Busy August for the Sugar Hill Planning Commission
Commission to consider three cases on August 19.
The Sugar Hill Planning Commission will hear three cases at its regular monthly meeting on Monday, August 19 at 7 PM in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The City placed signs at the subject properties late last week.
This is only the third Sugar Hill Planning Commission this year, and the first after the departure of longtime Planning Director Kaipo Awana, who left at the end of July to take a position as City Administrator for the City of Grayson.
One of the cases concerns the annexation and rezoning of 28.8 acres behind the Publix Shopping Center for a complex consisting of a “brewpub, event center, worship center, and residences.”
The other two cases concern the rezoning of properties on Whitehead Road for a “future single-family development” that the City seems to be considering for another “affordable housing” initiative in addition to the one it is planning at Roosevelt Circle.
The City of Sugar Hill Interactive Development Map, which the city widely touted at its inception in 2020, includes applicant names, but largely just repeats the same information shown on the roadside signs. The Whitehead Road cases did not appear on the Map at all until August 7 or 8.
Real Deal Sugar Hill has submitted an Open Records Request to obtain additional information about these cases
The Cases
AX 24-002
This case is for the annexation and rezoning of seven (7) parcels totaling 28.8 acres on Suwanee Dam and Riverside Roads behind the Publix shopping center.
The parcels are currently in unincorporated Gwinnett County and are privately owned by members of the Buice family, Georgia Transmission Company (a non-profit cooperative that owns transmission lines and substations that deliver electricity to Georgia’s EMCs), and Sanza Real Estate Holdings, LLC.
According to the City of Sugar Hill Interactive Development Map, the applicant is “Hillside Holding, LLC.” There’s no way to determine all the members of this LLC, and currently, the City of Sugar Hill does not require applicants to disclose that information.
The applicant wants to rezone the property from RS-200 and RS-100 to BG (General Business), AF (Agricultural-Forest), and RS-100 (Medium-Density Single-Family Residential with a minimum lot size of ten thousand (10,000) square feet) for a “brewpub, event center, worship center, and residences.”
RZ 24-003
This case concerns the rezoning of two parcels at 1098 and 1112 Whitehead Road from RS-150 (Low-Density Single-Family Residential with a minimum lot size of fifteen thousand (15,000) square feet) to RS-100 CBD.
The City of Sugar Hill's Zoning Ordinance does not explicitly define RS-100 CBD. However, it does define the CBD as an overlay district whose requirements supersede the usual specifications of a zone. It also states that single-family residential in the CBD is limited to “townhome, row house, or zero lot-line building type,” which is not anything like typical RS-100 single-family residential.
The roadside sign only says the purpose of the rezoning is “future single-family development.”
In February, shortly after the City demolished the structures on the property, I emailed City Manager Paul Radford to ask what the City planned to do with it. I asked him whether the City was planning “affordable housing” there, what type of housing was planned, and whether a specific developer was involved.
His response was vague, but he did not deny the “affordable housing,” and seemed a bit defensive about the idea. He said that no plans had been approved by the Mayor and Council, which was already obvious because that would have been an agenda item at a public meeting. However, the lack of a public vote does not mean plans haven’t been discussed, and it doesn’t even really mean that plans haven’t been made. It just means they haven’t been made public.
For instance, Radford mentions in his email that the City purchased this land in “late 2021/early 2022.” Maybe that’s when the discussion started or when the handshakes took place. Or, maybe Radford was just wrong. But, it was an odd thing to say since the City didn’t actually vote on this purchase publicly until December 2022, as reflected in the City’s meeting minutes.
With the City considering rezoning four parcels on Whitehead Road in August, it seems that they definitely have a plan for the property now.
Speaking of property purchases, the purchase of this property is an interesting story in itself.
In December 2022, the City of Sugar Hill agreed to pay a total of $350,000 for the parcels, which are 1.15 acres combined. The Gwinnett County Tax Assessor’s Office appraised the properties at $206,500 in 2022, and valued them at $294,600 this year prior to the City’s demolition of the homes on the property. The value of the land without the structures would currently be $120,000. So, monetarily, it’s never been worth as much as the City paid for it.
This was not the first time the City paid more than market value for property in its “Downtown,” and the City has already offered up an excuse as to why they believe it is okay.
The City actually purchased other parcels in December 2022, in addition to these on Whitehead Road. At that time, Council Member Taylor Anderson asked City Manager Paul Radford about how the City had done on these land purchases. Radford replied that the City had made a return on the investment, some higher than others. The clear implication is that the City made a return on EVERY investment. Interesting, given that they start out in the hole.
However, a legitimate question would have referred to specific properties, and a legitimate answer would have provided some proof. If this “impromptu” Q&A session was as staged as it seemed to be, Radford had time to collect some proof. If it wasn’t staged, his response could have indicated that he would provide proof at the next meeting.
As it stands, the public received only a vague question and a weak assertion that everything was not only okay, but very good.
And the City expects everyone to accept that without question.
RZ 24-004
This case concerns the rezoning of two parcels totaling 4.61 acres at 1036 and 1040 Whitehead Road from RS-150 (Low-Density Single-Family Residential with a minimum lot size of fifteen thousand (15,000) square feet), RS-100 (Medium-Density Single-Family Residential with a minimum lot size of ten thousand (10,000) square feet) and AF(Agricultural-Forest) to RS-100 CBD (Central Business District), just as with the other rezoning case on Whitehead Road (RZ 24-003).
The current owner is Whitehead Road Investments, LLC of 675 Seminole Avenue NE, Suite 301 in Atlanta, GA, which is also the address of the real estate law firm Ayoub, Mansour & Bryant, LLC.
There’s no way to determine all the members of this LLC, and currently, the City of Sugar Hill does not require applicants to disclose that information.
Whitehead Road Investments, LLC (care of Ayoub, Mansour & Bryant) also owns a large adjacent parcel, which is not part of this rezoning case. The City of Sugar Hill has been steadily acquiring parcels on that block, and it already owns a lot of the property in the area.
Gwinnett appraised all of these parcels owned by Whitehead Road Investments, LLC, at $733,300. The City of Sugar Hill has not officially indicated if it intends to purchase the property, but it appears to be a likely eventuality.
