Gwinnett Buzz

The first phase of the Sugarloaf Parkway extension will open tomorrow with a 3 p.m. ribbon cutting.  Living near this area, I have watched the construction progress over the last couple of years and I am exciting to try out the new road!  I cannot imagine it will do anything but help traffic in the GA Highway 20/Sugarloaf Parkway area.  For all the missteps our county commissioners make, they do seem to have it together when it comes to managing our highway infrastructure.

The United Peachtree Corners Civic Association would like to make Peachtree Corners a city. The association is asking the Gwinnett delegation to the Georgia General Assembly to support legislation that would enable the residents of Peachtree Corners to vote on incorporation. This all begs the question: Why? Does Gwinnett County need yet another small city? Do the residents of Peachtree Corners need another layer of government to create additional cost and complexity for them and for those trying to do business and serve the residents of the city? I say resoundingly, no!

State Rep. Tom Rice said that the association wants to be a “city light” and have three main services: “planning and zoning; code enforcement; and trash service.” I must admit, after the Gwinnett County’s socialized garbage debacle, I can understand the desire to have greater control over trash service. However, the last thing Gwinnett needs is an addition to the patchwork of zoning jurisdictions and code enforcement authorities. This adds complexity and, in turn, cost for businesses that have to deal with yet another jurisdiction as they try to serve local customers. Given the reputation of many small-town zoning boards, this additional layer can result in desirable businesses being prevented from opening shop in these communities. If businesses cannot serve a community, residents suffer by not having sufficient local amenities.  Also, as happened in Milton, GA, potential revenue shortfalls are even possible if enough commercial taxpayers are denied access to the area.

Hopefully, the Gwinnett delegation will not give into another unneeded small city in metro Atlanta. It seems to me that these newly created small cities are primarily good for setting up a police department to generate revenue by running speed traps on the roads and highways in their city. Gwinnett already has Duluth and Lawrenceville engaging in excessive traffic enforcement. County residents and visitors who travel in the Peachtree Corners area do not need to deal with another.  Say no to Peachtree Corners, GA.

The Gabe Lyons event at GACS has been moved to February 11, 2010.  All other information remains the same.

About a month ago, I posted an article about the poor customer service of the City of Lawrenceville in handling payments for its monopoly natural gas service.  I sent the following message along with a link to the article to Mayor Rex Millsaps, City Council members Marie Beiser, Bob Clark, Mike Crow, and P.K. Martin as well as then-incoming council member Katie Hart Smith.

Mayor Millsaps and members of the City Council,

I am writing to you to complain about the poor customer service in paying gas bills to the City of Lawrenceville.  While I do not live in Lawrenceville and am not a voter, I would hope you would still reconsider your business practices and make your bill payment system more customer friendly.  I have posted my serviceexperience with the City to my website, The Gwinnett Buzz.

…the City of Lawrenceville has a monopoly. I have no recourse whatsoever. I cannot vote with my feet and move to another gas provider. Not being a Lawrenceville resident, I do not have the ability to express my displeasure at the ballot box. While I am sending a copy of this article to Lawrenceville Mayor Rex Millsaps and the members of the Lawrenceville City Council, what incentive do they have to serve a non-voter who will continue to be a customer regardless of what they do?

According to Jim Galloway in his “Political Insider” column at AJC.com, Gwinnett could soon become the center of the mail sorting universe for metro Atlanta.  A consolidation of Atlanta area mail operations would save the U.S. Postal Service $5.6 million.  However, there would apparently be no job benefit to Gwinnett County as such a move would result in a net decrease of 38 positions. The interesting tidbit from the column: mail volume is down 29% from 1998 to 2008.  I know I almost never mail anything anymore.  I pay just about all bills online…well except for my Lawrenceville gas bill!

Greater Atlanta Christian School will host two upcoming events that will be open to the public.

On Thursday, January 28 at 9A, author Gabe Lyons will speak about his book UnChristian.

On Sunday, January 31 at 3P, the school will host an Open House for prospective families.

Both events will take place at the GACS campus at 1575 Indian Trail Rd. in Norcross.  For questions or more information, please visit the GACS website or call 770-243-2000.

It’s 2010 and that means I am hoping to get things back on track at the Gwinnett Buzz!  This year promises to have quite a bit happening in Gwinnett County, not the least of which is an election in which two Gwinnett County Commission seats are up for grabs.  Fittingly, my first post of the new year is an update on who is going to be running!

For the District 2 commission seat being vacated by Bert Nasuti, Gwinnett planning commissioner Lynette Howard has entered the race.  Howard is the former president of the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association.  She will run as a Republican and will face Jose Perez in the primary.

Howard will host a meet-and-greet from 2-4 PM on January 23 at the Norcross Depot.  Her campaign website can be found at www.electlynette.com.

Last week, the AJC published an article about the possible privatization of Gwinnett County Briscoe Field in Lawrenceville.  The proposal by Propeller Investments would include expanding the airport’s runway and beginning commercial airline service from ten gates in a new terminal.

On the surface, I love the idea.  I was encouraged by some of the initial indications of support from local leaders.  (I was pleasantly surprised to see Gwinnett Commissioner Mike Beaudreau speak favorably of the possibility!)  I favor getting government out of the airport business, especially if the proposal appears to be able to generate much needed revenue for the county government while allowing a private owner the opportunity to generate a profit while providing a very valuable service and economic boost to Gwinnett County.  However, the likely opposition of nearby residents, a response that most assuredly is in the offing, cannot be simply dismissed.

If you have read the Buzz for any period of time, you know I am a strong advocate for private property rights while being a fan of high quality development.  Thus, you might assume that I would be squarely on the side of Propeller Investments.  However, as college football commentator Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast, my friend!” As I have discussed extensively on the Buzz, I view property rights issues between neighboring landowners as boiling down to material impact.  In other words, does one owner’s use of his or her property pose a material negative impact to a neighboring landowner’s ability to use and enjoy his or her property.  It is really a simple perspective.  You can use your property as you see fit so long as it does not keep me from reasonably using and enjoying my property.  As to how we define “material” and “reasonably”, well, I will leave that up to the lawyers.  What you do not have to be a lawyer to see is that the commencement of commercial airline service from a previously general aviation only facility could very well pose a negative material impact to nearby residents.

Commercial aviation is going to generate noise.  That cannot be avoided.  Noise abatement procedures can be put in place to mitigate the impact of the noise, but there will be noise.  If a Boeing 737 is taking off over your house, you’re going to hear it.  What must be determined in the consideration of this proposal is how much more noise will be generated than that from the private jets that currently use Briscoe Field?  What total amount of time will neighboring property owners experience elevated noise levels?  What hours of the day will such elevated noise levels occur?  These and other questions will have to be carefully considered to determine if neighbors’ inevitable arguments about noise levels will have merit.  If they do, these concerns cannot be dismissed as mere NIMBYism.  Other potentially legitimate factors would include traffic, pollution levels and continued access to the airport by operators of general aviation aircraft.

This promises to be an interesting situation to watch.  I definitely like the idea of easier access to commercial flights for Gwinnett residents.  I am excited at the possibility for commercial development in the airport vicinity and along the GA 316 corridor.  However, we must ensure that the property rights of existing landowners who bought and developed property with the expectation of being near a general aviation airport rather than a commercial aviation airport are considered and protected.

The Gwinnett County Public Library has posted a survey on its website asking for input on library hours for 2010.  Responses should be submitted by January 1, 2010.

The top-end Perimeter is not a Gwinnett County issue, per se, but many Gwinnettians travel this incredibly congested area daily so I wanted to post this tidbit that I received today from revive285.  I worked in the Perimeter Mall area for nearly nine years until fall 2008 and I can attest to the horrendous state of traffic!

Is There an Alternative to I-285 Traffic?

We all know that travel conditions on I-285’s top end are a serious problem that must be addressed. But how do we fix the problem? Express buses? Light rail? More lanes? Toll lanes?

In 2006, the Georgia Department of Transportation and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority launched revive285 top end, an initiative to develop a transportation solution for the northern I-285 corridor between I-75 and I-85. The project team, with public input, has since developed eight transportation solutions or “alternatives” to address the I-285 top end problems.

In November 2009, these alternatives were presented at a series of public information open houses. The project team is now seeking further public input. If you live, work or play on this corridor, this is your opportunity to help determine which of the eight alternatives should move forward, be modified, or be discarded. You can make a difference.

Go online now to www.revive285.com to: watch the alternatives video, compare the alternatives with the interactive mapping tool, learn more about the revive285 project and provide valuable feedback via comment, survey or message board. Or, you can contact the project hotline directly at 770-431-7445.