Baldwin now holds all the cards in the proposed development of a 500+ housing unit on the south end of Habersham County. In a called meeting Thursday night, the Habersham County Board of Commissioners voted not to accept the negotiated settlement with the City of Baldwin and Lula Capital.
As a result, Habersham County no longer has any say in how the property is developed.
“Because no agreement was reached and the Arbitration Panel is unable to meet by the statutory deadline, the county’s objection to the Baldwin Annexation has failed and the property may be annexed and developed at the discretion of the City of Baldwin,” the county said in a statement on Friday.
The vote was 3-2, with Commissioners Natalie Crawford and Stacy Hall voting in favor of the negotiated agreement. Commissioners Dustin Mealor, Jimmy Tench, and Tim Stamey voted against it.
Before voting, Crawford and Hall both made last-minute appeals to their fellow commissioners to approve the plan.
“That is our only mechanism for mitigating the impact of this development in any kind of way,” said Crawford. “I, like all of you, think that the development is far overly ambitious for that area and for what Baldwin can handle at this given time, and I don’t think that it fits the area. That being said, we can’t stop this train.”
“I’m adamantly opposed to this, but I just feel as a commissioner, it would be irresponsible of me because of my opposition to allow them [to proceed] unfettered [in] development when there’s absolutely no way we can stop it,” Chairman Stacy Hall said. “It’s the most responsible thing we can do for this community is to limit and limit it as much as we possibly can.”
The county announced it had reached a negotiated settlement with Baldwin and the developer, Lula Capital, on Sept. 21. Baldwin City Council approved the plan during a meeting that night but the commission did not follow suit.
“Following Monday night’s [commission] meeting, the attorneys attempted to get the [arbitration] panel to meet, but not all the panel members and not all the witnesses were available,” explains county manager Phil Sutton. By the time commissioners voted on Thursday, they knew there was no way the Arbitration Panel could meet this Sunday’s deadline.
Moving forward
The developer wants to build a shopping center and houses on 145 acres of land off GA-365 South across the highway from Hayes Chevrolet in Baldwin. The settlement would have reduced the proposed housing development from 736 to 580 units. It also would have required an additional secondary access point into the development from Wilbanks Road. The settlement also outlined the timing and responsibility of the upgrade and realignment of Thompson Road.
Baldwin City Council member Alice Venter says she’s “disappointed” the county voted against the agreement. “I felt it was good that the county would have some oversight in the density and in making sure that the roads were good,” she says.
Venter is a realtor who’s been accused of wanting the development for her own personal gain. She strongly denies that saying that she too wants to retain the rural character of the area.
“We don’t want a super high-density development that’s going to be a burden. We don’t want people to be put out. We want this to be beneficial for everybody,” she says of herself and council. The Baldwin Council now faces the unenviable choice between expanding the tax digest through a major development that will alter the local landscape and take years to build out or possibly raising taxes on current property owners.
“We have an aging infrastructure that needs to be updated and if we can’t do it through an increase in our tax digest we have to do it through the people who are already here,” Venter cautions. “People want to flush their toilet. People want to know the police will come if they need them and the fire department will be there if their house catches on fire.”
Now that the county has put the issue fully in Baldwin’s hands, Venter says the council needs to meet to discuss the pros and cons and determine the cost-benefit to the city. “We need open and honest conversation,” she says, adding, “I don’t know that we would necessarily vote down the annexation, but [the council] would be stringent in keeping to our ordinances and density.”
As for next steps, Baldwin Mayor Joe Elam says, “We will wait for the official arbitration panel’s report and then we work forward with the zoning and annexation.”
