GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Neighbors and the landowner agree that Luke Edwards Road near Dacula is a piece of heaven. They just disagree on what to do with it.
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Gwinnett County commissioners are hearing a request from Ashton Atlanta Residential to rezone 79 acres along Luke Edwards Road near Dacula for a 148-home subdivision. Both county planning staff and the planning commission recommended denial ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
Nearly 300 neighbors signed a petition opposing the project and packed this month’s planning commission meeting to say so.
“We invested in Dacula for its rural beauty and proximity to the Alcovy River Basin,” said Anita Stacey, who organized the opposition coalition. “This proposal is an existential threat to the stewardship of our community.”
Opponents raised concerns about traffic on a narrow road that was unpaved just two years ago and the loss of a wildlife corridor along Palm Creek. A traffic study estimates the development would add more than 1,400 car trips to the road every day.
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Dave Coakley, who lives nearby, told planning commissioners the site needs a full environmental assessment before anyone breaks ground.
“Allowing a developer to dig 148 deep foundations without a modern environmental site assessment is a massive liability,” Coley said.
The developer argues that 63% of the property would remain as open space and that the project aligns with Gwinnett County’s own 2045 growth plan.
Priscilla Richardson, whose family has owned the land for more than a century, wants to see it developed.
“Just as they stated, it’s a piece of heaven,” Richardson said. “Let’s give this piece of heaven to somebody else and let them enjoy it too.”
Alice O’Lenick, who has lived on Luke Edwards Road since 1999, framed the fight in simpler terms.
“It’s a little bit of heaven that’s still left in Gwinnett County,” she said.
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