 'don't develop.' Make something useful. They have a large list of possibilities they could put there."

Mattox also cited aspects of the proposal that he said could compromise the North Oconee Watershed District, specifically details in the plan that he believes don't align with existing regulations.

"It can't cover more than 25% of that with impermeable surface," he said. "However, their own plans already show it covering more than 25% ... we worry about contaminating the water supply and things like that, so these things need to be gone over before we can even vote to approve this."

Mattox went on to remark that Commissioner Gregg Poole failed to disclose campaign contributions made to him from Philip Wilheit, whom he named as a supposed beneficiary of the park.

"It has not been disclosed — some of the financial contributions of Mr. Wilheit," Mattox said. "(The application) doesn't have any campaign contributions made to Mr. Poole ... it's just an error and it needs to be corrected. It has to be corrected before it can be voted on — that's at least what I've been told by my legal counsel."

After a third resident expressed opposition to the project, Rochester sought to clarify comments made by Mattox regarding environmental issues, telling commissioners that "a vast majority of the site" drains into the Chattahoochee, not the Oconee, basin.

"Most of this is inside the Chattahoochee basin," he said. "The ordinance is 25% in the aggregate for the entire basin ... that's not only parcel-by-parcel basis, they're looking at it in the aggregate. It's my understanding that in aggregate, north Oconee basin is only about 5%, currently."

Commissioner Gregg Poole addressed remarks made by Mottox about undisclosed campaign donations, stating, "It's my fault, not Mr. Wilheit's. I didn't tell my campaign guy who was running it. I didn't disclose it, and I don't know how to fix it because I'm a country boy. Anyways, I'm getting that fixed, and I actually have disclosed that."

Poole then suggested to table the proposal, and the item was tabled by commissioners with the exception of Commissioners Kathy Cooper and Billy Powell — both of whom voted against the motion.

The item will again go before commissioners at 6 p.m. March 23 at the Hall County Government Center.

Solidum Holdings LLC, the project's applicant, plans for each building of the proposed business park to be one story, with a completion date set for sometime in 2033. Hall County planning documents state that Solidum intends for the park "to serve a mixture of industrial, commercial, highway business and office-institutional uses."

If approved, specific use of various portions of the property likely would be determined at a later time, county documents state.

"The property may be developed as 'pad ready' sites or sold as undeveloped parcels," a project narrative for the item states. "...the location and proposed use is consistent with the Hall County comprehensive plan's designation as a 'mixed-use corridor' and appropriate for Hall County's planned industrial development district."

Access to the site is planned from Lula Road (Ga. 52), pending GDOT approval, as well as Cagle Road, according to county documents, and direct access from Cornelia Highway (Ga. 365) "will be provided through an existing driveway and easement to the property."

The site of the future business park, flanked to the east and south by residential zoning, is adjacent to another business park planned to the north.

An impact study to assess potential traffic issues was completed prior to the project's approval, and an updated site plan for the project identifies a protected left turn signal and an additional right turn lane on Lula Road as improvements made by the developer.