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Letters to the
Editor . . .
To the Editor,
I am writing this letter as a citizen of
Cherokee County and not as a representative in any way of CCHS. It is
November and if you have been to the shelter site, you will have noticed
that not one shovel of dirt has been turned yet. Meanwhile, there was
a celebration of the last beam for the jail and discussion of increasing
its size.
I can only locate three of the four articles
which I saved that pointed to a September groundbreaking. The AJC on July
12 quotes CEO of the LKS Architects as saying "she hopes construction
on the new shelter will be underway by October." The July 4 Ledger News
quotes Jerry Cooper as stating that ground breaking is still scheduled
for September. Emily Lemcke in the August TowneLaker states that site
prep would begin in September and that the completion date would be August
2002 assuming there were no design or construction delays. That is two
months later than I was promised at a recorded Commission meeting on June
12. There have been no statements by county officials in any of the local
publications admitting that they again are falling behind and why.
There were multiple promises to at least
keep the public updated. I call upon the officials, specifically County
Manager Jerry Cooper and Commissioner Sanders, to provide the most recent
information and updates as to the current time line to the public.
Respectfully,
Debbie Marcia, Cherokee County
Editor:
I have recently come under attack and criticism
for my supposed support of apartments on Highway 92. Let me set the record
straight and tell everyone the real facts of the case.
I am and have been a staunch opponent to
aggressive annexation policies by the various municipalities within Cherokee
County. I am so opposed to such annexations due to the fact that every
time they occur the project being annexed is a high-density project. Look
at, for example, the recent annexations by the City of Woodstock concerning
Pulte Homes and the Weatherstone project. I do not apologize for being
opposed to such projects.
In 1997, the Board of Commissioners of Cherokee
County adopted a Highway 92 mixed-use overlay ordinance for the State
Route 92 corridor. This allows for mixed-use development and as I understand
it, up to 25% of the project to be multi-family. The City of Woodstock
adopted an ordinance, which is basically the same as ours, but allows
up to 50% of the project to be apartments.
I believe that the homeowners in the area
are being hoodwinked by those individuals who have personal private agendas.
They tell you that the County favors apartments while the City of Woodstock
does not. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Just look at the annexations
that have occurred in the last few years and determine for yourself who
is and who is not approving high-density projects. The facts are: unincorporated
Cherokee County, which makes up around 60,000 acres is less than one percent
apartments. The City of Woodstock, which is approximately 6,000 acres,
is approximately twenty seven percent apartments. Who is misleading whom?
If the County were to deny these projects,
that are currently pending before it, they will merely go into the City
of Woodstock and as I have observed in the past you haven't seen high-density
development until you see the way the City of Woodstock does it. It is
no secret that the City of Woodstock wants the Highway 92 corridor to
the Cobb County line.
I find it very interesting that the night
at a public meeting in which I was attacked concerning these projects,
the City of Woodstock had before us a notice of a proposed annexation
located down Hames Road off Highway 92, which was a multi-family project.
Need I say more? I stand on my record over the past 11 years in office
and challenge anyone to observe my voting record concerning high-density
projects. I will continue to fight for the Highway 92 corridor to make
sure that projects, which are developed along it, are quality low-density
projects and not the high-density projects the City of Woodstock specializes
in.
J.J. Biello, Commissioner
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