A huge development that could bring a major manufacturer and jobs to Jackson County is being proposed for South Jackson.
701-acre development proposed in South Jackson
Jackson County leaders will consider a zoning request Sept. 25 that would lead to a 701-acre industrial park locating along Hwy. 129, starting 1.3 miles north of the Athens-Clarke County line at Mary Collier Road. The property is a large tract of forest land across from South Jackson Elementary School.
Forestar Real Estate Group currently owns the property. The site development project is being called Jackson Park.
The proposal calls for the construction of 7.5 million square feet of warehouse space on 20 building sites. The project would be completed in four phases with the first part to be completed in 2010 and the final phase to be completed in 2018.
Forestar Real Estate Group currently owns the property. The site development project is being called Jackson Park.
The proposal calls for the construction of 7.5 million square feet of warehouse space on 20 building sites. The project would be completed in four phases with the first part to be completed in 2010 and the final phase to be completed in 2018.
Defined tags for this entry: industrial, Jackson County
And people have all the right and reason in the world to be worried about what someone else is doing with their money when it is right outside their backyard and is going to adversely affect their community (large increases in traffic, noise and air pollution and ).
I also agree with Anon.
Why do you want to take down all the trees and crap?? Dont you know trees help with the oxygen. did you not learn anything in school. Sorry but people do care about the enviroment.
Just because a piece of land is vacant, doesn't mean you have to build something on it. If the other industrial park was near capacity or you were building for a specific tenant, it might make more sense. One of these days people will wake up and say, where has all of our land gone? No more farms, no more parks, no more scenic/recreation areas. No, instead we have a new mall, new motel, new fast food place, new industrial park. Use what you have before you build something else.
To the powers that be, this is not an area that would be served by an industrial park; the traffic and the residual commercial development that would follow, and the pollution that this industrialization would foster would be ruinous to a community that is just starting to take hold in the area.
This area has the potential to be a "family" borough. There are several neighborhoods in the immediate South Jackson Elementary area and an untold number of homes on the surrounding country roads. We are a young community that is just starting to realize what is possible for us. What this location needs is to be fostered as a place for families and comfortable living, maybe call it the Historic Red Stone Community. We are in close proximity to Athens, Jefferson, Commerce, and two exits off of I-85. We have a growing population of young and stable families. We want this to remain the peaceful and safe area of South Jackson that we moved to.
Jackson County has multiple facets to its reputation and legacy, both good and ill. One encroaching facet is that the powers that be are willing to “industrialize” our county in a reckless and tactless manner. An industrial site at this location is a case in point. Placing dollars in front of community and social health is a mistake that will only further tilt the scale to favor the ill. An industrial park here would be another ruinous blow to the fragile social and familial structure of Jackson County as a whole.
We are better than this! We are a community in Jackson County that wants success and recognition. But, to get these things we need to foster the roots of out community, the families. Our families need increased support of our social and family frameworks and we need more immediate accessibility to recreational services and community support in the diverse communities of Jackson County. In the South Jackson community we need these things even more because we have the opportunity to grow and flourish. We already have a lot to offer; proximity, a high functioning elementary school and a new and progressive high school, East Jackson Comprehensive. We have a base of young families who want to be proud of where they live and are willing to work to this goal. We do not need a South Jackson Industrial Park, we need a South Jackson that is focused on building an infrastructure based on community health, growth, and advancement.
plan to do in your backyard, because it is not their backyard.
Right now Jackson County has about 5 million square feet of industrial space standing empty. Some of it has been standing empty for over a year. I question the destruction of 700 acres of timber and forest land which is a Jackson County natural resource to add another 7.5 million square feet of concrete
and asphalt.
Jackson County currently has over three thousand acres in industrial parks with a majority of sites in these parks still not built.
Forestar wants to make this the second largest industrial park outside of metro Atlanta. Go visit the largest industrial park, Altanta Gateway Park, to see what it in store for your neigborhood.
If you are against the project, let your voice be heard. Write your Board of Commissioners. Attend the rezoning hearing on Sept. 25th.
After all it is your county.
There are EMPTY industrial parks and mega warehouses located in Jackson Co. next to 85 as I write this. Like the other writer stated, they have been empty for over a year.
I watched them destroy forests and green areas to build empty buildings, now they want to do it again. Our county leadership disappoints me.
And you can bet the owners WON'T be paying taxes while these areas sit empty. That was probably the incentive to get them to build in the first place. Just plain dumb.
Stop this insanity. Vote these people who approve of this out of office.