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Photo credit: Avi Waxman
On Wednesday, Jan. 11, the Hartwell City Council voted unanimously to approve the annexation of 274 acres between Fairview and Liberty Hill Roads owned by developers Kenny Whitworth and Brandt Bentley, who are expected to proceed with the development of a subdivision on the land.
City council accepted terms and conditions proposed by the Hart County Board of Commissioners a day earlier.
“A lot of work has been done on this, and at the end of the day, this is about as best we think we could get,” Hartwell mayor Brandon Johnson said. “The final draft was delivered and the county addressed the final revisions that [Hartwell city lawyer] Rob Levette and [county lawyer] Kim Higginbotham have worked on – that has passed.”
Among the revisions that the city council agreed to were traffic studies on Parkdale and Liberty Hill Road and a portion of the subdivision be limited to half-acre properties.
City council also had conditions that it wanted adhered to before it approved the project.
“There are areas in the subdivisions that will be for residents 55 and older and some other mixed age homes that will be developed first,” Johnson said. “Other conditions include developers cannot move to phase two or three until a phase requirement is met.
“The city and the county are requiring infrastructure to be put in throughout. There’s going to be sidewalks, and this is going to be, if developed out properly, it could take 10 years.”
Additionally there is a “650-door limit” on the proposed subdivision and a mandatory 100-foot buffer between the development and neighboring Hart County Botanical Garden.
City council will also require additional roads to be built as well as “additional improvements to existing roadways including sidewalks, curbs, and gutters” by the project’s developers; some of which will be connected to the county recreational center and Hart County High School. The subdivision will maintain a homeowners association (HOA), which will require all residents who live in the subdivision to abide by the rules installed by HOA board members.
The subdivision will adhere to the city’s ordinance for housing, which requires builders to construct homes with “exterior finishes of hardy plank or brick” and be of “such size, design, and materials so that the market price for such [homes] is affordable for persons of median household income for this area.”
Johnson indicated that phase one of the project will only pertain to infrastructure: roads, curbs and gutters, sidewalks, walking paths, greenway trails, and any utility service line dedicated to the city or any other public entity.
“There’s going to be a lot of greenway space for people, and it’s going to be walkable, and it’s also going to connect with the recreation department. We think it’s going to be a really neat project from that perspective,” Johnson said. “This could be, if done correctly, a one of a kind development for the city of Hartwell.”
According to Johnson, regardless of ownership, all conditions of the subdivision are permanently binding and are nonnegotiable.
In other business:
•Council approved Kobe Express’s beer/wine license to serve sake.
•Council approved CVS’s beer/wine renewal.
•Council approved Murphy gas station’s beer/wine renewal.
•Council approved Aura 07, Inc.’s beer/wine renewal.
•Council approved the Spring Makers Festival.