Council clears legal steps for St. James Baptist Church relocation, Cherry Hill School preservation

Town Council approved a sequence of resolutions and first-reading ordinances on June 9 that will enable a multi-party plan to relocate St. James Baptist Church and the historically registered Cherry Hill School away from the airport's runway protection zone.

Town and county staff presented the transaction structure: the town will acquire 1.70 acres at Beach City Road and Dylan Road (purchase funded by the town's real-estate-transfer fee account), temporarily lease the property back to St. James during construction, and convey a 4.667-acre town parcel on Union Cemetery Road to Buford County. The county, in turn, will construct the new church and then transfer the nearly 5-acre finished site to St. James following construction.

Project cost estimates presented to council total approximately $9.84 million. Funding sources include $4.0 million in state appropriations secured by the senator, $750,000 toward a fellowship hall, a $300,000 county design grant, the town's escrowed acquisition proceeds of about $1.29 million, and a $3.5 million county general obligation bond. Bids for construction were reported under budget with a 13% contingency in the county's contract.

Council members described a long planning process and thanked Senator Davis, county staff, town staff, the church and community leaders for reaching the agreement. Council approved the related resolutions and passed first readings of the enabling ordinances; subsequent council actions and final ordinance readings will follow the town's public-notice schedule.

Next steps: planning commission review for rezoning, building-permit approvals, county construction contract execution and a coordinated groundbreaking targeted for late 2026, with a projected completion date around March 2028.