A large piece of prime real estate off GA 365 has been identified as the potential future location of Habersham County’s next business park, if an authorized transaction of state-owned property is carried out by lawmakers.
The 200-acre parcel, currently owned by the Georgia Department of Corrections (GDC), is part of what was once known as Lee Arrendale State Prison’s equine impound area, where inmates once rehabilitated injured horses in partnership with the state’s Department of Agriculture.
House Resolution 97, if approved at the state level and signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp, could allow Habersham County’s Commission to move to purchase that property at 377 Mt. Zion Road and GA 365 in the near future. Action, or at least discussion, likely would first be required by commissioners and the Habersham County Development Authority.
Lee Arrendale’s closure potentially lends land for new business park
The potential property sale to Habersham comes after the GDC recommended closure of Lee Arrendale State Prison in Alto in 2023, though state officials still haven’t provided a timeline for the future transfer of prisoners or when the facility could shut down.
“The GDC will not be transferring the entire population from Lee Arrendale (State Prison) at one time,” Joan Heath, director of communications for GDC said in an email Wednesday, April 2. “Rather, we have been in the process of transferring offenders on an intermittent basis for the past few months. We do not have a definitive date for the final closure of the facility.”
In total, the prison property is 965 acres, with around 276 in Habersham and about 689 in Banks County.
While nothing has officially been decided as of Wednesday, April 2, Georgia Rep. Victor Anderson (R-Cornelia) said future development of a business park on that land remains a “possibility.”
State process
If the proposal were checked off by the legislature and the governor, Anderson said talks would likely proceed in that direction.
“All we’ve done is requested the State Properties Commission to include that in this year’s property conveyance bill – to make it available – if Habersham County and/or the (Habersham County) Development Authority, GDC and the State Properties Commission are able to work out any type of arrangement,” Anderson said. “There’s nothing definitive. There’s nothing that is actually going to happen, based on anything down here – except that it’s the first step that would allow those discussions to begin. It would remain a possibility, yes.”
Anderson said portions of available properties along GA 365 also could be released to Habersham County at no-cost for a new fire station through a public safety grant, providing much-needed emergency services on a dangerous corridor.
“Some of that is being looked at as a south section of the county fire station or a potential EMS center there,” he said. “The county has some other options there. I do know part of that discussion would involve, potentially, the development authority and looking at a potential site for their marketing.”
The role of Habersham’s Commission
If it’s approved at the state level, whether an official vote would have to be taken by the Habersham County Commission is still unclear.
“As of right now, there is no documentation or notice of this item being approved by the legislature and governor being presented to either the Board of Commissioners or the Development Authority regarding any properties,” Habersham County spokesperson Ashlyn Brady said via email on behalf of County Attorney Donnie Hunt. “Neither entity has reviewed the legislation nor has entered into any discussion regarding the bill. Right now, it is premature to determine what our officials will do if presented with an announcement from the state.”
The statement went on to say: “As with any potential purchase of land by the (board of commissioners) or development authority, the issue would fall under executive session status until a consensus is reached and then would be voted on in public during regular session upon exiting an executive session of either entity.”
Habersham County Commission Vice Chairman Bruce Harkness said he recognizes pros and cons of such a potential decision. Still, he ultimately believes a business or industrial park on GA 365 could lead to “runaway growth.”
“While we need good jobs, once you open up that floodgate of putting in an industrial park in the south end of the county, then I assure you that Pandora’s box will be opened (for industrial growth),” Harkness said. “I was elected by the vast majority of people that warned me to control growth and help maintain our way of life, our culture and our wonderful little slice of heaven here … I know it’s a fine line if we do need good paying jobs, but yet, at the same time, the more industry you bring in, the more it takes away from our small rural county. As long as I’m in office representing the people, I will always fight to maintain our way of life here and fight against uncontrolled runaway growth.”
As of now, Commissioner Ty Akins said he tended to favor a business park in that location, stating a new park could centralize industry to one specific place, instead of scattered throughout the county, and noting new commercial and industrial business could generate revenue and remove existing tax burdens off homeowners.
“That (GA) 365, 441 corridor is where the feedback we’ve gotten from the community, over the years, says: ‘This is going to be an area of growth’…it’s in the right spot – at the south end of the county, right on the corridor and close to Hall County. If we’re going to take any measures of reducing the tax burden on homeowners, this is where that needs to go.”
Who has dibs on water/sewer
Questions remain on which government entity would supply water/sewer services to a potential business park on GA 365.
Currently, Demorest sells water to the prison while Baldwin provides sewer services.
“I would say it stays the same because of the service delivery agreements, so that’s what my belief on the outside looking in would be,” Demorest City Manager Mark Musslewhite said.
Baldwin’s Chief Administrative Officer Emily Woodmaster agreed with Musslewhite’s assessment, stating current service delivery agreements are in place.
The inland port
County officials have long deemed the GA 365 corridor an ideal location for a new business park for its proximity to the Northeast Georgia Inland Port – also known as the Blue Ridge Connector.
A $170 million regional cargo terminal planned at Gateway Industrial Centre off GA 365 and White Sulphur Road, the inland port is expected to bring a trove of industrial/commercial developments, population growth and housing to Habersham in the coming years.
By 2026, the 104-acre inland port, operating within 15 miles of Habersham County’s border, will become a center for semi-trucks to load and unload cargo on and off a 3,000-foot train – which will run to and from Savannah’s harbor via a 324-mile freight service rail line.
Now Habersham reporter Jerry Neace contributed to this article
