Residents along Lilburn’s Yellow River concerned about planned development’s impact on wildlife

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Residents near the Yellow River in Lilburn are again voicing concern about a development that plans to bring nearly 200 homes and potentially impact the wildlife along the river.

“This is an important area for a lot of different animal species,” Jessica Owens, who lives nearby told Channel 2′s Gwinnett County Bureau Chief Matt Johnson.

It’s an area where it’s not uncommon for deer to visit backyards and for hawks and owls to be spotted while you walk near the river.

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This week, neighbors say they started seeing notices pop up on Oleander Drive near the Yellow River in Lilburn.

The notices indicate a developer is planning to move forward with a proposal passed in 2015 to build the 195 homes laid out in the plan.

It has revived concerns from neighbors who have long feared the large development would drive out wildlife.

“There’s not going to be any place for them to go, you know, it’s gonna end up being roadkill,” Elizabeth McKenna, a local homeowner said.

Pulte Homes has applied for a change in conditions to the original zoning change from 2015.

They’re requesting to decrease the size of houses that are set to be built along Oleander Drive.

The original plan called for homes to be 3,000 square feet, but the proposal would limit the size of the homes to 2,800 square feet.

In 2015, county commissioners at the time approved the proposal unanimously.

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Neighbors are hoping the commissioners who now represent the county may be able to step in the way of the project moving forward.

“I would like for the neighborhood not to be built and for there to be respect for the people who already live there,” McKenna said.

Requests for comment from Pulte Homes have not been answered.

Gwinnett County commissioners will take up the proposed changes at their meeting on Feb. 27.

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