Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Dawson News: Farmer wants to annex into city

Property across from motorsports park site

Frank Reddy
frankreddy@dawsonnews.com
January 5, 2011

A property owner across from the future site of a controversial motorsports park is looking to annex his land into the city of Dawsonville.

Byron Hutson, who owns a 37-acre horse farm on Duck Thurmond Road in western Dawson County, plans to go before the city council at its Jan. 10 regular meeting.

If approved, the residential site would be rezoned “as presently,” or AP, for 12 months. At the end of that time, Hutson could then apply for a different zoning if desired, according to Mayor Joe Lane Cox.

In a recent phone conversation, Hutson said the annexation request was “something we’ve been thinking about doing.”

City Councilman James Grogan noted that Hutson’s land touches the site of Atlanta Motorsports Park, which is in Dawsonville.

Therefore, Grogan said, Hutson “has the right to come into the city.”

The motorsports park, which is under construction, is at the center of a lawsuit that claims zoning laws were violated when the city council approved the park’s rezoning.

Plaintiffs West and Helen Hamryka, who operate a horse farm near Hutson’s property, contend their business and lifestyle would sustain irreparable damage if work on the park continued.

Hutson’s business, Stillwater Farms, is listed as an official sponsor of the Atlanta Motorsports Park on the business’s Web site.

Grogan said he feels “some people in that area are seeing that [the motorsports park] is going to be a benefit to them.”

Those who are inside the city limits are eligible to use municipal infrastructure such as water and sewer.