Oconee County, GA Politics

Thank God that developer Frank Gunter Property LLC dropped their lawsuit against the Oconee County Board of Commissioners for an ill-advised, poorly planned and almost unanimously opposed shopping center in a neighborhood that does not need one. Almost everyone in the Chaddwyck subdivision - at ground zero of this proposed development - came out against this bird brained proposal, as did the Planning Commission and initially at least so did the Board of Commissioners. Put a Whole Foods or Trader Joes there (or anywhere in Oconee for that matter) and I might be down with it. Former Oconee County Board of Education candidate Ashley Hood should put her name in for the newest slot on the Oconee Planning Commission advertised in the Enterprise this week. I drive my son to school a couple of times a week to Athens Academy along LaVista Road off 441 and as anyone who has tried to exit from the neighboring Waffle House, it is already difficult to turn left against traffic. I turned right on to...

I am always quick to condemn the Planning Commission as slash and burn developers hell bent on paving every inch of sod or clay left in Oconee County, so I need to acknowledge when they do something reasonably good. A large chunk of sparsely populated Bishop, Georgia will NOT be developed according to this story in Athens Banner Herald . Good for them. But when will the local authority realize we are in an economic recession and more and more home sites may be graded and paved, but we have a huge surplus of some 3,000 lots not developed and getting larger by the day? At least the votes are getting a whole lot closer at 4-3 than the usually 6-2. I think it is not wise to have developers such as Dan Arnold and Travis Marshall on the Planning Commission because it creates the impression of a huge conflict of interest at the very least. Let them run for the Board of Commissioners or any other public body, but I think they should be replaced at the next convenient appointment time.

Oconee County has already lost the DePalma's restaurant slated for the new Market Center at Capital Avenue development near Butler's Crossing thanks to the Board of Commissioners not voting on allowing restaurants to pour beer and wine (such as the case for a year now inside the city limits of the county seat Watkinsville). The Loco's is not coming to the development around the corner and a BBQ restaurant has already closed in the same Mander's Crossing development. But there is a wine store there and a Taco Stand is being built in the old Quick Lube place in front of Butler's Crossing. So our Board of Commissioners has evidently succumbed to the pressures of the pulpit and congregations versus taking into consideration the economic development of our county. Now I do not condemn our local churches for making their feelings known and petition the government to address their grievances. I have tremendous respect for our houses of worship out Oconee way, be they so ma...

Smart growth proponents will be pleased to know of the emergence of an as-of-yet unnamed group of supporters borne out of frustration with the development of the former Green Hills Country Club tract and surrounding area at the Clarke-Oconee-Oglethorpe nexus down Barnett Shoals way. This group has met several times at the Splitbeard Meadow barn of Dr. Bill Paul at 4900 Barnett Shoals Road in his barn and will do so again Tuesday evening at 7 pm. " The mission of our organization is to promote responsible community development by protecting historic(al) features, maintaining healthy economic growth, enjoining the political process, addressing environmental concerns, and monitoring sprawl, thereby preserving a high quality of life for all residents of the Clarke-Oconee-(Oglethorpe) region," wrote Dr. Paul in an email sent out earlier. Barnett Shoals Regional Coalition, (Intercounty) Coalition for Sustainable Development and Watch Dawgs are names that have been given a test...

So writes Don Nelson and recommends the Oconee County Planning Commission. Seems like I remember something about a hotel being built next to the horribly named Oconee County Community Complex a few years back which evidently fell through. Where would you like to stay while you are here? Let's just make sure they are on a safe sanitary sewer and not leaching in a huge septic tank doo-doo field. There is still lots of wheeling and dealing with the Oconee County Planning Commission and not the least bit of controls on conflicts of interests, appearances of conflicts of interests, buying lavish dinners for planners, free trips, good ol' boy backroom dealings and what not. Time to rope them back in with similar controls to what are already on the books in Clarke County. We need a real visionary community-driven comprehensive planning map for 40 or 50 years in the future around here before Oconee County suddenly becomes Snellville. Oconee County should take another clue from Watki...

Slowly but surely the Creekside development of the cross section of Oconee, Oglethorpe and Clarke county in the Old Barnett (Shoals) Estates area inches forward, with cameras, traffic counters, surveying, et cetera near the old country club called Green Acres. Bill Paul and some supporters spoke with the Athens Banner-Herald reporter. The area in question is one of the last quaint quarters of the county, with even a few mailing addresses of that area of Oconee County called Arnoldsville. Paul's properties are on both sides of the county line for Clarke and Oconee if memory serves me correctly. He has done an amazing job restoring some old structures and an even better job organizing opposition to the proposed development. Meanwhile the Oconee County Democratic Committee continues to chug along almost unnoticed in their regular monthly meetings in the mainstream media of the three local newspapers. I suppose I can take discredit for that slip-up. I need to let them all know the n...

Anyone (except 3 BOC members and most of the Planning Commission) with a little bit of foresight and knowledge would quickly realize the curvy Daniells Bridge Road cut-through will see a hundred fold traffic increase with each new massive development thoughtlessly shoved down our throat. At least it looks like a traffic light is going into where it meets Experiment Station Road - most Gainesville State College kid drivers know this traffic route now. I wrote the preceeding paragraph but I got the rest of this from Lee Becker via Charlie Baugh. Citizens for Oconee's Future, Inc. P. O. Box 1301 Watkinsville, GA 30677 Following is a message from Lee Becker with information about a rezone on Daniells Bridge Road. More of the same, rezones creating more traffic on narrow unsafe roads. Just another step in our march toward "Developed Land". Those directly impacted by this may want to let our elected decision makers know of your concerns. Charles Baugh Dear Neighbors: As ...