News about a potentially huge economic development project in Henry County was made public last week, but right now there are far more questions than answers.

  Henry County government officials announced a public-private partnership through which a developer has agreed to donate 80 acres along the east side of I-75 between I-675 and Walt Stephens Road, where the county intends to build a convention center. A preliminary site plan shows a 10,000-seat arena as part of that center.

  A memorandum of understanding and a feasibility study are in the works, and Forest Development Group is amending its previous plan to build a warehouse development at the site. The developer plans to include retail, restaurants and hotels adjacent to the expressway along with various single-family and multi-family residential options in the interior of the property, which wraps around existing subdivisions to Flippen Road. The land is not in the city limits of Stockbridge but is adjacent to city property.

  The current plan provides for a four-lane road from Hwy. 138 at Davidson Parkway, running alongside the interstate to connect with Walt Stephens Road. Also proposed is a trail infrastructure that connects to Reeves Creek Trail.

  The site is being presented to the Atlanta Regional Commission as a Development of Regional Impact. The new project is scheduled to be heard at the May 9 Zoning Advisory Board meeting for approval of the zoning. After a notice of decision regarding the DRI is made, it will go to the Henry County Board of Commissioners for a final decision.

  Commissioners Bruce Holmes and Vivian Thomas, whose districts are more directly affected, praised the plan for its potential to be a landmark achievement for Henry County in terms of economic impact and qualify-of-life improvement for the area.

  No other commissioners were quoted in the press release, and it is not clear whether they even knew about the announcement ahead of time.

  “There has been no board discussion about it,” said board chair June Wood when asked about it last Friday. “I’m looking forward to whenever it does come up for discussion. I just can’t say when that will happen.”

  The issue was not on the agenda for the April 16 regular meeting, which took place after press time, although there could have been some discussion about it during the commissioners’ comment time at the end of the meeting.

  A possible convention center for the county has been a topic of discussion for quite some time. The board approved a $180 million capital projects list a few months ago and that total includes $90 million for a convention center, but that was essentially a wish list as there were no concrete funding details to go along with it.

  One funding source, perhaps the most likely, would be the next SPLOST. The commissioners will vote in the next few months to put the referendum on the fall ballot, and it will contain a specific project list. That could include a convention center if the commissioners decide to go in that direction, but the SPLOST committee decided to exclude it from the list of recommendations compiled after a series of meetings around the county over several months.

  SPLOST committee chair Clayton Carte told the Times that a combination of factors – including citizen opposition, cost, and lack of a feasibility study – led to the committee’s decision. The committee was scheduled to present its recommendations at the April 16 Board of Commissioners meeting.

  As for the press release itself, information released by the county’s communications department should not be assumed to be issued by a united board. A commissioner will from time to time put out information on his or her own behalf, and anything released by the communications department is first vetted by the county manager.   This announcement represents a massive shift from board action in January to form a potential partnership regarding the former Jodeco South property, later known as the Everly development. That deal also involved the developer donating land to the county for a convention center, with the county committing $5 million in SPLOST transportation funds to help with infrastructure. But that vote was taken without prior discussions with the Stockbridge City Council, which annexed that land a few years ago. Stockbridge officials made clear their opposition to the plan, and there has been no mention of it by commissioners since.