Project plans head to Bartow County Zoning Board
The Bartow County Board of Education approved signing a resolution with Heinz and Aubrey Corps. to support the Highway 411 Tax Allocation District (TAD) near White. The resolution was a necessary step before the project could move forward.
The vote was held in a called meeting Wednesday morning. The BOE didn’t issue a press release about the vote but it was unanimous. The resolution and more information on the TAD submitted to the BOE can be found here.
Developers will now need to get the Bartow County Zoning Board and Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) to sign off on the project, and get a final approval on the development from Bartow County Commissioner Steve Taylor based on the zoning board’s recommendation.
Taylor and the BOE voted on a resolution regarding future tax money the developer wanted to divert for a time to pay for infrastructure. They would continue to pay taxes on the raw land. The county and BOE would eventually get more tax money on the fully developed properties, plus new sales tax, and acreage donated by the development company to build a school. Financial details are being gathered by BOE officials for a future report.
The proposal, presented at the BOE work session Monday night, drew questions from the board. Board members wanted to be sure the property wouldn’t be annexed into either White or Cartersville and wanted assurances the Neel family, who own the land, would be involved throughout the project.
Bobby Neel, president of Aubrey Corp. told BOE members his family has been in Bartow for almost 200 years and they weren’t going anywhere. He said the land was going to be developed and a planned development is the best option for the county.
“The opportunity that is presented here with this TAD proposal, it is what I hope would become the standard for Bartow County,” Neel said.
The 2,300-acre development located between Stamp Creek Road and I-75 will consist of approximately 2,800 residences including almost 1,800 apartments and townhomes, and more than 1,000 homes serving individuals, families, and active adults. It will also have a commercial area, green spaces, and a school serving students living in the development. Officials expect the school to serve over 800 students when the development is complete.
Officials expect the development to start opening in 2029 and be completed in 2037. The Neels own 14,000 acres in the area. Representatives said there aren’t plans for land immediately surrounding the TAD development.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported earlier this month that a mining company filed plans for a granite quarry that would be on Neel land within the former Pine Log Wildlife Management Area.