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Annexation request withdrawn
Landowner wanted to wait on it
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A Dawson County landowner has withdrawn his request to annex property near the site of a controversial motorsports park into Dawsonville.

 

According to Mayor Joe Lane Cox, Byron Hutson “changed his mind” about the proposed annexation, which the city council was expected to review Tuesday.

 

“He came in and said he wanted to wait on it,” Cox said. “He volunteered to pull the application off the table.”

 

Hutson, whose 37-acre horse farm sits across Duck Thurmond Road from Atlanta Motorsports Park, was not available to comment on the matter.

 

Neither Cox nor Councilman James Grogan knew why Hutson withdrew the request.

 

“I know they came down and spoke to Joe Lane [Cox] and told him to withdraw it,” Grogan said. “That’s all I know. I guess they must have rethought it.”

 

If approved, the residential site would have been rezoned “as presently,” or AP, for 12 months.

 

At the end of that time, Hutson could have applied for a different zoning if desired, according to Cox.

 

Earlier this month, Hutson described the annexation as “something we’ve been thinking about doing.”

 

The nearby motorsports park is at the center of a lawsuit that contends the city violated zoning laws when approving the site’s rezoning.

 

Plaintiffs West and Helen Hamryka, who operate a horse farm near Hutson’s property, contend their business and lifestyle would sustain irreparable damage if work on the park continues.

 

Hutson’s business, Stillwater Farms, is listed as an official sponsor of the motorsports park on its Web site.