What some Hall officials want has changed after the controversial camp demolition

The project was unpopular with residents, many of whom live in Hall County or Flowery Branch rather than Buford. The project was rejected by Hall County in October 2020 and Flowery Branch in December 2020 before the developer moved to Buford for annexation and rezoning. The Buford Planning Commission approved the project on July 20 after a large crowd booed the commission and several people opposed it.

Hall County Commissioner Kathy Cooper, who spoke at the meeting, said one of her main concerns is that this annexation is coming from a body that does not represent many of the residents concerned.

Local residents have raised many concerns, including more traffic, more land use than current development, and more trucks in the area.

The incorporation is also unusual, Cooper said in an interview on Thursday, as this incorporation is not necessary with public utilities such as water or sewerage, as is often the case with incorporations. Often annexations happen when a city can provide a benefit that the county couldn’t easily provide, Cooper said. The city has the right to annex the land as it is bounded by its city limits along a railway line on the southeast side of the property.

“What I’m having trouble with right now is that so many people are against the annexation and the project,” said Cooper. “Buford is ready for this company to override the wishes of everyone else in this area.”

Any increased protection for counties that want to protect the zoning of their land would have to result from changes in state laws. Hall County disagreed with the proposal when Buford was due to hear him in March, and the case went to state arbitration which ruled in Buford’s favor. The county then appealed the decision, but the court dismissed the appeal, Hall County Attorney Van Stephens said.

The county has the right to object if the reallocation is seen as much more intense than the current development of the county, said Stephens.

Though the panel rejected their objection, Stephens added terms of the land use that would require improvements along McEver Road. Steve Rowley, CA Ventures’ senior vice president and market officer, introduced road improvements at the July 20 meeting that would cost the company approximately $ 1 million.

“We tried to be good neighbors,” said Rowley. “I don’t know we’re going to give them all the answers they want.”

There should be little traffic impact on the weekends, Rowley said.

Buford Planning Commissioner Homer Whiting said after Tuesday’s meeting that the concerns expressed by local residents that evening after what they heard in March were not new. There are other similar commercial properties along McEver Road, including storage facilities, he said.

“I don’t see why it wouldn’t (fit),” Whiting said. “It would certainly help the road.”

McEver Road contains a sharp turn, and Rowley said CA Ventures would make the turn much more visible.

“It’s always tense when we have a camp,” Whiting said.

The proposed use is more intense than the surrounding land, even with some business parks adjacent, Stephens said.

“It could affect the neighbors, and in this case it does, but the neighbors are in the unincorporated part of the county,” said Stephens. “You are not allowed to vote for the city council members, so there is really no responsibility on the part of the city council members for this annexation.”

One solution could be to require a larger buffer – maybe 1,000 feet to a quarter mile – between different zones if a city decides to annex land and rededicate it for much more intensive use than the county, Stephens said. For example, a warehouse development like this might be required to move further away from nearby residential properties, Stephens said, but that would have to change at the state level.

The Buford City Commission will have the final say on the motion in August.

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