Living Jackson Magazine

Boom goes the growth in Braselton

By Priscilla Daves

That noise you have been hearing in the background is the boom of massive and unprecedented growth in Braselton every day.
The growth is so strong that Frank Norton, Jr., North Georgia’s futurist and real estate developer, has predicted that Braselton will eventually be renamed and become an political entity as if it were its own county. He says that entity might be called Chateau Elan.

Put your money on that power spot being called Braselton, but also put your money on the city becoming one of the largest in north Georgia in coming decades.

Braselton has had to learn to work with four counties in its city limits: Jackson, Barrow, Gwinnett and Hall. Add in other government entities, and the city council’s job begins to look like the work of Solomon.
However, governments are working together on behalf of quality growth in this area—another factor that has helped this community grow in phenomenal ways.

Once just a charming group of stores under one roof with a few houses scattered about, Braselton had its own city council and a school, but Braselton was a backwater. The town would be better described today as being part of a whitewater rapid run—and there seems to be no end in sight.

Its population went from 1,206 in year 2000 to an estimated population of 14,000 by 2005 if you count population within a 5-mile radius of Braselton’s city hall, according to Norton’s 2006 Native Intelligence. Norton projects a population of from 80,000 to 100,000 by year 2020.

“I tell people we approve about 50 new houses a month,” said Jennifer Scott, the town’s city manager who was hired as the city’s first city manager in 2001 by the council and its pro-business mayor Pat Graham, who was elected in 2001.
Norton said that by the year 2020, Braselton will be the I-85 power center.

“It’s location, location, location,” Norton said. “A master urban planner could not have set up a better economic development model.”

Graham and her council were just another piece of luck in this city’s growth—determined to get ahead of the growth, upgrade city services and provide a business-like atmosphere for the city that in its motto boasts that “It’s Better in Braselton.”

Braselton has always been a lucky place. When the three Braselton boys, Green, John and Henry, got into merchandising in 1887, they started a family dynasty that lasted. Braselton was a town with a mayor and council and all were named Braselton, and the only business was Braselton and it was under one roof, which prompted one family member to proclaim it as one of the nation’s first shopping malls.

Groceries, banking, dresses, shoes, notions…all were under one roof until the Federal government forced the family to move the bank outside the main family store and into a “properly” built bank that was promptly robbed.

With Braselton family leaders getting older and without younger family members to take over, the family sold the property to a joint investment company, the most visible principal of which was a movie star, Kim Basinger. That sale brought attention to Braselton, but wound up being a bust that lost a lot of investors money.

About the same time, but not as widely noticed, was the arrival of a man named Don Panoz, owner of a highly successful pharmaceutical company who had an idea in the early 1980s that the Piedmont’s rolling hills would be excellent for the winery that was then a dream in his mind.

The fact that Panoz could afford his dream, that the Braseltons were prepared to make concessions by expanding the city limits and providing infrastructure, and that the town was ripe for change were all working in the town’s favor.

Panoz started by importing a vintner, hiring CEO Ed Friedrich from Germany, and leasing and buying lands for vineyards. He set up a winery, painted the outside so others could get an idea of his dream, and began building, building, building.

“Panoz, with the support of the Braselton leaders, created both a residential community and a destination site,” said Pepe Cummings, President and CEO of the Jackson County Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Panoz full dream, if you could say he is finished with his dream, was to create several high-end residential communities around the golf courses and other amenities including the riding stables, a spa, hotel, conference center and restaurants.
Cummings said that Braselton was also lucky in that it soon had major investors including Wayne Mason, Scott Hudgins, Dewey White and Ameritech who became investors in the late 1990s.

“Wayne Mason and Ameritech gave Braselton two huge property owners who were able to work with the city fathers for the type of land uses that would serve that mix,” Cummings said.

Another piece of luck for Braselton was that earlier sprawl from Atlanta left I-85 corridor exits that are south of the city with problems for future development.

Lawrenceville-Suwanee, exit 111, is developed around the interchange. The Mall of Georgia, exit 115, is effectively filled as far as large land-use development is concerned. Hamilton Mill, exit 120, is all residential with just a few supporting commercial interests.

“The first chance of any kind of mix is Braselton, and the investors saw that quality infrastructure was installed,” Cummings said. “The growth has taken on a life of its own with quality developers like John Wieland Homes coming in to develop.”
Cummings said that despite appearances, the growth has been slower than might have been expected.

“Slow and steady wins that race and creates more value,” Cummings said, adding that the quality developers and land owners knew that. “You get the best of the best.”

The city has changed government: For the first time four years ago the council was without even one Braselton. County government has also been supportive—a major advantage, Norton said.

“Today’s progressive government must be in high gear, honing customer service skills, promoting the art of business and not putting up road blocks,” Norton said in his 2006 Native Intelligence report.

The best growth tends to go to governments that work together.

The results include a couple of new banks and branches of at least four others.

One of the growth indicators is that Northeast Georgia Health System will develop a medical campus—in fact one building and two doctors are already on site. One of those doctors is a descendant of the Braselton family.

Another factor is that Del Webb’s first Georgia Sun City, which will have 1,300 homes for the elderly, is now part of Braselton’s footprint.

What all this means is that Braselton is facing a bright future—for the time being. A law enforcement department has been expanded and in early July moved into its new headquarters in Braselton, where it shares 24,135 square feet of floor space with municipal courts.

In August or September, Braselton’s new $1.2 million library with 8,904 square feet will take the pressure off the charming but way outgrown little library that has been serving the area.

Those two buildings are being built by impact fees and represent the first time since 1916, the year the town was founded, that the town government has built new buildings.

Braselton is also building a 100-acre park that will focus on a river walk on the Mulberry River starting in downtown Braselton and winding through some of the subdivisions to encourage walking. They are using matching federal funds for the first phase of park and trails.

Growth meant that the 2007 budget was $2.5 million, significantly higher than the 2001 budget of $789,568.
Braselton is funded by revenue from hotel/motel taxes, alcoholic beverage taxes, building permit fees and court fines. The city does not have a property tax, but there are questions about how long that can continue. This year, for the first time since 1998, the city is increasing its water and sewer rates. In the past, the city has been using one-time tap-on fees, and as costs to the city for water and sewerage treatment increases, the budget just got too thin.

In late June, Mayor Graham was named the 5th District representative for the Georgia Municipal Association. She was named the 2005 Newsmaker of the year by The Jackson Herald in January.

City Manager Jennifer Scott was named Local Government Administrator of the Year by the Northeast Georgia Regional Development Center earlier this year, an award that covers a 14-county region.

Last year, Braselton was named one of six cities in the state to receive a Cities of Excellent “Trendsetter Award” from the Georgia Municipal Association and Georgia Trend Magazine, and in November 2005, Braselton was named “America’s Dream Town 2005.” The award recognizes Braselton for its tourism attributes and small town charm.

Recently, the town’s police were recognized with an achievement award from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety for removing more DUI drivers from the roads than any other city of its size during the “Governor’s 100 Days” initiative.
Braselton is booming, and the sonic waves are spreading throughout the region. That growth took more than luck, but luck did play its part—put luck and talent together and you get major good things for towns, citizens and the future.