Pinetree Way housing plan voted down by council

Facing pressure from skeptical members of the public, the Dahlonega City Council voted unanimously to deny a request by Mountain Top Real Estate Group for a new mixed-used development that would have added 228 townhomes and 10,000 square feet of commercial space to the city.
Most council members cited traffic concerns on the busy Morrison Moore Parkway, which the proposed Pinetree development would have emptied onto, in their decision to scuttle the project.
City Hall was packed with concerned citizens for the evening meeting.
Mayor JoAnne Taylor opened up the floor to public comments, with a limit of three minutes for each citizen to speak.

CONCERNED CITIZENS

First to accept the Mayor’s invitation was former city council candidate Tom Gordineer, who expressed his wish for the council to be granted “the wisdom of Solomon.”
“You’re going to need it,” he quipped.
Gordineer said the buildings in the Pinetree proposal “look really nice,” and implied that he might be one of the first buyers if the development was to actually happen.
“Ethan Underwood’s company did a good job forcing this on a piece of property that was very difficult to build. The big question is, how much of a strain will it put on our infrastructure, particularly the roads?” he asked the council rhetorically.
Another resident, Nancy Cole, stepped up to add her comments about the Pinetree proposal.
“I’ve lived here now for almost three years, and for nearly a year I’ve talked to a lot of people in Dahlonega about this proposed development, and I’ve been hard-pressed to find any resident who is in favor,” Cole said emphatically.
She echoed Gordineer’s concern about the growing traffic situation in the area.
“I currently have three that go to school there at the new elementary school and I’ll have four next year, and the traffic is really bad. Even in the middle of the day when I go there for a conference I almost can’t pull into the school,” Cole said.
Cole said that 10 years from now, residents will look at the decisions of the current city council as having had a major impact on Dahlonega.
Larry Allen was next to speak. He cautioned that even though the Pinetree project is not located near the square, it could create unintended consequences for the fragile historic area.
“Looking at a map, if you’re going north or if you’re going west, you’re going to need to go through the square, down Grove [Street] or down Wimpy Mill to get through this log jam. What’s that going to do to downtown? Has anybody thought about that?” he asked.
The final resident to speak was Gail Dawcett, who expressed her faith that the council would ultimately do the right thing.
“You were elected by the people because they believe that you have the best of Dahlonega in your hearts and you want the best for us. And I believe in you all,” Dawcett said, before acknowledging that what she had heard about the Pinetree proposal frightened her.
“People are coming to live here, so yes, indeed, we need housing. But please do it respectfully for the people who elected you, so we can still live in a peaceful town and not have the traffic,” she pleaded.

DEVELOPER DISCUSSION

Ethan Underwood stepped to the podium next on behalf of Mountain Top, and used his allotted time to defend the Pinetree proposal.
“We want to dispel the presumption that this is an apartment complex that we’re proposing,” Underwood said, referring to a description he heard used during the public comments. “That’s been off the table for some time. What’s being proposed is 100 percent townhome residential development, which is almost 100 units less than what was originally proposed 18 months ago.”
Underwood reiterated that the City’s Comprehensive Plan calls for about 500 more housing units because “new home construction has not kept pace with population growth.” He also repeated a statistic that “in the past five years the City has added less than 30 new homes for sale.”
“And in fact,” he added, “the goal of your Comprehensive Plan for this particular tract says it’s to intensify residential development through the redevelopment of large parcels of land. This is the only large parcel of land you’ve got.”
Underwood also emphasized that Pinetree, if approved, would be a phased development.
“You’re not going to see dirt move on this site for a year. You’re going to be going through at least a year of permitting. Then you start seeing infrastructure put in, and then you have houses. Houses don’t usually sell more than three or four a month. That’s in a hot market. So you’re talking about maybe bringing 50 homes a year over a four to five year period. So it’s not going to be a huge slog to hit Morrison Moore Parkway,” he said.

MAKING MOTIONS

Once the rest of City business had concluded, Taylor invited a motion from the council regarding the Pinetree request.
“Madame Mayor, I’d like to make a motion to deny this application to change the PUD, based on the limited infrastructure that we have, road conditions and road traffic,” replied council member Ryan Reagin.
Council member Johnny Ariemma quickly seconded the motion, at which point the Taylor asked for further discussion.
“It’s just a lot. It’s a lot to contend with in terms of traffic and putting that many cars out,” Ariemma contended, before adding that the 62.77-acre property owned by Mike Cottrell still has “merits” to warrant a different proposal.
Next to weigh in was Dan Brown, in his first official action since being sworn in as a council member earlier in the meeting.
“For me it’s about how can we enrich the area without exacerbating traffic concerns on Morrison Moore. I think some sort of development there has potential … but I think it all boils down to having the infrastructure and the roadways to support that development in that location,” Brown said.
Reagin also expressed his reservations about traffic.
“We’ve seen the impact, obviously, of the elementary school on Morrison Moore. And my major concern is the aquatic center’s not even open yet. So what’s going to happen in the spring and summer?” Reagin asked.
Council member Ross Shirley agreed that traffic, not the quality of the proposed housing, is his chief concern with the Pinetree proposal.
“Nobody’s actually been opposed to the housing, per se. People realize that that’s an important issue. But the traffic part, we have not got a good grasp on,” Shirley admitted.
Taylor urged the community to lobby the Georgia Department of Transportation for improvements to Morrison Moore Parkway.
“Certainly the school did a very good job of designing the [vehicle] stacking within the school property, but the stacking on Morrison Moore itself is another issue. And that’s a state road, so there is little that the City and the County and the school system can do other than request and lobby for a change,” Taylor said.
“It’s very important that we stay small and accessible and be someplace where you can drive around without getting frustrated,” she added.
Council member Roman Gaddis was last to comment.
“I think, going forward, this council really has to look at balancing quality of life and managing growth,” he said before thanking Underwood “for going back to the drawing board many, many times and working on it.”
The Mayor asked for all those in favor of the motion to deny.
“The motion carries,” Taylor declared after all of the council members replied in the affirmative.