The Gainesville Planning and Appeals Board on Tuesday recommended for approval a 260,000-square-foot warehouse distribution center that would be split between Gainesville and Oakwood.
The proposed 17-acre site would be located west of the Old Oakwood Road and Mountain View Road intersection.
“Approximately 210,000 square feet of the building would be located in Gainesville, and the remaining 50,000 square feet of the building would be located in Oakwood,” Community and Economic Development Deputy Director Matt Tate said. “This would require an inter-governmental agreement that defines what's required as far as permitting fees.”
A tenant has not been identified for the property yet, but CA Industrial Holdings representatives said the site could be used as a headquarters relocation or other type of office space.
“Typically, this area of Georgia isn't a big heavy truck and trailer location,” representative Steve Rowley said. “This is going to be more of a place where people want to come work. There’ll be a lot of green space. The office area, which now will be kind of in the back of the building, will have lots of glass. I think we'll be able to attract high-paying jobs and lots of types of employees.”
When developers initially proposed this warehouse distribution center in 2021, they planned to put employee parking at the front end of the building and truck parking near the rear. However, this parking plan will be flipped to prevent trucks backing up on residential neighborhoods.
Three people voiced some concerns about the project, but they were not entirely opposed to it.
Nearby resident Lauren Garcia was worried about traffic impacting the Mountain View Road entrance, but said she was glad that developers will flip the parking entrances. However, she was still concerned about pedestrian safety on Mountain View Road.
Developers claimed they would improve safety by adding a new sidewalk that would extend to an adjacent Dollar General store.
Two other nearby residents Maclesha Bourne and Winnifred Thorpe spoke at the podium together and had a wide variety of safety questions. They inquired about the use of hazardous chemical materials and water runoff.
Rowley said most chemicals would be limited to cleaning supplies and they would be locked in a two-by-two storage cabinet.
As for stormwater runoff, the rate of water will remain the same.
The proposal passed unanimously and will go before the Gainesville City Council on Sept. 6 for a final vote.
