Another hotel in Flowery Branch?

Robert Bozzone has requested an annexation and rezoning of 2.83 acres at 4690 Holland Dam Road, a site slightly larger than the Hampton Inn & Suites property next to it.

He wants a highway business designation for the property and "has not specified a use or development for the subject property," according to the public notice.

However, Bozzone "has kind of floated around the idea of trying to get another hotel," said Flowery Branch’s planning director, James Riker, in a recent interview.

Bozzone, of Flowery Branch, couldn’t be reached for comment, despite repeated attempts.

The 84-unit, five-story Hampton Inn is under construction and could be opened in November, said hotel owner Yogesh Patel.

Bozzone also is seeking another rezoning and annexation of nearby property.

He wants the city to take in a 5.67-acre site at 4847 Old Orr Road, behind a Chevron gas station on Hog Mountain Road, and designate it for highway business. The site is now mostly zoned as agricultural residential.

Bozzone has indicated the property would be developed for mixed-use purposes, primarily office buildings with a total of 60,000 square feet and a self-storage warehouse with a total of 70,000 square feet.

Public hearings on the annexation/rezoning requests are set for 6 p.m. Oct. 9 at City Hall, 5517 Main St.

The matter also is scheduled to go before the City Council for first consideration on Oct. 15.

The developments would be located in a rapidly growing area.

Stonebridge Village Shopping Center is filling up with tenants, including several restaurants about to open. Wachovia and SunTrust banks also plan on building branches off Hog Mountain Road.

A Walgreens pharmacy is planned off Hog Mountain and Spout Springs roads, along with a potential retail site. Next to the Walgreens site is the three-story Habersham Bank, which is nearing completion.

The city is looking to improve the pedestrian and roadway area leading up to the Hampton Inn and other property off Holland Dam Road.

The Flowery Branch City Council voted Sept. 17 to contract with a Roswell firm for engineering services related to roadwork on Spout Springs Road at Holland Dam Road.

The city is looking to widen Holland Dam Road to allow for easier turns in and out of the road and extend a sidewalk that is now running on Holland Dam between Falcon Fitness and the Publix grocery store to Spout Springs Road.

The council also has voted to approve a 5 percent hotel/motel tax, with the city hoping to channel an estimated $40,000 of those proceeds to further improvements in the area. That amount is based on occupancy at Hampton Inn, the city’s only hotel.