After dealing with months of tension among neighbors, the Hall County Commission Thursday night approved a request for a Clermont barn to be used as an event venue.
Commissioner Shelly Echols made the motion for approval of the request from Michelle and David Gibbs, but not before offering some stern words to both opponents of the request and the applicants.
"The personal, untruthful and hateful attacks - those have to stop - it's ridiculous. We're better than this," Echols said, directing her remarks first to the opponents of the request. "Like it or not, the Gibbs are your neighbors...the emails I've received, the calls I've received - I can't imagine what they've received because I know what I've gotten. It's unbecoming."
Echols also told the Gibbs they had a responsibility to be good neighbors as they operate their business in the future.
"It's your responsibility to be a good neighbor. You have the ability to control what happens at that barn and I expect you to do that," Echols said. "I expect you to do all you can to restrict your clients and their activities to ensure that your neighbors are not burdened by your use of the barn."
In her motion, Echols added 14 conditions to the application, including one that will keep the Gibbs' accountable for the operation of the venue.
"The annual business license renewal for the agri-entertainment venue shall be subject to the Board of Commissioners' approval," Echols said. "If you're not a good neighbor, if you're terrorizing the neighborhood, if there's citations issued, we're not going to renew your business license."
Opponents of the project on Ransom Free Road presented a petition with 130 signatures of neighbors who wanted the commission to deny the special use request. They had presented the same petition earlier in the week to the Hall County Planning Commission.
The Board of Commissioners approved the request on a 3-1 vote with Commissioner Jeff Stowe casting the opposing vote. Commissioner Billy Powell was not present at Thursday night's meeting.
Sam Bagwell, the attorney for the Gibbs, said after the meeting his clients were agreeable to all of the conditions placed on the application. Bagwell had no timeline for the first paid event at the venue, noting that there were a number of permits that needed to be filed and some planting and construction that would need to take place based on the conditions put forward by the commission.
