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The plot of land between Fairview Ave and Liberty Hill Road where the 650 subdivision complex is to be built.
On Tuesday, Jan. 10, the Hart County Board of Commissioners conceded the struggle over the the city’s proposed annexation of the 274 acres situated between Fairview Avenue and Liberty Hill Road, which developers Kenny Whitworth and Brandt Bentley plan to turn into a subdivision.
Commissioners Marshall Sayer, Joey Dorsey, Jeff Brown, Frankie Teasley, and Michael Bennett met in executive session with Hartwell mayor Brandon Johnson and city councilman Dan Leard to discuss further details about the annexation. The board announced its agreement with the city after the city guaranteed that it would compel Whitworth and Bentley to meet certain “concerns” the board had about their developmental project.
“We had meetings with the city to represent the county, and through those meetings, we’ve had some conditions met that were not explained in the [Development of Regional Impact],” board of commissioners chair Marshall Sayer said. “The city agreed to require developers to perform additional traffic studies on Parkdale and Liberty Hill Road, which [the board] believes will be a huge positive towards addressing [the board’s] concerns.
“Additionally, the city has agreed that the approximate lower one half of the project, which is adjacent to the county, be limited to no less than one and a half acre properties, which lowers the density.”
Sayer also announced that the city had agreed to additional buffers to be built around the Hart County Botanical Garden and Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Furthermore, he said the city agreed with the board that the amount of homes would be reduced to no more than 650 doors.
“The laws of our state are not made for counties to be able to completely stop an annexation, and we have participated and actively aired out our concerns, and the city has repeatedly requested for [the board] to trust in the information of their planned process,” Sayer said. “[The board] aggressively pursued and participated in the Development of Regional Impact review process that the [Georgia Mountains Regional Commission] produced, which the city of [Hartwell] fully accepted and is ready to implement.”
In December, the board unanimously voted to formally write a letter of negotiation with the Hartwell city council to “restart the process” of arbitration, which threatened legal action if the city proceeded with the annexation without negotiating in “good faith throughout the annexation proceedings.”
“Short of litigation, which is expensive, and is questionable in outcome, [the board] thinks that it has done the best it could do to address the concerns of our constituents, and we have run out of options,” Sayer said. “[The board] used every resource available under Georgia law, and [the board] knows a lot of people feel that we have let them down. However, I can assure that [the board] has done everything that we could do, and the law does not allow us to say, ‘No, you cannot develop your property.’
“The law does allow [the board] to negotiate the number of doors, type of housing, safety and concerns, and characteristics of the neighborhood. [The board] would not have done away with the development through arbitration, it would only limit the scope of the project through certain conditions that [the board] argued for.”
Hartwell City Council held a called meeting Thursday at 6 p.m. at Hartwell City Hall and was expected to formally annex the 274-acre plot of land, but the meeting was not held before press time.
In other business:
•The board approved the Legacy Link FY23 contract amendment
•The board approved the Distilled Spirits Ordinance to permit businesses to sell alcohol on Sunday.
•The board approved the beer and wine ordinance revision.
•The board approved the purchase of the $248,000 Nance Ferguson tractor (grinder and circle mower).
•The board approved the rules update for Paynes Creek campers.
•The board approved to advertise county positions in February 2023.