Feckless Board of Commissioners Allows Forsyth County's Most Historic Landmark to be Permanently Scarred by Developer
Sawnee Mountain "Big Dig" Could Have Been Stopped - Kerry Hill Bears Primary Responsibility
Recently, while enjoying a sightseeing flight around the area, I discovered the unconscionable destruction of a formerly-wooded expanse of the northwestern slope of Sawnee Mountain. The devastation had been unleashed by a developer on almost 90 acres of perhaps the most recognized and historic landmark in north Georgia.
Below you will find the first among several Google Earth images I captured to illustrate the desertification and mass-grading of what had been pristine, old-growth forest land on the former, most sacred ground of the Cherokee Nation. What you see here is the land of Forsyth County’s fathers, which had been protected from this kind of exploitation since the county’s founding in 1832. But, now, thanks to a dispassionate developer, and a feckless county commission, Sawnee Mountain will be left with permanent scars, all in exchange for a few pieces of silver.
This development is literally carved into the side of Sawnee Mountain:
The following image is directed southeastwardly, and captures the backdrop of Sawnee’s ridge. For the last 38 years, Winde and I have lived on the opposite side of the mountain, in a subdivision of homes typified by a full canopy of old growth pines and hardwoods. And so, it is especially difficult for me to imagine the irreparable damage that has now been done to Sawnee Mountain. The developer is making his money, and no one on the Forsyth County Commission apparently noticed or cared.
The next perspective depicts what I now call “The Big Dig,” denoting Hwy 20, Dr. Bramblett Road and Spot Road:
Commissioners Could Have Prevented Desecration of Sawnee Mountain
You can expect members of the Forsyth County Commission to issue a smokescreen excuse for allowing this to happen, and claim that there was nothing they could have done to prevent what you see, their hands being tied by previous commissioners who issued the zoning. The fact that they had no power to change the zoning, however does not mean they could not have used other tools at their disposal to prevent a developer from permanently disfiguring this now desecrated land, which is the regrettable result.
But, before I step in to explain how the veritable “strip-mining” of Sawnee’s northwestern slope could have been prevented, it is important for you to hear a minute or two of a recent “tree ordinance” discussion, had among the commissioners and certain staff members, which occurred during the December 9 work session. Prompted by a question from Commissioner Laura Semanson, you will hear Forsyth County Director of Planning and Community Development, Tom Brown, discussing certain ideas being bandied about by staff in order to limit deforestation and mass-grading in residential developments, the kind that horribly defiled the northwestern slope of Sawnee Mountain:
“Projects that are starting with a focus on grading the entire site and replanting trees, we’re going to have a little more teeth to push back on those.”— Director Tom Brown
When I heard the planning director’s statement, I was stunned to discover his admission that the Forsyth County Tree Ordinance has been totally ineffective against developer onslaughts, and more importantly, that neither Director Brown, nor apparently anyone else sitting around the table, recognize that the county does not have to allow developers to “start a project with a focus on grading the entire site and replanting trees.” Understanding that one fact is the key to preventing developers from permanently scarring any and all Forsyth County lands and desecrating landmarks as has now occurred on Sawnee Mountain.
I will illustrate what I mean using the following Google Earth perspective:
In essence, by issuing a land disturbance permit to cover every home site during the development phase, rather than postponing lot disturbance on home sites until the building phase, in practical terms Forsyth County is allowing this developer to begin construction on each of these homes. And the developer is doing so even before receiving a final recorded plat for the development. The county does not have to allow this practice. The fact that major national developers are engaged in mass-clearing and grading of actual building sites all over Forsyth County, and are executing that work during the development phase rather than during the building phase of construction, presents the logical question whether developers are the ones writing Forsyth County’s development code. In the case before us, Forsyth County Planning and Development stood to the side, their precious tree ordinance clutched to their bosoms, and allowed this developer, to pre-clear and mass-grade for every building lot in the entire development, doing so prior to the county’s final acceptance of the development’s roads, right-of-ways and drainage facilities. How would these commissioners, and indeed the planning director, not know that Forsyth County is not bound to allow that practice?
To further illustrate, in the following image I have outlined the future county right-of-ways all in red.
Now, because Forsyth County granted this developer permission to disturb the entire 90 acres (less a perimeter buffer and a few acres within a block of interior home sites), this developer was able to engineer the pad elevations of every building site, and excavate each lot pad to an elevation predestined for a future concrete slab foundation, and the developer has done so for every home site in the subdivision. That is why I contend, this developer has already begun construction on all of those homes.
Now, here is the important part. If the county did not provide this developer a land disturbance permit (LDP) to mass-clear and grade outside of the right-of-ways during the development phase, this project would not have been feasible the way it is designed. If the LDP would been limited in scope to permit only disturbance operations solely within the future county right-of-ways (with certain exceptions which would include drainage facilities, manageable slopes beyond the right-of-way limits and a few other items), the Sawnee Mountain “Big Dig” would never have happened and those 90 acres of virgin tree forest would have been saved from the devastation you see in all these images, regardless of the zoning. Ordinance provisions to which I refer would provide blanket requirements for land disturbance in all residential developments in Forsyth County. Under those provisions, trees outside of the right-of-way (with a few exceptions) could only be removed after a subdivision plat would be recorded, an event which would signify the end of the development phase and commencement of the home construction phase of the project. By that time, it would be too late for a developer such as the one involved with Sawnee Mountain to engineer the mass-grading necessary to provide for each of those concrete slab pad elevations, even if the developer might subsequently purchase every building permit for the entire development at one time.
Had such ordinance provisions been in place, in order to design and build on this land its developer would have been forced to WIDEN THE LOTS AND BUILD FAR-FEWER, HOMES. Furthermore, most of those homes would have been forced to become more expensive basement foundations, or in some cases, crawlspaces. Under such rules, very few of the development’s homes could have been built on or near original grade already flat enough to except relatively inexpensive, concrete slab foundations. Concrete slab foundations are the type of construction each of these large, vertically-integrated home building consortiums favor to build. Frankly, they don’t know how to do much else and still make money. In other words, had that one regulation regarding land disturbance been in effect, as it was for eons prior to the onset of this relatively new, mass-grading trend in Forsyth County, the project before you would have lost much of its feasibility, likely would not have been built, and the northwestern slope of Sawnee Mountain would still be intact.
The reader should know that I speak with the training and experience of a graduate in Civil Engineer from Georgia Tech who has been building homes professionally for over 40 years. I share that with you solely to establish my credibility, which really should not be necessary because everything I just explained is perfect common sense. Common sense is the foundation of the building profession. There is nothing mysterious or difficult about anything I describe. And that is why it is mystifying that apparently no one sitting around the table during the December 9 work session, including the county planning and development director, seems to know any of this or have a lick of common sense when it comes to development and residential construction.
FORSYTH COUNTY DOES NOT HAVE TO PERMIT DEVELOPERS TO PRE-CLEAR AND MASS-GRADE SINGLE-FAMILY DEVELOPMENT HOMESITES, PERIOD, FULL-STOP.
And if the rules to which I refer were in place right now, there would be no reason for a moratorium. The rules I describe would make a large percentage of residential developments, those which depend on mass-clearing and grading by a developer, infeasible, and thus slow growth naturally.
Commissioner Kerry Hill Primarily Responsible for the “Big Dig”
The development on Sawnee Mountain we are discussing is located in Forsyth County Commission District 1, represented by my commissioner, and incumbent candidate for reelection, Kerry Hill. Recently, Commissioner Hill, together with Commissioner Laura Semanson, attempted to justify the moratorium presently prohibiting new development across-the-board. Neither of these commissioners, however, offered any path forward or vision to resume normalcy.
Hearing the conversation above, it is obvious that neither of these commissioners have any idea what they are talking about with respect to residential development. Their best strategy is to kick the can down the road, hoping that things will eventually take care of themselves. They won’t. This conversation reminds me of Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, a cartoon-like character who spends an arduous journey with her feckless friends, trying to figure a way out of her predicament, when in the end, the answer was obvious and right in front of her the entire time. Perhaps you have heard the following old joke. A guy goes to the doctor and say’s, “Hey Doc, it hurts when I do this.” The doctor answers simply, “Well then, don’t do that.” In our case, it hurts Forsyth County when developers clear-cut and mass-grade residential developments. The answer is just as simple. The Forsyth County Commission should simply say, “Don’t do that” when it comes to mass-clearing and grading of residential development home sites. Land disturbance permits should only cover the area of a development which will become county right-of-way with certain noted exceptions.
Forsyth County has every right and reason to impose such a simple and effective rule on residential developers. Our own “Dorothy” and her cast of hopelessly inept friends on the commission, however, including Planning Director Tom Brown, apparently believe the answer is to try to save individual “specimen” trees, expecting the county arborist to survey the doomed forests beforehand with the object of identifying certain special trees to save. Under the present development scheme, those trees would end up in someone’s living room if they were not taken down, and the developer is would rather pay a fine than to build a house around a tree.
Commissioner Hill was on the Forsyth County Planning Commission for four years and is presently entering her fourth year on the Board of Commissioners. During that time, Commissioner Hill had an abiding opportunity to recognize the deficiencies in the land disturbance regulations to which I refer, call them out and work toward new regulation implementation. She has done none of that, and apparently still does not know what the problem is. As such, the responsibility for the failure to preserve the northwestern slope of Sawnee Mountain, adjacent to the “Sawnee Mountain PRESERVE,” can largely be placed at her feet, as well as certain other commissioners, as well as the planning director and his staff, all who failed to recognize the weaknesses of the county’s development ordinances, and who apparently, to this day, remain confused as to what to do to stop mass-clearing and grading during the development phases of newly approved projects.
This ain’t rocket science.
Forsyth County Needs Big Canoe, Not the “Big Dig”
Now, in the work session video I showed you, Planning Director Tom Brown talked about taking certain snippets from ordinances in places such as Milton and Chattahoochee Hills. In the case before us we are talking about the side of a mountain. There are no mountains in Milton. I doubt there is one in Chattahoochee Hills. The place Forsyth County’s planning director should be looking for guidance, only 40 minutes away, would be Big Canoe. When one crests the shoulder of Sawnee Mountain, driving westward on Hwy 20 toward Canton, the mountain one sees on the horizon is actually a residential development. That is Big Canoe.
There are thousands of homes all over that mountain, yet regardless how close you might position yourself, you will not see one of them because of Big Canoe’s Tree Protection Ordinances. You will not see any development scars on the side of that mountain. Big Canoe does not look as if it was strip-mined like Sawnee Mountain, now does it? If Forsyth County is going to preserve its historic character going forward, Big Canoe is the kind of model our planning department and commissioners should be considering, not Milton, not Chattahoochee Hills.
The failure by the Forsyth County Commission to provide and enforce a development scheme, one which by its nature incorporates the tree-protections I describe, has resulted in a catastrophic, permanent scar on Forsyth County’s most historic and meaningful landmark. Forsyth citizens and voters should not sit still while this kind of negligence pervades within the processes of formulating and administering county development policies and responsibilities. It is time for major change on the Forsyth County Commission, and that is why I am running to replace Kerry Hill to represent District 1 as its commissioner. I hope you will support my candidacy, and that I can earn your vote in the May 19, 2026 primary election. Together, we will work to preserve Forsyth County, or what might be left of it, for future generations.
Supplemental Video
Below you will find a video I took from the air showing the unimaginable and irresponsible mass-clearing and grading practices allowed by the Forsyth County Commission not only on Sawnee Mountain, but also with respect to residential developments throughout Forsyth County.
Reading List Relating to Forsyth County:
Chapter 5-How Three County Commissioners Screwed Over the City of Cumming-Vote NO on SPLOST
Forsyth Officials Apparently Attempt to Hide Quid Pro Quo Deal Proposed to City
Forsyth County Commission Owes Advocates a Referendum on Mental Health Facility
Commissioners Circle Wagons to Sugar Coat Grandfather-Gate Zoning Ordinance Debacle
South Forsyth Story-Please, Not Again
Forsyth County Commission - Irresponsible Taxing and Spending Sucking Dollars From Your Wallet
I feel ulcers developing every time I read your posts and see the mass destruction of our county by these feckless commissioners and hungry developers. Listening to Hill and Semanson talking makes me see how they neither care nor understand anything at all about their job. SMH