CLARKESVILLE — Plans for the city’s old courthouse property are moving into a more defined phase, with city officials outlining a proposed fire station location, future hotel development and a broader public-private redevelopment strategy during a Clarkesville Downtown Development Authority meeting.
City leaders said the property is already divided into two parcels and could soon be formally adjusted to separate a future fire station site from the remainder of the tract intended for commercial development.
Interim City Manager Julie Poole said the current parcel layout may simplify the process.
“The property is already divided. It is already two parcels. It came to us that way, right?” Poole said. “Whether we can use those same lines, I’m hopeful that we can. It looks on the county tax assessor’s website that looks close to what we would need. It would be awesome to not have to spend money to survey it.”
Poole said only minor adjustments may be needed to align the parcel boundaries with the planned use.
Fire station placement, funding take shape
Mayor Franklin Brown told the DDA that engineers have already begun preliminary design work for the proposed fire station and have produced an initial sketch showing how it could be integrated with potential commercial development.
“We’ve met with the engineer on the fire station, and he’s already sent back a sketch on how we could fit it in conjunction with commercial building,” Brown said. “He’s doing full set of drawings, and we should have those in a week or so.”
Brown said the city expects to pursue state and regional funding sources for the fire station project, including Appalachian Regional programs, and emphasized that the station must be formally separated from the remainder of the property through a deed action.
“We have to separate on deed the fire station,” Brown said. “That’s the purpose we met, to know exactly where to cut it off.”
He said the station would likely be positioned along Ga. 115 and designed to integrate with surrounding development, including a future hotel.
“At this point, we’re anticipating pulling the fire station all the way up to the street from where it will face right on 115,” Brown said. “It will fit and will work, and then all the rest of the property will be utilized for development.”
Brown said there would be a roughly 40- to 50-foot separation between the fire station and any future hotel structure, with flexibility in final site placement.
Public input and development planning
Brown said the city is also planning a public engagement process to gather input on the property’s future development.
“We’re going to be looking at doing a short and putting together a program that everybody can participate in,” he said. “We’ll hold some town hall and let the public come in and make comments and recommendations.”
He said the city has already received interest from potential hotel developers but wants to finalize a concept plan before advancing proposals.
“Once we’ve done our plan together, they can look at it and say, yeah, that’s working,” Brown said.
Hotel, fire station coexistence questioned
Some DDA members raised concerns about placing a fire station next to a hotel. Brown dismissed those concerns, saying the arrangement is common and manageable.
“Any hotel I stayed in, fire station was next door,” he said. “I liked it.”
Brown also said he believes the fire station location could reduce disruption for hotel guests by controlling when emergency sirens are activated.
“If the hotel was there and they came out now, they would go by the hotel with sirens blaring,” he said. “Whereas with the fire station there, they won’t turn on until they’re past.”
Brown said the city is treating the fire station, hotel development and wastewater projects as three separate initiatives with different funding streams and timelines.
Long-term ownership and development strategy
Brown also outlined a long-term goal of retaining a city or DDA ownership stake in the property rather than selling it outright.
“Our goal is we do not want to sell the property,” Brown said. “Just to keep partial ownership or investment ownership in it, and be a part of it.”
He said such an arrangement could provide ongoing revenue for the city and protect public interests if a private developer were to fail.
“If something happened, say the group we selected went belly up, in the worst case scenario, we would still have the property,” Brown said.
Brown said the DDA structure allows the city to participate in public-private partnerships in ways the city government cannot directly.
“It’s just a matter of finding the right developer,” he said. “We want to have everything in place.”
He said the city plans to narrow potential developers and bring proposals back to city officials and the DDA for review.
Legal sequencing and ownership timeline
Economic Development Director Yvonne Marinelli said the DDA cannot move forward with development decisions until it officially holds ownership of the property.
“We can’t pull the trigger on anything until DDA has the ownership of that property,” Marinelli said.
Brown indicated that transfer could occur within roughly 30 days once fire station planning is finalized.
Funding constraints and ISO considerations
Brown acknowledged funding limitations are shaping the pace of the project and urged officials to focus on identifying available grant and financing sources.
“Your first priority would be finding and researching every avenue that will be available to us,” he said.
He also said the fire station’s placement near the center of town is important for maintaining or improving the city’s ISO rating, which can affect insurance costs and emergency response classifications.
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