Will Gwinnett Stadium Development Become ‘Apartment City’?

The developers behind the “live, work, play” community proposed for the area around the Gwinnett Braves’ Coolray Field have asked Gwinnett County for permission to build less commercial space and add apartments instead, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

According to the AJC, the initial concept plan was used in part to justify the $64 million stadium expense and the proposed changes have angered some.

“It was going to be a mixed-use, live-work-play compliment to the stadium,” Paula Hastings, a former planning commissioner, told the AJC. “This is basically becoming `apartment city.’ That’s just not the standard they proposed to the community.”

The Gwinnett Daily Post reports, “Mitch Peevy, who represents one of the property owners, said his client was left with a hardship when developer Brand Morgan did not renew a contract to buy his property.”

That hardship prompted the request to reduce the amount of commercial development and increase the residential usage.

Peevy also represents the investment group that recently approached the that would facilitate the development of a “live, work, play” community on a 157-acre tract near the intersection of Highway 316 and Highway 29.

The . The ordinance requires that 25 percent of any development be set aside for open space. Of the remaining property, a maximum of 40 percent could be developed as residential.

Walton Investing, the group represented by Peevy,  to the council that featured a convention center, town green, hotels, offices and apartments. The property is currently outside the city limits, but the investment group believes annexing the property into Dacula would be advantageous due to the city’s ability to deal with zoning issues more quickly than Gwinnett County. Currently, since the property is not within the city limits, no formal plan has been submitted or approved by council.

Do you think the county should allow changes to the Coolray Field development plan? Does the current controversy surrounding the Gwinnett Braves development change your opinion of the concept plan proposed for Dacula? Tell us in the comments.