FORSYTH COUNTY, Ga. — It took four years, more than 40 postponements, some innovation and a  great deal of cooperation between the developer, stakeholders and Commissioner Alfred John, but ZA 3807 finally received the zoning it first requested in 2017.

“This has been a long journey, long before I took office,” John said during Thursday’s Board of Commissioners meeting. “I’ve got to thank Mr. (Ricky) Bryan for accommodating a request I had by creating a road from an adjacent shopping center. Surprisingly, they were willing to bear the cost as well. It will be a very nice development.”

The development sits on 20.976 acres along Sharon Road and will consist of 54 attached residences, 29,000 square feet of commercial buildings, open spaces, a dog park, horseshoe pit, gazebo, pickle ball court, walking trail, benches and tree save area.

“Both the attorney for the HOA Board at Longlake as well as the developer have worked together to try and find a way to protect the interests of Longlake,” John said.

The original plan for the development called for nearly twice as many attached residences. “We’ve come a long way from 97 to 54,” Bryan said. “We worked really hard to address all the issues. It’s taken this long, but I think we’ve gotten it right.”