A planned Kubota expansion may bring more jobs in Gainesville and the extension of a road on the city’s east side.

An executive with the equipment manufacturing company said Kubota will soon move its Cartersville operation to the old Peachtree Doors and Windows plant on Ramsey Road.

The move could initially bring 35 new jobs to Gainesville, said Phil Sutton, director of business promotion and support for Kubota.

"We will move some jobs over from Cartersville to Gainesville initially, but then hopefully, depending on the economy, we’ll see what happens, but the purpose is to really consolidate our operations into one Gainesville location to make them more efficient," Sutton said. "Probably most of the people will not move from Cartersville, so we’ll be filling some of those positions here locally."

Kubota purchased the property in late June, nearly a year and a half after Peachtree Doors and Windows closed the Gainesville plant.

"That will give us more space in our manufacturing to enhance our operations there," Sutton said.

Sutton expects the new operation to open in October, but first, he says some work has to be done to the old plant and the property surrounding it. Sutton took a request before Gainesville’s Planning and Appeals Board on Tuesday, asking the city to abandon a portion of Ramsey Road between Sargent Road and the railroad.

The board voted unanimously to recommend approval of the request, but the Gainesville City Council will make the final decision next month.

Abandoning the road and its right-of-way would allow Kubota to use the property between its existing facility and the Peachtree Doors facility as a cross-docking and storage area, according to planning documents.

Before Ramsey Road is closed, however, Kubota will construct an extension of Sargent Road, connecting the road to White Sulphur Road from Goble Drive, and later dedicate that road to the city.

"That will become a public road," Sutton said.

The Planning and Appeals Board also recommended approval for another road abandonment request Tuesday that will affect a major planned development in Midtown.

Gainesville City Center LLC, the developers of a planned high-rise hotel and office complex across Jesse Jewell Parkway from the Georgia Mountains Center, asked the city to abandon a 0.67-acre portion of Bradford Street right-of-way and a 0.25 -acre portion of Green Street right-of-way. Both intersect the south side of Jesse Jewell Parkway.

The portion of Bradford Street will eventually be the site of the 13-story, 250-room hotel the developers plan to build. The portion of Green Street the developers want abandoned is proposed to be an improved driveway into the development.

The planning board voted unanimously to recommend approval of the request, and the Gainesville City Council will consider the matter next month.