Commissioners to Tackle Outlet Malls Again

On Tuesday, the  is expected to review a $700,000 proposal from the city of Woodstock that involves an outlet mall.

On Dec. 13, the  unanimously approved a request to move forward with The Outlet Shoppes at Atlanta. Similar centers across the country include brands such as Coach, Polo Ralph Lauren, Gap Outlet, Nike and Tommy Hilfiger.

At the Dec. 20, commission meeting, Woodstock officials asked the county for $700,000 to assist them with improvements to Ridgewalk Parkway. They suggested using a portion of the $3 million in SPLOST funds earmarked for the Arnold Mill bypass. The money will likely not go to the bypass.

Construction on  is slated to begin in the first half of the year, according to a Dec. 13 news release from Horizon Group Properties, the Michigan company that plans to develop the 365,000-square-foot mall at Ridgewalk Parkway and Interstate 575. 

Commissioners had agreed to hear from another outlet mall group, but didn’t get a chance because a spokesperson was unable to come on Jan. 3. That shopping center would be located at Highway 92 and Interstate 75.

Commissioner Karen Bosch, who lives along the Sixes Road corridor, told the Cherokee Ledger-News that she and Cherokee County Manager Jerry Cooper first sat down a few months ago with Taubman Centers, a national shopping mall developer.

While she told the Ledger-News that she believed the Taubman "outlet mall would do well" at Highway 92 and I-75, she added that she didn't know if both proposals would survive.

“What we have here is dueling proposals,” Post 1 Commissioner Harry Johnston told the Ledger-News.

 “The Horizon project is at the 90 percent stage and this is only at the 10 percent stage. But then again, Taubman is not asking for any monetary help from the city or county.”

Also on the agenda for Tuesday's meeting is a public hearing on the 2012 budget.

A work session begins at 3 p.m., and the regular meeting at 6 p.m. in Cherokee Hall at the government center, 1130 Bluffs Pkwy, Canton.