Bartow County’s sole commissioner Steve Taylor approved rezoning and other amendments Wednesday to establish a 500-acre mining quarry within the former Pine Log Wildlife Management Area.
The decision was met with fierce opposition by dozens of residents and nature preservationists at the Cartersville courthouse on Wednesday. Several small business owners and residents, meanwhile, lauded the economic opportunities of such development.
Environmental impacts and traffic were at the top of minds for those in opposition.
“Development can be a good thing if it’s done right, but this plan submitted appears to be in the best interest of nobody except those that stand to profit from it,” resident Danielle Cook, 50, said at the meeting.
For a half-century, the Neel family — which owns more than 19,000 acres of land in Bartow and Cherokee counties — leased about three-quarters of the land to the state of Georgia. The state’s Department of Natural Resources operated that land, about an hour northwest of downtown Atlanta, as the Pine Log Wildlife Management Area. But in May 2023, the family opted not to renew their lease, cutting off public access while forming a plan to sell the property for development.
Credit: Ashley Ahn
Credit: Ashley Ahn
A controversial “development district,” approved by Taylor in 2023, would allow millions of square feet of industrial space, 16,500 residences, hundreds of acres of commercial development and 500 acres for mining. It would also reserve 5,000 acres for green space.
A petition with more than 14,000 signatures is urging the Department of Natural Resources to buy the property, but those discussions stalled in mid-2023 over the sales price.
Amendments to the zoning ordinance addressed previous concerns raised to the planning commission, including excessive night lighting for industrial operations that could extend beyond property lines and noise pollution.
According to the amendments, all site lighting must be directed downward, while data center operations producing sound must adhere to decibel limits during the night and day.
But for many, the primary issue lies in the mining quarry that will be located near Stamp Creek. They worry the quarry will endanger wildlife and discourage DNR from ultimately buying and preserving the land.
“This was the area the DNR used to release trout into the creek, which drove so many visitors to the Wildlife Management Area,” said Steve Friedman, the DNR’s former chief of real estate. He said he was speaking out as a concerned citizen at Wednesday’s meeting.
Credit: Bill Torpy
Credit: Bill Torpy
Friedman, who retired in 2024 after nearly two decades, said the road to the quarry will create erosion and possibly alter the pH value of water, a measurement of how acidic or basic it is, negatively impacting the fish.
“This quarry location will be make it harder to raise federal funds, because the two federally protected fish in Stamp Creek drive so much of the federal funding,” he said.
Bridget Childers, a member of the Georgia Native Plants Society who leads educational hikes in that area, similarly urged the commissioner to reconsider the quarry.
“There’s a lot of federally protected plant species that you can’t find anywhere else in the state,” she said.
A DNR spokesperson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in December that the agency “remains interested in finding a way to acquire the former (Wildlife Management Area) property for conservation purposes and outdoor recreational opportunities.”
Jim Ramseur, the Neel family’s representative, said talks with the DNR and national conservation groups are ongoing, and called people’s concerns of a detrimental environmental impact “unfounded.”
“It’s been a three-year process and we brought in many experts,” he said. “This is the most highly regulated industry in the country.”
The 500-acre quarry site will be located north of Stamp Creek Road with a central rock pit for mining granite. Commissioner Taylor emphasized that the mining pit will only make up about 75 acres, less than .05% of the prior Wildlife Management Area lease.
“The actual pit will be 75 acres that’s actually mined out of this 20,000 acres,” he said. “This quarry is in a way more remote area than the mining rights (the Neel family) had.”
The proposed developments come as major Korean conglomerates bring multibillion-dollar projects to the county, creating thousands of jobs in recent years.
SK On and Hyundai broke ground on a $5 billion battery plant in Bartow County in 2023, which is on track to open by the second half of 2025. Solar panel giant Qcells, owned by Hanwha Solutions, began producing solar panels at its Cartersville plant last year, and will be able to build 3.3 gigawatts of solar panels each year at full capacity.
“This entire development is to provide much needed housing for the incoming 6,500 jobs,” Ramseur said. “We want to make Bartow County a competitive county for data solutions. The county wants smart growth.”
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