Latest News

Upcoming Senior Center Events

Upcoming Parks and Recreation Events

SNELLVILLE – The Mayor and Council approved a 201-unit senior housing development to be located behind Eastside Medical Center last week.

The project by Senior Lifestyle Corporation and Griffin Fine Living calls for a 201-unit, mixed-senior housing development for those 62 and older, consisting of 24 independent living cottages (duplexes and triplexes), 64 assisted living units and 32 memory care units located in a three-story, 75,000-square-foot building. Also included is a 81 independent living units located in a three-story, 89,000-square-foot building as part of Phase I of the master-planned development with the option to add up to 192 additional senior type units and not exceed 51,500 square feet of medical offices in Phase II of development.

The council approved the project 5-1 with Councilman Bobby Howard voting no.

As part of the approval, developers were asked to make changes to the plan by neighbors concerned about the proximity of the development near Tree Lane and New Hampton Drive.

The developer agreed to a 50-foot non-disturbed buffer along the adjacent residential property line and Waterford Township Community development. The buffer will be enhanced with evergreen landscaping and plantings, subject to the City's review and approval, with limited access for utilities and landscaping maintenance, where necessary. The buffer also includes a row of evergreen plants where necessary to create a visual screen. The building may also not exceed 60 feet in height.

SNELLVILLE – City officials welcomed new City Planner Genevieve Bigner earlier this month.

Bigner, who graduated with a Bachelor's degree in landscape architecture and a Master's degree in environmental planning and design from the University of Georgia, fills a void in the city's Department and Planning and Development after Jason Thompson was promoted to department director earlier this year.

"We are excited to welcome Genevieve to the City of Snellville team," Thompson said. "Her background will have her well prepared to help forge the city forward in its planning endeavors, more specifically the implementation and construction of the city's Towne Center Masterplan."

The New Orleans native worked with Archway Partnership and the Center for Community Design and Preservation during her time at UGA on various planning and design projects throughout the state. Through these organizations, she said she's had the opportunity to collaborate directly with community members to create spaces and facilitate positive change within their neighborhoods by providing high quality design work produced by faculty, staff and outside professionals.

Bigner's passion for city planning came at UGA during hearings for a proposed Walmart in Athens. She said it was fascinating to hear different points of view and how they could affect the city, positively or negatively.

"After that, I decided to pursue planning for my master's degree so I would have the skill to contribute valuable input at all stages of the design and development process by not only being able to identify issues and areas of potential growth at the larger scale but also provide viable and appropriate solutions at the smaller scale," she said. "I greatly look forward to becoming a part of the City of Snellville and doing my part to help the community grow and evolve in a way that further promotes the city's goals as a whole. In my short time here, I've heard nothing but great things and I'm excited to see everything Snellville has to offer."

SNELLVILLE – The basketball courts at T.W. Briscoe Park are now named after Amanda Riley, the 17-year old Brookwood High School teen who succumbed to cancer in April of 2010.

Riley, an avid basketball player and fan, captured the hearts of locals during her battle with the disease.

A dedication ceremony took place Monday at the courts off of Lenora Church Road, officially naming them, the Amanda Riley Basketball Courts.

"We will never be able to express how very much this means to us as there is no greater gift than one that helps keep our girl's memory alive. It is a great feeling knowing that long after we are gone, Amanda and her love of basketball will always be remembered," her mother Barbara Riley said in a Facebook post.

A monument surrounded with flowers reads, "She was only among us for a few years but left an everlasting impact on our lives. Basketball was her passion and some of her happiest times was when she was on the court playing the game she loved. Dedicated by the City of Snellville Mayor and Council November 14, 2016."

The Amanda Riley Foundation, a Snellville non-profit, was founded by Amanda's parents in her honor. The foundation has helped countless children with cancer.

Sept. 12 was named "Amanda Riley Day in Snellville."

For more information about the Amanda Riley Foundation, visit amandarileyfoundation.org.

SNELLVILLE – The city will honor those who served our country during a Veterans Day celebration Friday.

The event will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oak Road in front of City Hall.

The Gwinnett Community Band will start playing at 6:15 p.m. Food trucks Mac the Cheese and Atlanta Burger will be on site selling food and beverages.

Mayor Tom Witts, a U.S. Navy Vietnam combat veteran, will be the master of ceremonies for the program.

The Button Gwinnett Militia will present and retire the colors and later fire muskets during a 21-gun salute. Witts will recite the "Gettysburg Address" and there will be a candlelight vigil during a performance of "Taps" by a Gwinnett Community Band bugler. Forever In Ministry will take the stage and sing "America the Beautiful" and the Gwinnett Community Band will play the "Armed Forces Salute."

Lighted balloons will be released during the grand finale balloon launch and will be for sale from 5 to 7 p.m. near the Veterans Memorial in front of City Hall. Car flags and United We Stand paper weights to benefit the Veterans Memorial will also be on sale.

The Button Gwinnett Chapter Militia will have a tent set up with a colonial display and information for children on how to make corn husk dolls and corn cob darts. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, Blue Rose Media, Army Navy Outfitters, Brookwood High School DECA selling Wounded Warrior Shirts will all be on site.

Upcoming Senior Center Events

Upcoming Parks and Recreation Events

SNELLVILLE – A standing room only crowd heard operational plans for the state's highway 78/124 intersection project and about a library and city market proposal for the Towne Center Wednesday.

Residents left the meeting with a better understanding of the future of the Georgia Department of Transportation intersection project. While right of way issues came up, city officials made clear it is the state, not the city, which is responsible for all property acquisition and the construction of the planned Divergent Left Turn intersection. Scott Shelton of Gresham, Smith and Partners, the lead engineer for the project, said actual construction could take two years to complete. Currently the state and landowners are in land acquisition talks and construction is slated to begin next summer.

Shelton's presentation, which concentrated on explaining how traffic would flow in the new design and the history of the project, can be found at http://www.snellville.org/Forums/Thread.aspx?pageid=95&t=7~1

Also at the meeting, city leaders announced their desire to move the Elizabeth H. Williams Library to a new facility in the city's planned Towne Center. The new library would be located in a more centralized and convenient location on Wisteria Drive near the Police Department and City Hall and be a real driver for the Towne Center.

The city has invested wisely in property for future development on Wisteria Drive, and Mayor Tom Witts, fellow councilmembers and city officials stated that they had begun a conversation with county officials regarding the potential of funding for the construction of the new library in the county's 2017 Special Local Option Sales Tax renewal if it is passed.

Plans for the library would be developed in a partnership with Gwinnett County much like the new Lilburn library. The city's vision also includes a connected City Market that would be home to retail market space, restaurants, bistros, outside dining and pedestrian space and patterned after ultra-successful market developments such as Krog Street Market and Sweet Auburn Curb Market which have revitalized their adjacent neighborhoods.

City officials also believe new construction should include open building space that would be available for uses from education to civic events.

City leaders hailed the proposals for the library and City Market as vital catalysts for moving Snellville's Towne Center Plan forward. The projects will serve as big steps and major anchors for the future Towne Center. The crowd in attendance agreed wholeheartedly through their positive comments and input.

Please see the Bid Page for more information.