City candidates debate traffic troubles

The Dahlonega City Council candidates gathered at the clubhouse of The Summit subdivision last Tuesday to participate in a public forum before early voting in the November 7 Muncipal General Election kicked off this week.
Mary Lasris, Vice President of The Summit of Dahlonega Condominium Owners Association, served as moderator for the hour-long forum.
Candidates were given a list of six questions prior to the event, but the subject of resolving local traffic and infrastructure issues dominated much of the discussion.

DAN BROWN

Dan Brown, one of the candidates for Post 5, was called on first.
“It all starts with responsible planning,” Brown began. “At this point, there’s only so much we can do about issues that are there currently.”
Brown said he had witnessed the traffic congestion on Pinetree Way firsthand while taking his son to school.
“What we can do is limit some of the development and think about smarter development. Not high density rentals, that’s for sure. I would be more focused on looking to see what we can do as a community to promote development that’s in line from a density perspective and from an historic perspective with Dahlonega’s charm, history and aesthetic,” Brown added.
Brown said that a more collaborative approach with the County is needed in order to preserve Dahlonega’s charm and tackle the City’s aging infrastructure.
“It’s a whole community approach, and we’re all on the same team. I know the County and City division is part of [the problem], and concern for the election as well,” he said.

MELANIE DUNLAP

Fellow Post 5 candidate Melanie Dunlap was next to answer.
She said that while traffic on Pinetree Way is congested, it has not gotten as bad as she initially expected it to.
“But remember, too, that’s only step one. The aquatic center is coming, right? What is that going to do? We need to get some more information … We don’t need to rush to put more in that one area,” Dunlap said.
Dunlap then addressed Summit residents’ concerns about having to make a treacherous left turn out of Summit Drive in order to head to town.
“Do we start putting up more red lights? I grew up in a town that did not have any red lights, and even to this day only has a flashing one. So I’m not a big fan of those. But that may be a consideration of something that we need to do: we may need to have a few more stop lights,” Dunlap said.

JAMES GUY

Post 5 candidate James Guy said that growing up in a heavily populated part of Fairfax County, Va. helped him realize that ignoring future growth is not helpful.
“I just remember my dad saying that the people who are smarter and should have known better said ‘They won’t come, because we’re not going to develop the roads.’ And they came anyway,” he told the audience.
Guy suggested that in order to alleviate traffic, Morrison Moore Parkway is going to need to be widened from Dunkin’ Donuts all the way to Walmart, or possibly the Lake Zwerner reservoir.
“There’s room there to widen the road, which would solve the traffic problem,” Guy said.
He added that if more development comes to Pinetree Way area, additional steps will need to be taken to counter traffic.
“There should be no egress off of Pinetree if they build what I’m imagining would be to the right. The egress should be from Memorial, and that would take some traffic off of Pinetree,” Guy declared.

LANCE BAGLEY

Post 6 candidate and current City Council member Lance Bagley said he supports a “pause” on new construction until the City’s zoning ordinances are fully revised.
“On the Council, we voted for the zoning review. We need to look at the old rules in place, the old zoning ordinances, and make sure they meet the vision we have for the future of Dahlonega. I would actually recommend pausing construction until that’s completed, so we don’t do anything we would regret because we have old zoning in place,” Bagley said.
Bagley also sounded off on the deteriorating relationship between the City and the County, telling the audience that it “needs to get better.”
"We had nothing to do with putting Cottrell Elementary School there. We had nothing to do with the County selecting that site for the aquatic center . . . Where were all the discussions with the City Council to make sure that it fit the grand scheme or the grand plan? That’s what bothers me . . . We’re in the city, but we’re all Lumpkin County residents. And we need to keep that in mind when we work on these things,” Bagley said.
As for paying for infrastructure improvements, Bagley said that the Council’s recent decision to hire Allison Martin as the new City Manager would yield positive results.
“She is the right lady for the job, and she’s going to help us get the grants. We’ve got a great team,” Bagley said.

TOM GORDINEER

Post 6 candidate Tom Gordineer argued in favor of adopting the model of Dunwoody, Ga., to solve the traffic issue in Dahlonega.
“When [Dunwoody] became a city, our mantra was ‘No new pavement unless it’s an intersection improvement.’ So if you ride through Dunwoody now, it still looks like a little town. Not by the mall, not by the hospital, but where citizens live, it still looks like a subdivision or a small town,” Gordineer said.
On the issue of construction projects, Gordineer said the citizens ultimately foot the bill, regardless of which government entity is taking the lead. Gordineer pledged that if he is elected to the Council, “We’re not going to sue each other.”
“I cannot believe that we got into this suit. Grown people, on the City Council, and on the Commission. We elect those Commissioners, too. They should have never spent $320,000 for outside attorneys,” he added.

JOHNNY ARIEMMA

Johnny Ariemma, running unopposed for Post 4, was the last to speak.
“You know there is no way out about Pinetree,” he began. “If you’ve been out there lately, it’s ugly. You can’t turn right, you can’t turn left. All you can do is sit and cry at the steering wheel,” he said to chuckles from the audience.
Ariemma said he is prepared to limit growth in the City wherever needed.
“You know, I’m the silent killer. When it comes down to it, show me the plan, I’m all ears. But you know what, I’m a realist, too … We all moved up here. For what? So we’re not living in Roswell, right? What benefit is there to anyone sitting in this room to allow that congestion?” he asked.