Residents Speak out Against Rezoning; Council Unanimously Approves Request

Even though she does not live within the city limits of Dacula, Alice O'Lenick said the construction of a drive-through cafe on the Great Beginnings campus on Harbins Road will have a negative impact on her since she lives nearby and drives through the area each day.

"This is a neighborhood of just residential and agricultural areas," O'Lenick said. "There's no retail area except for Texaco anywhere close to this and then, all of a sudden, in the middle of a neighborhood, you're going to put a drive-through cafe."

Lloyd DeLatour, owner of Great Beginnings daycare on Harbins Road, applied to have part of his property rezoned from O-I (office institutional district) to C-1 (neighborhood commercial district) to allow for the construction of a drive-through cafe primarily geared toward serving breakfast to the 540 people who bring their children to Great Beginnings on their way to work and lunch for the 65 people employed by the daycare. 

O'Lenick said the cafe will be out of place in the area.

"It doesn't fit," she explained. "You drive down Harbins Road -- there are cows, there are old family farms, there are just residential homes, there are subdivisions with just normal everyday families ... there's nothing else on Harbins Road that would say it's a retail area."

Thomas Whitaker, a nearby property owner, agreed.

"I moved out there, where I am, 10 years ago to get away from retail areas," Whitaker said.

Having moved away from the city, Whitaker said he doesn't want to see food service or similar retail functions in the area.

"I just don't want it to turn into another strip mall or anything of that nature," he added. "I too want to just keep it a residential area."

Barney Daniels, who owns the property adjacent to the Great Beginnings campus, is concerned the area could some day end up looking like the Liam Avenue strip mall.

"I hate to see that travesty come to the residential side of Harbins Road," he explained. "I'm not against the growth of Dacula. I believe we should grow from the highway back instead of the opposite."

Assistant City Administrator for Development Joey Murphy said DeLatour's plans for the property are consistent with the city's land use map and advised the planning department recommended approval for the rezoning -- a recommendation the city council followed in a unanimous vote. The council also unanimously approved a change in conditions for the property to allow revisions to the concept plan and a reduction in buffers.

In other business, the council authorized Mayor Jimmy Wilbanks to sign an intergovernmental agreement to allow Gwinnett County to handle billing for the city's ad valorem taxes and sanitation fees. The county will charge the city $1,225 to collect the ad valorem taxes and $8,277.28 to collect the sanitation fees. City Administrator Jim Osborn said the ad valorem tax collection fee is approximately $400 less than last year. The sanitation collection fee, he explained, includes set up and administrative costs that should decrease in subsequent years.

During the public comment portion of the May 2 council meeting, Dacula resident Danny Spain asked that city officials make an effort to convince CSX to clear the brush on the railroad right-of-way near the intersection of Harbins Road and Winder Highway. Spain said the overgrowth is not only unsightly, but also poses a danger to motorists by blocking the view of oncoming traffic.

"That's a bad intersection to begin with and we're letting it get worse," Spain said. "It's an eyesore."

According to Mayor Wilbanks, CSX representatives have previously declined to take action saying the brush has no impact on railroad operations.

Dacula resident Jim Wall also addressed council to issue an invitation to a May 5 patriotic concert featuring the Sugar Hill LDS choir and the 60-piece Gwinnett Community Band. The free concert will be held at the Lilburn Stake Center, located at 1150 Cole Drive in Lilburn. Wall, a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, said attendees will leave the concert knowing the United States of America is "the greatest country in the world."

For more information about the concert, visit www.sugarhillldschoir.org.

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