16,500-acre development proposed in Bartow

In recent years, Bartow County’s development plans have been dazzling. In just the past month, a proposed EV battery plant and solar panel campus together have generated reports of more than $5 billion in investments and at least 5,500 additional jobs.

Even bigger is what the Aubrey Corp. is proposing for some 16,500 acres in the county’s northeast corner, off U.S. 411 and north of Ga. 20. This one has a long way to go with public hearings and regulatory decisions due next.

Opposition already is out there as the tract includes a popular wildlife management area that has been leased to the state for five decades — but won’t be renewed as it expires in May.

In summary, the plans for the Aubrey “planned green space and development district” resemble a whole new community, basically from scratch. Preliminary plans in a 41-page file submitted last week to Bartow County Planning and Zoning show:

2,100 acres for commercial/industrial development with 800 acres for commercial/retail and 1,300 for industrial. Most of this area is closer to I-75 and the interchange with 411.

6,800 acres for residential, including 6,000 for “low density” (think single-family homes” and 800 acres for “high density” (multifamily). The low-density area would be mostly in the upper northeast section.

5,000 acres for green space (includes assumption of 1,300 additional acres).

3,900 acres for mineral reserves. This area is in the southeast quadrant of the site, just north of Ga. 20 and along the Bartow/Cherokee County line.

So what’s next? There’s a hearing before Bartow County Sole County Commissioner Steve Taylor on Jan. 18. Also scheduled: Open houses on the project on Feb. 7 and Feb. 9, from 4 until 6 p.m. each; a hearing before the planning commission at 6 p.m. Feb. 27; and a hearing before Taylor on March 8 at 10 a.m.