Brian Vanderhoff's North Fulton Real Estate Blog

FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — Rape. Molestation. Robbery. These are just some of the crimes listed for the fugitives currently on the Forsyth County Sheriff's most wanted list.

The list includes 10 fugitives, but depending upon local criminal activity, the number can be higher.

In 2011, the sheriff's office arrested 15 fugitives from the list.

"We work diligently to apprehend all fugitives," said Capt. W.C. Barrett of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office. "We list their pictures and date of birth and description on our website for public access, and we ask that the public notify us if they've seen any of these fugitives."

Barrett went on to say the sheriff's office does not want the public to put themselves in harm's way to report sightings or crimes.

"It's our job to keep the community safe," he said.

So far this year, nine have been caught, but the list continues to grow.

The county works with the U.S. Marshals Office, as well as state and other national agencies to catch these wanted fugitives.

Listed in the gallery to the right, in no specific order, are the top 10 fugitives currently wanted in Forsyth County. Click the photos to read more about them.

If you have any information regarding any of these individuals, please contact the FCSO hotline at 770-781-3073. For an updated list of the 10 most wanted, go to www.forsythsheriff.org.


http://www.northfulton.com/Articles-NEWS-c-2012-08-27-194781.114126-sub-WANTED-10-most-wanted-fugitives-of-Forsyth-County.html

Labels: Forsyth, Forsyth County, Forysth, Forysth County, fugitives, most wanted

Carrabba's Italian Grill restaurant has submitted plans to build a restaurant location at the Avenue Forsyth.

Plans were submitted Jan. 2 for a restaurant on 1.5 acres at 410 Peachtree Parkway in Cumming.

Forsyth County Planning and Zoning officials will review the submitted plans Jan. 11.

Carrabba's is owned by Tampa-based OSI Restaurant Partners, which also operates Outback Steakhouse, Bonefish Grill, Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine restaurant brands.

For the company's third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, OSI reported same-store sales increases across all brands. Carrabba's reported a 6.3 percent increase.

OSI Restaurant Partners is the ranked No. 2 in casual-dining company in terms of revenue. Darden Restaurants, which runs Olive Garden is ranked No. 1.

The closest Carrabba's for Forsythians is in Duluth. There are also Kennesaw, Atlanta and Dunwoody locations of the Italian eatery.

Labels: Avenue Forsyth, Carrabba's, Forsyth, Forsyth Avenue's, Forsyth County, Forysth, Forysth County

Neighboring communities happy with end-of-year construction numbers


MILTON/FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. – Two neighboring communities are finishing the year in the black when it comes to residential construction permitting.

Forsyth County and city of Milton planning and development officials say their area has seen an overall positive outlook when it comes to new home permits.

"We will permit a few more homes, more homes than last year," said Tom Brown, director of Forsyth County Department of Planning and Community Development.

Commercial permits are a bit harder and a bit more misleading, Brown said.

"You could have a commercial permit for a Walmart and a commercial permit for someone doing a dumpster enclosure," Brown said. "A residential unit is pretty comparable."

In the case of a residential construction, one may be taking about a detached home, an apartment or a townhome.

"You're talking about a new household coming online," Brown said.

Percentage-wise, it may seem like a small increase, but it's still more than the previous year.

"The good sign is that people still find this area attractive, people want to move here," Brown said. "Compared to other counties, we are doing much more activity. Regardless of people's opinions, people want to be here."


In Milton the picture is a little different. While commercial numbers for building permits dropped off significantly from 2010 to this year, residential spiked. New homes got a small bump, but the real jump in construction came from additions and extensions of current homes, including pools and garages.

"Not a lot of commercial businesses are spending money right now [in Milton]," said Wade Greene, chief building inspector with Milton. "Instead we're finding people are adding on to their current homes. They decided they can live with their home for another couple years."

Green said the numbers are a far cry from the boom of 2007, but still not as bad as 2008 or 2009.

Labels: Forysth, Forysth County, milton, Milton Georgia, New Homes

CUMMING, Ga. — From her home, Meg Sparwath can hear the West Forsyth High School marching band — Pride of the West — rehearsing.

Sparwath lives in the Ashebrooke neighborhood, about 1.5 miles from the school, but her daughter will not be attending West.

"They are trying to move us to Forsyth Central High School, which is over four times as far for us," Sparwath said.

Sparwath is one of several Ashbrooke residents upset at the newly redistricted student attendance lines, which places the Bethelview corridor students at a new high school.

Redistricting for the 2012-13 school year also adjusts feeder patterns and moves students from North Forsyth HS and West Forsyth HS to Central HS, which is under capacity by about 750 students.

"Because there's no funding for any new high schools or any additions in the foreseeable future, we have to relieve West and also populate Central," Jennifer Caracciolo, Forsyth County Schools spokeswoman, said. "West is not over capacity, but looking into the future, they will be next year."

North Forsyth High School is currently over capacity.

Forsyth County School officials began the redistricting process in order to populate the new Kelly Mill Elementary School.

The school district staff has received feedback on the first and second drafts of the 2012-13 attendance lines from local school councils at impacted schools that also include Chattahoochee Elementary School, Coal Mountain ES, Cumming ES, Sawnee ES, Vickery Creek ES, Whitlow ES, Liberty Middle School, Little Mill MS, North Forsyth MS, Otwell MS and Vickery Creek MS.

Feedback on the proposed redistricting of students is being collected until Oct. 31 through the Forsyth County Schools website www.forsyth.k12.ga.us.

Sparwath said the proposals she has seen do not include changes to the Bethelview corridor that residents have requested. She plans to continue to oppose the drafts to the local school councils and the Forsyth County Board of Education. Sparwath said among her concerns is longer travel times if there's after-school participation.

"Basically, we think they are not supporting us and they are just worrying about numbers," Sparwath said.

Caracciolo said the board of education wants to let local school councils collect the information prior to finalizing the maps in November.

At 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, a public hearing will take place Forsyth Central High School, 520 Tribble Gap Road in Cumming. Several parents will voice their concerns with the redistricting, and school board members will be there to hear the feedback from the community. They will discuss all of the concerns they collect at their Nov. 3 meeting.

"Now, it's opened up for everyone to give feedback," Caracciolo said.

Labels: Forsyth, Forsyth County, Forsyth County Schools, Forysth, Forysth County, school district, School Redistricting, schools

CUMMING, Ga. — Cumming Police said it had obtained warrants for the arrest of a 36-year-old Cumming resident who is accused of taking nearly $8,000 from a school's parent teacher organization (PTO).

Jamie Garfield, 36, of Cumming, was charged with theft of funds from the Cumming Elementary PTO.

Garfield formerly served for several years as the treasurer for the Cumming Elementary PTO, according to a Cumming police spokesman.

At the time the theft was reported in August 2010, she was no longer treasurer, said Sgt. Bryan Zimbardi.

Warrants were taken for the amount of $7,911.82.

"She's still under investigation for a much larger amount," Zimbardi said. "Right now, the warrant was taken for $7,911.82."

"There's still a fair portion of this that is under investigation," Zimbardi said.

The thefts were occurring for about 21 months prior to August 2010.

"A lot more information will be released when this case is closed," Zimbardi said.

The thefts were discovered when board members of the Cumming Elementary PTO learned one of their accounts was overdrawn.

The elementary school PTO members approached Cumming Police Department, which launched an investigation of suspected criminal activity. The PTO is an organization made up of volunteers.

PTO groups are not under school district oversight and often raise funds for additional learning resources and student equipment not covered by a school's budget.

The PTO has reinforced its monthly financial review with additional oversight and annually completes an external audit.

Cumming Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division finished its investigation recently and obtained warrants from Superior Court for Garfield's arrest.

At this time, Zimbardi said, Garfield's whereabouts are unknown. The Forsyth County Sheriff's warrant division is looking for her.

"Though the PTO is a separate organization that is not under the school district's financial controls or procedures," said Forsyth County School District Spokeswoman Jennifer Caracciolo. "We are always saddened when there are allegations of behavior by adults that negatively impact children in any way."

Labels: Cumming Elementary, Forsyth, Forsyth County, Forysth County, PTO

Wal-Mart has withdrawn plans for a superstore in Forsyth County that had been the subject of a four-year battle with neighboring homeowners.

The giant retailer said the decision was related to plans announced in June 2007 to more strategically prioritize the development of its supercenters.

"While this decision is certainly an appropriate one from a business standpoint, it takes nothing away from the fact that Forsyth is an excellent community and a great place to do business," said Glen Wilkins, Wal-Mart senior manager of public affairs for Georgia. The retailer, which last year opened a new store on Atlanta Highway in Forsyth County, said as recently as February that it was proceeding with plans to build a supercenter along Ga. 141, between the Bridle Ridge and Laurel Springs subdivisions in Suwanee.

The fight over this Wal-Mart location started in 2004 and energized nearby homeowners to form the watchdog group Smart Growth Forsyth. In February, a 3-2 majority of the Forsyth County Commission ruled with Smart Growth, overturning a decision last May by the county Zoning Board of Appeals that would have allowed Wal-Mart to build a 175,000-square-foot store and obtain a stream buffer variance.

At that time, Wilkins said the plan was to move forward on a 170,000-foot store, with a 15-foot wall that protects the stream and a bridge that allows customers to cross the stream and enter the store.

Last week, Wal-Mart also announced it would not build a 176,000-square-foot supercenter at the corner of Peachtree Industrial Boulevard and Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

Labels: Bridle Ridge, Forysth County, Laurel Springs, Smart Growth Forsyth, Wal-mart