Why is rezoning the 11.7 acres from Agricultural Residential to Industrial good for the residents of the Browns Bridge peninsula?

We have all read or heard about the request by Mincey Marble to rezone 11.68 acres on Browns Bridge Road from Agricultural Residential to a Planned Industrial Development. Many citizens who reside on the Browns Bridge peninsula have voiced their concerns over the potential negative impact caused by this rezoning to the residents of this neighborhood. To name a few:

• The impact to air quality and health from toxic emissions.

• Increased truck traffic on a dangerous stretch of Browns Bridge Road.

• Potential decrease in residential real estate values.

• A corresponding decrease in County real estate taxes

Mincey Marble has tried on a number of occasions to rebut these concerns. One of those is to relocate the manufacturing from Hidden Hills to the proposed Browns Bridge site.

But we are told by the EPD that styrene depends on wind to disperse these toxic fumes and that concentrating the location only makes it worse. Also, won’t relocating Hidden Hills to this location only cascade to future industrial developments and more problems? Adjacent land owners will only be able to develop their properties as similar industrial properties. Of course, who is going to want to live next to an industrial manufacturing plant?

So has anyone asked why rezoning a beautiful parcel of land that abuts residential developments to a PID, and the subsequent development of a 100,750-square-foot manufacturing plant across busy Browns Bridge Road from a 170,000-square-foot manufacturing plant is it good for the area, the residents and the county? I cannot think of any positive attributes to this request. Certainly nor can the 560 residents who signed a petition protesting it, either.

Many of us relied on the Comprehensive Land Plan in our decision to live here. The area was certainly designated as agricultural and residential. Isn’t it the duty of our elected county commissioners to protect and safeguard those who chose to live on this peninsula surrounded by gorgeous Lake Lanier as a place for us to raise families and enjoy the outdoors for as long as we live here?

So who is answering the question: Why is rezoning this property for an industrial development in the center of this agricultural residential peninsula good for the residents who live here?

Leslie Kane
Gainesville