MILTON - The Granary at Draper Farms, a 450-acre development project on the corner of Sand Hill Road and Gravel Hill Road in Milton, is set to move forward with construction starting this spring.
The project proposes the construction of 1,350 units over the span of 20 years, with the initial phase including 175 units that have now received the green light from town council to proceed. Mayor John Collier sees this as a positive development for the community, especially with 25% of the land being preserved for open space, including amenities like a tennis court and farmers market.
"Not only does it do a lot for our tax base, but the amount of property that they are going to bring to the town, open space, athletic fields, things like that, it probably has a value of 5-10 million dollars if the town had to purchase property for those amenities," Mayor Collier said.
He acknowledges the concerns some residents have about rapid growth but assures that they are approaching the project responsibly and methodically in regards to infrastructure to ensure what he calls "responsible growth."
"People have made it apparent that this is a great place to be, otherwise they wouldn’t want to come here. When folks complain to me about the growth I say, 'You actually started this! If this was such a great place to be why would you tell anyone?'" he joked.
However, not all neighbors are in agreement. Steven Jack expressed concerns about the need to address the infrastructure problems before further development occurs.
"We don’t have the infrastructure to accommodate the amount of buildings going up – we need to have more doctors, more nurses, more facilities," Jack stated.
On the other hand, local business owners like Kristen Latham are looking forward to the potential boost in business with more residents in town.
"I might be a little more biased because we own two restaurants here in downtown Milton, but new is good, commerce is great, and the building is fantastic, so I can’t wait," Latham said.
Mayor John Collier mentioned that there isn't an exact timetable for the rest of the development to proceed, but it will be a slow one, and says it will at least a 20 year process before all is said and done.
Note: WBOC's parent company Draper Media does not have relation to the project.
