A proposed development featuring more than 1.2 million square feet of industrial space off Ga. 365 in northeastern Hall County got initial approval Tuesday, Jan. 3, from the Hall County Planning Commission.
The board’s recommendation now goes to the Hall County Board of Commissioners, which is set to take final action after a Feb. 9 public hearing.
The bulk of the development — 1 million square feet spread out among one or more buildings — would be slightlysouth of Lula Road/Ga. 52. The 91.5-acre park would be between Lula and Cagle roads.
A map of the project shows a 1 million-square-foot building, 75,000- and 30,000-square-foot buildings and space for either a 110,000-square-foot building or 126 trailer spaces.
All the buildings would be one-story, according to the site plan. Completion of the park is projected by 2033.
Brian Rochester of Gainesville engineering firm Rochester & Associates DCCM, representing Gainesville-based Solidum Holdings LLC, told the planning board that the area around the development was long ago identified by Hall County as a potential industrial-commercial node.
“The county further acknowledged that this is where they wanted the growth to go when (it) began running sewer up Ga. 365,” he said.
The property for the industrial development was once farmland and was “owned by multiple people doing that,” Rochester said. “But quite frankly, (the property) is no longer viable to be (used for) farming.”
Nonetheless, the proposal has been met with opposition from neighbors.
Several residents, including from a multigenerational family, expressed concerns about the project, citing numerous issues, such as traffic.
Area dentist Dr. Brett Maddox said Cagle Road is now a “nice, sleepy street that’s safe for my kids,” but that the development “will impact three generations.”
Another resident said he was concerned about how several developments taking shape in the area, including Solidum’s proposal, would affect traffic.
“It’s going to be chaos all up there,” he said.
Rochester said, “I certainly understand that change is always difficult and that we live in a growing community that continues to grow.”
He said he wants to meet with residents “to discuss what kind of mitigation factors that can still be looked at.”
Rochester said that one thing for sure is that no trucks will be allowed down Cagle Road.
No tenants have been named yet, but documents say “the intent is for the park to serve a mixture of industrial, commercial, highway business and office-institutional uses.”
Solidum is seeking to rezone the property from agricultural-residential and suburban shopping to planned industrial development.