Etowah Bluffs: EMS & Public Works Officials – Ignored & Silenced! (Part 3)

This Newspaper put in an Open Records Request for information related to the Etowah Bluffs / Fox Creek Development.  CJC received almost 500 pages in response.  CJC then reviewed and compared it to March Planning Commission, and April BOC Agenda Packets.  CJC concluded that County Residents were NOT being provided full disclosure; one County Official appeared to be engaged in silencing opposition data; one Commissioner seemed to sandbag information supposed to go to other Commissioners; and one key piece of data from EMS appears to have been ignored by our Planning Committee as they rubber stamped this forward.

The April 21 Planning Agenda Packet had one very prominent piece of information…. a 2 page letter by Fire Chief Danny Thompson & Fire Marshall Jeff Bailey.  Read the letter for yourself, and ask yourself, HOW could this sort of official feedback be ignored?  Here are some quotes below:

“It would not be unrealistic to expect an increase in the County’s permanent population of nearly twenty percent based on the number of residential occupancies proposed. The daily transient population will increase this to over thirty percent. … These projections are in addition to all the other residential and commercial building projects already permitted, underway, pending, and yet forthcoming.  Dawson County is experiencing previously unwitnessed growth… 

Emergency Services already finds itself without enough ambulances available in the County for EMS transport…. The same holds true for fire suppression and rescue operations as well …

The frequency of multiple calls being simultaneously dispatched is already increasing”

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Next up we have the Public Works Department.  Early in the review process, former Public Works Director Denise Farr raised very strong questions regarding the limited access and traffic issues that could be created by the Development’s “Concept Plan”.  In a March 10, 2022 email, just days prior to the Planning Commission Meeting, our new Planning Director, Sharon Farrell, seemingly tried to bully Ms Farr into changing her assessment.  Below is a snippet from Denise Farr’s written review of the project, and then Sharon Farrell’s comment (Reference Emails Here).

Denise Farr Email
At first glance, there are several items that I would question:
First, I don’t think the developer has enough road frontage for all of his requested points of access, nor do I think some of those points are spaced far enough apart (off Lumpkin Campground). There seems to be a 4-point access (at the POD A notation), and another access approximately 500 feet toward SR 400. Considering the volume of traffic at this light, I would expect only a two-point access to be permitted (a right-in and right–out).
Secondly, I would be curious to know what GDOT has said about the request for access points off of SR 400. I don’t know if all (or if any) will be approved. A denial to these entrances would cause a major issue with the design.
Thirdly, I don’t think there are enough “residential access points” as shown in the present design. Considering the potential volume of residential occupancy to that of commercial.
<insert note: the original 2019 plan was to use the access at hwy 53 in front of Byrd’s Mini Storage.  That WILL be the solution to residential access they come to the conclusion of AFTER they get the rezoning.  But they are avoiding mentioning Hwy 53 access like the plague, because that is what helped kill this every other time, because it would cause a traffic bottleneck hell for all of western Dawson County (including Big Canoe & City of Dawsonville) when accessing Hwy 400 Commercial District.  So this time they are simply lying about the fact that it is most likely going to be at play>
Lastly, I don‘t think there is enough distance between access points to meet the Fire Department’s requirements. The developer may want to consider another access point off of Grant Road. In summary, it looks as though the design is extremely limited in access. Perhaps the developer would‘consider acquiring additional properties so as to improve this ratio. <again, they will have to use Hwy 53 as an access point, and that is the main artery that is already burdened with traffic, so that is a problem they can’t allow focus on.  Shhhh! >

So, Sharon Farrell steps in right before the Planning Meeting with this:
Denise, this is a pretty high profile hearing so please review this report and let us know if you want to edit your comments.

There is one more issue I think Dawson County residents need to know about our new Planning Director, Ms Sharon Farrell.  She was fired from one of her previous positions as Lake County Florida’s Growth Management Director.  In that situation, her staff issued a report against a Development, stating in part:

“The proposed [development] is inconsistent with the Comprehensive [growth] Plan and places undue adverse impact on public facilities,”
Sound familiar?

The Developer sued.  Director Farrell took the stand and basically threw her own staff under the bus, and took the side of the Developer.  The County fired her soon thereafter.  Reference Story 1: Betrayal / Reference Story 2: Fired.  It should be noted that Ms Farrell seems to be rather cozy with the Etowah Bluffs Developers as well.  Reference Emails 1 / Reference Email 2

It might be time for Dawson County to consider whether Ms. Farrell is a good fit here as well, because her focus seems to be more on getting the Developer Agenda rubber stamped, than it does on making sure that the best interests of the County are served.  Many people don’t know this, but she was the Planning Manager in Forsyth County for the past 16 years.  We see how that worked out.

Lastly, Sharon Farrell emailed Commissioner Chris Gaines the “Impact Fee” report 10 days prior to the April 21 Board of Commissioners Meeting.  Commissioner Gaines seemingly sandbagged the other Commissioners, holding onto the report for 10 days, and not forwarding it on to the others, until 16 minutes before the BOC Meeting.

It almost doesn’t seem like an unbiased process…. a small group of our Insider Officials, seemingly favoring the developers, instead of the people of Dawson County.  It is also interesting that the Public Works Director, Denise Farr, suddenly no longer has her position.  This reporter does not know the reason, but I think it needs to be discovered, especially since not so long ago she was getting rave reviews.

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Next Series (Part 4) will detail the legal violations involved in this Rezoning Application, that have left the Developer wide open to a lawsuit.

Sometimes your best defense….. is a good offense.