DALTON, Ga. — It took three tries for Whitfield County School board members to settle on a location for a new high school.
But some county commissioners and residents near the site may send the board out to search again.
The Whitfield County Planning Commission recommended against a special permit for the land after objections to the site were raised during a public hearing last month.
On Monday, county commissioners will vote whether to give the go-ahead or halt the process, sending the school board back to the drawing board.
Commission Chairman Brian Anderson said the potential setback could have been avoided if the two elected bodies had communicated much earlier in the selection process.
“There were a lot of unanswered questions, such as have traffic studies been done,” Mr. Anderson said about the 73-acre tract near Georgia Highway 2 at Crow Road.
“What hasn’t been talked about is how this school fits into the overall growth plan,” he said. “You’ve now changed the development pattern of that entire area. We have to deal with the aftermath.”
But school board vice chairman Chuck Oliver said it’s hard to find a large enough site that meets all the requirements. Dalton Utilities plans to build a satellite wastewater treatment facility, and the site is near the center of the student population it will serve, he said.
“It’s a good location and it has been approved by the state board of education,” Mr. Oliver said. “We are doing our best to comply (with concerns) but be advised, our primary constitutional duty, responsibility and authority is to site schools. That’s been tested in court numerous times.”
The pressures that would arise from the new high school are typical of other rapidly growing areas in Northwest Georgia.
A high school with 1,800 students, many of them drivers, with the faculty, parents and buses has a major impact on local traffic.
And development, residential and commercial, is often close behind location of a new school.
“Any time we looked at a piece of property, we invited the county manager and other officials so they can begin the process to address the needs as far as roads and sewers,” said Damon Raines, director of operations for Catoosa County Schools.
Mr. Raines is overseeing work on the new Heritage High School, set to open in August. It is off Poplar Springs Road, across from Heritage Middle School that opened three years ago.
“We let them know we are building for 1,800 students and how many staff members, so they can begin to plan,” Mr. Raines said.
To help with added traffic coming this year, officials hope to get permission from the county to add a turn lane and avoid logjams.
Walker County coordinator David Ashburn said early coordination has been key in avoiding problems at new school sites.
“Once the school board found a location for Rossville Middle, they communicated with us immediately as far as sewer and roads went,” said Mr. Ashburn. “We extended the gravity flow sewer to connect with the school, and we will have a $1.5 million job for roads and intersections.”
He said there should not be much added development.
“One lady owns all the property around there, and she does not want to sell,” Mr. Ashburn said.
Heritage Middle School principal Chris Lusk said he expects some increase in traffic problems when the new high school opens, but thinks it will smooth out quickly.
The school won’t be full right away, with students zoned for Heritage but now at Ringgold of Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe being given the choice of which school to attend, he said.
Deceleration and center lane adjustments are planned in front of the school to accommodate more vehicles, and a stop sign was added at the Three Notch/Poplar Springs intersection to help traffic flow.
The site for the new Whitfield school is near historic Prater’s Mill, said Mr. Anderson said. Area residents and commissioners are concerned about the impact of the school on the rural area.
“That’s an area that’s very tranquil, very serene, and we would probably have kept it that way in the growth plan that is being revised now,” the commissioner said. “Traffic is going to be a problem because Highway 2 is a federal scenic byway. We get federal money and agreed to never widen the two-lane road. They will have to address another access to the school.”
Mr. Oliver said complaints about unwelcome development should not be to the school board, though.
“The property we are buying belongs to private land owners,” he said. “One of the sellers already has plans to develop some other land nearby.”
New schools
Walker County - Rossville Middle School, a new three-story $14 million structure scheduled to open in May
Catoosa County - Heritage High School, a $41.6 million facility, opening in August
Whitfield County - A new elementary school, to be located on Cedar Ridge Road, budgeted at $18.5 million, and a high school, estimated at $51 million, on Georgia Highway 2 near Crow Road
