LAST WEEK: WITH ANNEXATION, NORCROSS RESIDENTS HAVE NO SAY IN DEVELOPMENT

After months of the issue being tabled by the Gwinnett County Planning Commission, the Indian Trail Retail Associates LP in association with Quik Trip filed a request May 12 for annexation of 1.92 acres at the intersection of Indian Trail and Beaver Ruin roads into the city of Norcross. Quik Trip hopes to build a new, larger concept store in this location where an aging strip mall exists now. In a special called meeting June 20, Norcross approved the annexation. Residents in the Indian Crossing subdivision, directly behind the land in question feel they will have no voice in what happens next. Appears to be yet another example of our cities’ acting on behalf of developers and commercial interests at the expense of homeowners. Annexation without homeowner approval is reprehensible. I know this intersection, but find it had to have an opinion. What is a Quik Trip concept store? Will this really significantly increase traffic? The intersection is this neighborhood’s only way in and out. The only exit from the QT will be onto the small, two-lane piece of Indian Trail. The residents can barely get out now. With additional traffic they’ll be stuck at that light. Taking extra traffic light time on the side of the intersection to allow the QT crowd out will only back up the traffic coming from the other directions even more. The fact that affected residents were given no chance to address this issue at a public hearing before Gwinnett County or the city of Norcross speaks volumes. Residents used to have a say in matters that affected their property. My primary concern is the police presence. Until they annexed the property, we were the border between Norcross PD and Gwinnett Police. This meant that my neighborhood was used as a turn around for both. There were many days I would see multiple police in my neighborhood. What Norcross has done is cut us off completely from any area Gwinnett is responsible for. I am sure a call to 911 will get Gwinnett to my house, but we all know regular patrols stops crime before it starts. Residents were seemingly intentionally mislead in early June when the annexation request was tabled, until a traffic impact study could be done. We were told it would be reconsidered in July. Then a secret meeting was held later in June where the annexation was approved without residents being heard, or the traffic study completed. The intersection is already the 5th most dangerous in the county without the increased traffic that can be expected if and when QT is built. This affects not only us in the neighborhood , those businesses that we frequent will be gone. The traffic issue will be an even bigger nightmare than it already is. I hate that this is happening.