Rezoning Updates

The Huntington West Homeowners Association Board, our attorney and a handful of dedicated homeowners mounted a vigorous fight against the rezoning proposal to allow apartments across from our neighborhood's entrance. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that our own outgoing District 3 Commissioner Tommy Hunter was determined to support his friend and developer to pass the resolution. Despite what we and our attorney felt were very valid arguments against the rezoning, Hunter contradicted the Gwinnett County Planning Commission's recommendation to remove the apartments from the rezoning cases. After delay tactics for many months and refusal to communicate with our members, Hunter shocked and dismayed all of us by reinserting the apartments into the conditions for the rezoning proposal as his last act of betrayal of his own constituents. We will probably never know why all of the other commissioners, except for outgoing Chairman Charlotte Nash, supported his efforts. It has been suggested to us that perhaps some of them felt obligation in return for Hunter's support for projects in their own districts, but it is still hard to understand why they voted to support a motion that was clearly inconsistent with the recommendation of their own Planning Commission staff. In any event, Hunter received the support he needed to pass the resolution we feel will have the potential to be detrimental to our neighborhood and the local community. We can only hope that our newly elected District 3 Commissioner Jasper Watkins will do a better job of listening to and serving the needs of his constituents. The rezoning resolution was passed by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners on December 15, 2020. We have no information on how long it will be before the development begins. 

Meanwhile, our Board and the HOA's attorney have redoubled our efforts to at least protect the safety of our homeowners entering and exiting the neighborhood, especially since there will be more homes across from us in the future. Prior to the rezoning resolution passed by the BOC in December, the Gwinnett County Department of Transportation had tentative plans for the construction of a roundabout on Hwy 124 at the entrance to Huntington West. One of the conditions Tommy Hunter included in his motion for rezoning was a commitment from the developer to pay for the installation of a traffic signal at the entrance to Huntington West, if approved by the DOT. We believe this was an empty gesture since Hunter was aware our HOA's requests for a traffic signal have been denied repeatedly. However, our HOA's attorney has sent a very powerful letter to the Gwinnett County DOT and to our new District 3 Commissioner Jasper Watkins, to detail our strong opposition to the construction of a roundabout at the entrance of our neighborhood. Our attorney stressed that not only would the construction destroy our entrance and disrupt our quality of life for at least 18 months, she also pointed out there is no need to saddle the taxpayers of Gwinnett County with millions of dollars in expenses when the easiest solution (the developer funded traffic signal) has already been recorded by the BOC when they approved the rezoning in December. We are most hopeful that our attorney will prevail in her arguments to support the safety and quality of life for the residents of Huntington West. 

STAY TUNED TO OUR WEBSITE AND FACEBOOK PAGE FOR MORE UPDATES WHEN AVAILABLE   

UPDATE - March 11, 2021

Great news! Our Board received word today from our new District 3 Commissioner Jasper Watkins that the DOT was currently revising their plans to now install a traffic signal instead of a roundabout at the entrance to Huntington West. We later received an email from Lewis Cooksey, Director of Gwinnett DOT, to confirm that the County was revising the plans for widening HWY 124 to reflect “a traffic signal in lieu of a roundabout”. Director Cooksey stated that the traffic signal will have to be approved by the state of Georgia DOT (after a traffic study and intersection capacity study), but that Gwinnett DOT “will express support” to Georgia DOT for the installation of a traffic signal. This is terrific news and a welcome change of heart by Gwinnett DOT. Our HOA is grateful to our longtime WCZ attorney Beth Taylor, and her associate Joshua Jones for their tremendous letter to Gwinnett County that clearly helped to turn the tide. Our newly elected District 3 Commissioner Jasper Watkins also went to bat for the homeowners in Huntington West - and we sure do appreciate his support! 

We are awaiting word on how long the evaluation process and redesign of the Hwy 124 widening plans will take and have been promised an update as soon as the revisions are complete. Stay tuned to the HWHOA website, the Huntington West Facebook page and email blasts for updates as soon as the information is available.