The Braselton Planning Commission recommended approval on Monday of a request to annex and rezone a former church sanctuary to make way for a commercial development.
Braselton Acquisitions and Development, LLC, asked that a total of 3.39 acres at the intersection for Ga. Hwy. 124 and Ga. Hwy. 211 be annexed into the town from Barrow County and zoned for general commercial in Braselton.
Sharon Baptist Church was once located on the property, but moved its services to Auburn last year. The site — located at 983 Ga. Hwy. Hwy. 124 — has been listed on the real estate market for a potential commercial project.
The intersection by the former sanctuary is the center of a major transportation project to revamp the crossing of Ga. Hwy. 211 and Ga. Hwy. 124, and a nearby intersection of Interstate 85.
Of the three tracts slated for annexation and rezoning, Sharon Baptist Church owns a cemetery and an undeveloped one-acre lot behind it. Braselton Acquisitions and Development owns a 1.4-acre tract that includes the sanctuary.
Jody Campbell, an attorney representing the company, told the Braselton Planning Commission on Monday that the cemetery will remain untouched. Plans also haven’t been developed for the empty lot behind the cemetery.
Braselton Acquisitions Development wants its tract with the former sanctuary rezoned from C-3 in Barrow County to general commercial in Braselton, if the town council annexes the property.
Campbell explained that there is virtually no difference in uses of those two zoning classifications between the county and the town. However, the development would have to follow Braselton’s Ga. Hwy. 211 overlay district regulations — which requires extra zoning measures for those properties in the specified district.
Campbell didn’t offer any details on development plans for the former church site, but the company’s application shows a proposed 6,733-square-foot retail building.
The Braselton Town Council will hold a public hearing on the planning commission’s recommendation on Thursday, July 5, at 4 p.m. A vote is expected on Monday, July 9, at 7 p.m.
Also on Monday, the planning commission recommended approval of a request for a conditional use permit to open a private Christian school and church on Lewis Braselton Blvd. in Jackson County.
The Westbrook Centre, Inc., plans to open a private kindergarten through eighth grade school and place of worship on the property, which was once home to Zion Baptist Church. It later became the Braselton Academy, which closed in early 2011.
The Rev. John Head Jr., senior pastor of the church and headmaster of the school, said Westbrook Academy will educate children in the academics and the arts.
Head provided few details at the meeting about the plans for the property, but an application for the project says Westbrook Academy is expected to open in August. Its website says that in addition to the Christian school, plans call for Braselton Prep at the facility to offer an early education center for children ages six weeks to 5 years old.
The church, school and daycare will be located in existing buildings on the property. The 2.52-acre property is owned by Steve and Patricia Payne, and is zoned general commercial.
Planning commission member Chris Meadows asked Head about his knowledge of Heritage Academy, another private Christian school in Braselton. Heritage Academy shares a space in the building of the former Zion Baptist Church (now called Northeast Church) on Cherry Drive, off Ga. Hwy. 53.
Head said while he hasn’t met the staff at Heritage Academy, he “looks forward to working with them and no doubt we’ll develop a good relationship with that school.”
The Westbrook Centre has been operating its Westbrook Academy Prep School in the former downtown building of Winder First Baptist Church. It was previously located on Dee Kennedy Road in Auburn and before that in Gwinnett County. The church was founded almost 100 years ago on the spot of the former Atlanta Fulton County Stadium.
—Kerri Testement
