After receiving proposals for five new gas station/convenience stores earlier this week, the discussion among White County Commissioners turned to a possible moratorium on future such applications.
All would of those included in the proposal the commission received Monday would be located on major state routes the commissioners were told, according to WRWH. Roads such as U.S. 129, Georgia 75 between Cleveland and Helen, and Georgia 115 East.
Commission Chairman Travis Turner posed the question about how many is too many at one time. “You know, we recognize we are growing, however, to have five at one time for our rural community is a little bit overwhelming, and absolutely,” he said. “I think capitalism, you know, I do, I believe in a free market, economic structure, however, in a rural community, such as ours, it does raise questions, is it too many too fast?”
The discussion included talk of a study to see if the county is too saturated with this type of business or how they can go about slowing down this type of growth, so it is manageable.
Commissioners did not take action on the issue but called on county staff to provide them with more information about what, if any, action could be taken in the future, the WRWH report noted.