New Town Center West master plan approved

The Suwanee City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved the master plan for the city’s newest park, Town Center West. Located on approximately 25-acres known as the DeLay Property, Town Center West will be situated behind the Suwanee library and PlayTown Suwanee on Suwanee Dam Road.

The park will feature a mixture of urban and rural environments, including a roughly 900-foot, elevated bridge for pedestrian and bicycle use, spanning the entire park and crossing an approximately one-acre water feature, as well as an open terrace plaza and lawn area at the peak of the park’s elevation.

The park will also include an extension of the existing Playtown Suwanee geared toward older children, and will include sandpit volleyball courts, and a public art piece. The roughly 15-acre wooded area along the existing Brushy Creek Greenway will remain undisturbed.

The biggest change will be the realignment of Main Street, which will shift around the park and exit onto Suwanee Dam Road at an existing traffic signal, improving the safety and traffic flow by allowing the median break on Suwanee Dam Road to be closed.

The anticipated cost from planning to construction is roughly $12 million; a timetable for construction has not been established.

County rejects plans for 300 apartments

The Gwinnett County Commission Tuesday rejected a plan to build 300 apartments on Webb Gin House Road near Lawrenceville.

The proposed development near the intersection of Webb Gin House and Scenic Highway also included 72 single-family homes and 27 town homes on 56 acres. The property is adjacent to commercial development on Scenic Highway, but is surrounded on three sides by single-family subdivisions.

The county planning staff and planning commission recommended the county reject the proposal, saying it could be inconsistent with existing neighborhoods and with the county’s long-range plan for the area.

County commissioners voted 3-0 to reject the proposal.

City has funds to extend sidewalk project

The Peachtree Corners City Council has approved an additional $14,155 to extend sidewalks along Technology Parkway from City Hall to Spalding Drive.

The city received a GDOT Local Management and Improvement Grant this year for sidewalk projects along Jay Bird Alley and Technology Parkway. The Jay Bird Alley sidewalk will connect Peachtree Parkway to the end of the sidewalks coming soon from the new town home development at Parkway Lane. The Technology Parkway sidewalks were planned from Westech Drive extending north toward City Hall.

Last month, the city approved a contract with Keck & Wood Inc. for $35,640. After that project began, further study revealed the current FY2017 budget has adequate funding to extend the sidewalk along Technology Parkway all the way to Spalding Drive. This will extend sidewalks for the entire length of Technology Parkway.

This change brings the total contract amount for Keck & Wood to $49,795.