Latest on Buford's push to annex 50 acres in Hall

Brian Wellmeier, The Times, Gainesville, Ga.
Updated ·2 min read

Apr. 17—Hall County Board of Commissioners voted to block the annexation of a proposed 50-acre industrial/warehouse park on Bennett Road into the city of Buford after Commissioner Kathy Cooper motioned to add the item to the agenda just before the start of their regular meeting.

After a unanimous vote by commissioners to block all five parcels of the annexation Thursday, Cooper confirmed that county officials had "reviewed the project" and cited zoning discrepancies as the basis for objection.

"I think the main objection was industrial (zoning) inside those residential areas," Cooper said.

Buford's Planning Commission had approved the annexation request by Seefried Industrial Properties last Tuesday, with Chairman Robert Perkins indicating that Hall County wouldn't oppose the annexation after talks between commissioners and the applicant.

Officials with the city of Buford could not be reached for comment.

Hall County had planned to block the Bennett Road annexation in early-February, but the application was pulled before commissioners voted on the item

The distribution facility proposed by Seefried Industrial Properties, if approved for light industrial use, would've been constructed on property surrounded by residential zoning.

The real estate company maintains the development would have "minimal impact on utilities and schools," though the proposed site of the project is located less than a mile from Friendship Elementary School.

A letter of intent by the company states the property's agricultural-residential zoning doesn't provide "reasonable economic use" of the land.

Seefried Industrial Properties, which has pledged to provide improvements to the intersection at Friendship and North Bogan roads as well as an additional drive on Bennett Road, states in a letter to city officials that the project would require three variances — one to allow up-tilt concrete construction, another to permit modular block retaining walls and a third for grading and replanting in the residential zoning buffers.