Development company pulls out after losing commission vote
A development company with ties to Bartow County pulled out of a Gordon County project after citizens won over local officials with their appeals to vote no.
ALF Acquisitions, a land acquisition arm of Artisan Land Companies, lost approval for its proposal for a light commercial use building by one vote. The building was proposed for 3674 Highway 41 North in Resaca.
The Gordon County Commission voted 3-2 against rezoning last week. ALF Acquisition ended its purchase contracts on the two land parcels that totaled more than 90 acres.
Residents fought against the rezoning for many of the standard reasons of noise, traffic, and safety. However, the factor that seemed to clinch the denial was the area was historical in its deep entrenchment in the American War Between the States.
Resaca was a backdrop for a battle in 1864. The land listed in the proposal is protected in a Gordon County historic land plan. The plan goes from 2023 to 2027 and states the area is protected. Putting a giant warehouse or distribution center on it was unacceptable to residents, according to resident and local historian Shawna Dooley.
Dooley said the acquisition company did no research on the land and feasibility of their plan before submitting an application. She said they did no traffic studies and no archeological surveys.
It took two months for Dooley to lead the public in opposition to the proposal. They spoke at county commission meetings, met officials, and wrote letters to neighbors to encourage them to get involved. Civil War battlefield preservation groups got involved in attending meetings of the Planning and Zoning Board of Gordon County. They also got a national preservation group to send letters.
One common theme is the warehouse would affect tourism because it affected historical land. Tourism amounts to dollars to local businesses and county coffers.
Artisan Land Companies used a vertical structure strategy to win approvals for a sports facility in Bartow County and Macon. Artisan offered to donate a 30-acre tract to the Freinds of Resaca Battlefield to preserve in perpetuity.
In the end, it wasn’t enough. Commissioner Chad Steward said before the vote the offer was generous but this project wasn’t the same as the ones in Bartow County and Macon.
Bartow County residents have had a battle with warehouses popping up seemingly randomly everywhere in recent years. There isn’t specific data on how many have been approved and built over the past two or three years but statistics show that approximately 20 million square feet of manufacturing space has been planned or built in Bartow County over the past eight years. Concentrated areas include the Adairsville, White, Cassville, Cartersville, and Emerson corridor.
Noticeably, there are several warehouses on Highway 293 headed toward Emerson built over the past couple of years. All have sat empty with sale/lease signs in front of them until recently when someone appears to have moved into one section of a warehouse.
Historical significance also played a role in denying a data center in Adairsville across from Barnsley Resort. The resort is historically significant but nearby farms also have more than 100 years of history and farming the Bartow Planning Commission wanted to preserve.
The final decision-maker for Bartow County when it comes to rezoning, land use, and approving warehouses is Commissioner Steve Taylor. His next scheduled meeting is May 14 at 10 a.m.
Melody Dareing is a freelance writer for publications in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Germany. She is a former news director of Adelphia Channel 4 and WBHF Radio.