The City of Cornelia had two orders of business to take care of that require the public’s input at their Jan. 10 meeting: a proposed expansion of Cornelia’s downtown entertainment district and an amendment to their solid waste city code.
At the meeting, they put voting on both of those items off until they can hold public hearings for them at their upcoming meeting on Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. in Cornelia City Hall.
Expanding the entertainment district
The expansion of Cornelia’s entertainment district would bring the district to the south side of Main Street, across from the train tracks that run through downtown.
This expansion would allow businesses across the tracks to participate in the city’s successful entertainment district, which allows businesses more freedom with alcohol sales and patrons the ability to walk around the entertainment district area with open containers.
The expansion would include South Main Street, Front Street, Larkin Street and Fore Acre Street in the entertainment district. The city’s downtown development authority has given their approval of the expansion, encouraging the city to move forward with it.
“I want to stand here up in front of you today and say that every board member on the Cornelia DDA fully supports this expansion of the entertainment district,” said Heath Barrett, Cornelia DDA member. He says that in the year that the city has had an entertainment district, he has been “astonished” by the amount of new business in downtown Cornelia. “At the end of the day, it shows you that it’s more than just the alcohol, it’s a lot of business and opportunities that it brings forth.”
The commission will hold a public hearing at the next commission meeting to further discuss the expansion.
Amendment to solid waste city code
The commission also discussed an ordinance that would amend the city’s solid waste code to make it illegal for residents to put their leaves and brush in city stormwater mitigation infrastructure.
“This ordinance is a result of an issue that we’re having with residents placing their leaves and brush in the city’s storm ditches, culverts and on top of catch basins,” City Manager Dee Anderson told the commission. “As a result, this creates flooding issues during rain events.”
The commission voted to post the proposed ordinance for public comment, which will be heard at the upcoming meeting.
A recording of the meeting is available here.
