Hello Ball Ground:
We have received a number of inquiries concerning the proposed development on Old Dawsonville Road for which a public hearing is scheduled for 6:00 PM this evening. There has been debate on whether this application should be treated as a “zoning action”, or an “overlay extension”.
The City of Ball Ground has an agreement in place with Cherokee County, and re-zoning actions for the City are handled and heard by the Cherokee County Municipal Planning Commission. This has been the case for 20 plus years. Initially, we intended to treat this as a zoning action. An application was received by the City but the Cherokee County Municipal Planning Commission denied hearing the application due to their position that overlay extensions are not zoning actions. As an alternate course, the City scheduled a public hearing on its own to receive public comments on the proposed action.
This morning the decision was made to treat this request as a zoning action. Since the Commission has rejected the idea that this is a zoning action, the City will handle the process internally. Due to this change, the proposed annexation and the proposed extension of the Valley Overlay District will be tabled, and no action will be taken on these items during tonight’s meeting.
However; since many of you have already made plans to be in attendance we will still conduct a public hearing this evening at 6:00 PM immediately prior to the meeting of the Mayor and Council. This will give more residents an opportunity to share their comments on the record. Additionally, there will be another public hearing scheduled and held prior to either the December or January meeting of the Mayor and Council, to give residents an additional opportunity to speak on this issue.
Have a great day Ball Ground.
Eric
