The Hall County Planning Commission voted unanimously Monday night in approval of a rezoning application by the Northeast Georgia Health System for a new medical park.
The medical park will be located at 3675 Thompson Bridge Road north of Gainesville. The applicants seek to rezone the 42.97-acre area from Highway Business, Agricultural Residential and Residential to Planned Office Development. Planning commission staff recommended approval to the commission prior to Monday’s meeting.
The mixed-use office-industrial park hopes to serve the future needs of the NGHS community. Construction is planned over five lots to be completed in phases. According to the application, the location has been chosen based on future demand along the growing State Route 60 corridor.
Applicants proposed 200,000 square feet of office space, using a mix of both one and two-story structures. Entry into the property is planned on both Thompson Bridge Road and Price Road.
Included in the application is a list of potential services offered at the medical park: medical offices, outpatient surgical facilities, inpatient care and hospice unit, as well as the possibility of commercial and retail space near Price Road.
The rezoning application saw several neighboring residents speak in favor and one spoke in opposition. Those in favor were from a nearby residential area with a reportedly high number of senior citizens. They said any time new medical services are moved closer to them, it is a positive thing. In tandem with expressions of praise for the medical park, there were concerns about traffic raised by residents as well. One citizen spoke against the matter, citing the destruction of forests and greenery as a detractor from approving the rezoning.
According to previous reports, the first development in the park will be a 14,000-square-foot, $10.5 million building named Medical Plaza 1. That structure is expected to open in 2024 as the new home of the Northeast Georgia Physicians Group Thompson Bridge. The current NGPG headquarters is housed further south down Thompson Bridge Road.
With the approval recommendation from the Planning Commission, the rezoning will now go before the Board of Commissioners for a final vote on March 9.
Pending final approval, construction on the medical park could begin as early as summer 2023.
Other actions taken during the Feb. 6 Hall County Planning Commission meeting:
A 0.64-acre tract of land at 1600 Athens Highway was recommended for rezoning from Highway-Business to Light-Industrial. Applicant Gerardo Vargas seeks to conduct his countertop manufacturing business, with the ability to store certain materials outside the standing building.
A 22.04-acre tract of land at 4676 Shirley Road was recommended for a conditional use permit to build a minor 6-lot subdivision within the existing Vacation Cottage zoning. The applicant seeks to build high-end residential homes.
