GAINESVILLE — A home for special needs adults gets the go-ahead from the Hall County Commission.
After listening to more than an hour of discussion from area residents - both supporters and opponents of the project - commissioners voted 4-1 Thursday night to approve rezoning on a 21-acre tract of land on McEver Road at Radford Road in the Flowery Branch area. Commissioner Kathy Cooper, who represents the south Hall area, was the lone dissenting vote.
The Just People community had generated controversy ever since the Hall County Planning Commission okayed the project on September 8. Residents on both sides of the project headed up support efforts in the last week, hoping to sway the county commission vote in their favor.
Because of the large crowd at Thursday's meeting, the commission opted to extend the public comment period from 20 minutes to 30 minutes for each side. Commission Chairman Dick Mecum, noting the emotional impact of the proposal, cautioned the audience and the speakers to remain civil.
Becky Dowling with Beckel, Inc., the company behind the development, told commissioners that she understood the community misgivings over the facility, which will house adults who live with Down's Syndrome, Asperger's Syndrome and other developmental disabilities, but she assured commissioners "Just People" will be a good neighbor in the Flowery Branch community.
"I'm not surprised or unfamiliar with the fear of change or people who are different moving into your community...so the outpour of discrimination and objection to this project is not new to me or any of my people I serve," said Dowling.
Opponents objected to being labeled as discriminatory, citing the problems they had with the placement of the facility and not the people who might be living there.
Bill Leiprandt of Flowery Branch addressed the commission, saying he was disappointed that the developers - and county government - had failed to notify area residents about the project in a timely manner.
"My concern tonight, as several others have spoken, is the location. Is this the right location for this support and this service?," asked Leiprandt.
He said he wanted to see more details on the development, and he asked commissioners to delay their vote.
Ultimately, the Commission approved the project with some conditions, including installation of proper fencing and 50-foot separations between each building.
Gainesville resident Ginger Reedy, the mother of a 20-year-old with learning disabilities, did not get the chance to address commissioners, but she brought a letter to the meeting from her son John and gave it to commissioners following the vote.
" He wrote a letter to the Commission saying 'I don't want to leave home to find a place to live,'" said Reedy. "I thought that it [rezoning] might not pass, but I did feel like if it didn't pass, they would find something else in Hall County, but I do like this location because it's in a neighborhood."
"Just People" also operates facilities in Roswell and Lilburn.
There's no word on when the Flowery Branch facility will be up and running.
