Publix Planning Large Shopping Center On Oconee Connector

Publix Supermarkets Inc. is seeking a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to dredge and fill a tributary of Barber Creek so it can build a shopping center on roughly 45 acres at the intersection of Mars Hill Road and the Oconee Connector.

The shopping center, across from the QuikTrip convenience store and gas station, is to include a Publix Super Market and additional retailers, hotels, restaurants and service providers, according to the permit application.

The grading plan submitted with the document shows an entrance off the Oconee Connector and five entrances off Mars Hill Road. Those plans have not been submitted to the Oconee County Planning and Code Enforcement Department.

The current configuration of the Oconee Connector does not include any cuts for the property, and the initial plans for the roadway drawn up by Moreland Altobelli Associates Inc. did not show any access to the property from the Oconee Connector.

The property is owned by Deferred Tax LLC, according to county tax records. Deferred Tax LLC is an intermediary for Maxie Price LLC of Lawrenceville.

The property currently contains sign boards for Boswell Properties, though it no longer appears on the company’s web site listing of available properties.

Jamie Boswell, 10th Congressional District representative on the Georgia Transportation Board, is owner of Boswell Properties, a commercial real estate brokerage firm based in Athens.

The Corps of Engineers will accept comment on the permit request through Nov. 8.

For more details on the proposed shopping center, please go to Oconee County Observations.