Health & Wellness Special section ►►PAGE 20
'Hooch coach steps down Owens resigns from football team ►►PAGE 12
College signings
Figueroa bows out
Recruits from local schools ►►PAGE 14
Councilman says goodbye ►►PAGE 8
February 13, 2014 | northfulton.com | 73,500 circulation Revue & News, Johns Creek Herald, Milton Herald & Forsyth Herald combined | 50¢ | Volume 18, No. 7
Residents oppose Old Alabama Road mixed-use Say traffic at Medlock can’t stand any more By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – Nearly 200 Johns Creek residents came out Feb. 2 to object to a 20-acre proposed mixed-use project at the southwest corner of Old Alabama Road and Medlock Bridge Road that would add retail/office development along with apartments and condominiums. The meeting was organized by the Johns Creek Community Association for its member neighborhoods to get a preview of the project and to talk face to face with the developer. The property is part of a 70-acre parcel owned by the Atlanta Athletic Club and is directly across the street from AAC’s main gate on Medlock Bridge Road. The rezoning request proposes 42,200 square feet of office and retail along with transitional housing consisting of 263 rental apartments including units above groundfloor retail and 24 condomini-
Rogers Bridge-Bell Road project: More residents oppose rezoning of Rogers BridgeBell roads residential plan. PAGE 4. ums or townhouses. It is early days yet for the property owned by the Atlanta Athletic Club and will be developed by Brand Properties LLC owned by R. Brand Morgan. Morgan told the residents at the JCCA meeting at Perimeter Church (just across the street from the proposed project) that he is not a buildand-flip developer. His company holds onto the projects it builds, a because of that, residents can be assured it will be successful and of high quality. “The Atlanta Athletic Club picked us for that reason. We build the best product,” he told residents. Morgan said he recognized
HATCHER HURD/STAFF
Concerned Johns Creek residents turned out for two rezoning projects that will affect the northeast area of the city. the problems of building in an area already congested such as Medlock and Old Alabama. That was one reason the idea of “boutique grocery store” was
tossed out. It would generate too much traffic, he said. The Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) calls for lowdensity commercial use at
the intersection, transitioning down in intensity of use from commercial to multi-family
See ZONING, Page 4
Johns Creek’s desire for shared rec services meets with nods Sister rec directors enthusiastic to explore ideas By HATCHER HURD hatcher@northfulton.com JOHNS CREEK, Ga. – With the blessings of the new City Council, Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker is pursuing more bilateral or multilateral partnerships with other North Fulton cities for mutual benefit, and the top of his list is recreation and parks. Now that Bodker is off the City Council’s leash, he is ea-
BODKER
CREGGE
ger to explore ideas of sharing projects and services among other North Fulton cities and he is starting with recreation.
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A straw poll of other North Fulton city officials shows there is not only interest, but enthusiasm for the idea. GLOVER “I am anxious to pursue a policy of parks without borders,” Bodker said. “The idea is to create a framework for
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how we go forward to conduct recreation discussions. That would be for the mayor to meet with [other entities] and then bring back those discussions to the council.” The council would then discuss, consider and tweak it until the council had a policy it could support. Then, council would take it back to the other party and hammer out a final agreement. “We would then give it staff to implement – which is just the reverse process we have been operating under before.
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The idea is to let the mayor be the mayor,” Bodker said. Roswell Recreation and Parks Director Joe Glover has one of the top four recreation departments in the country based on its third top-four finish for the Gold Medal award given by the National Parks and Recreation Association. He oversees a lot of parkland and has the budget to share. Is Roswell interested in sharing services? Glover says that is all over his radar
See SERVICES, Page 7
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