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Milton adopts 20-year comprehensive plan Process incorporated year’s-worth of input from public outreach By CHAMIAN CRUZ chamian@appenmedia.com MILTON, Ga. — The City of Milton has wrapped up more than a year-long effort to create a comprehensive plan which outlines goals and measurable action items for the next two decades. After praising city staff and residents for their hand in creating the 2040 Comprehensive Plan, the City Council voted unanimously Oct. 4 for its adoption. Community Development Planner Jackie Lim said the planning process began in August 2020, followed by a public kick-off meeting in December and public engagements that ran through July of this year. The Georgia Department of Community Affairs and Atlanta Regional Commission then reviewed and approved the plan in August. Now, Lim said, the city will begin working on the short-term work program, which turns the document into deliverable actions. There are 27 projects in the program, all associated with land use, economic development, transportation, sustainability, natural and cultural resources, placemaking and branding. Lim said the goal is to complete the projects within the next five years. However, before it was adopted, two Milton residents said they were con-
Redistricting plan targets blue suburbs
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Painted Horse Winery to expand in Alpharetta By SYDNEY DANGREMOND sydney@appenmedia.com
cerned about the initiatives in the 2040 Comprehensive Plan for the Arnold Mill area. John Zaworski, who owns property there, said he wanted to see it kept as a commercial node and not turned into an area for agricultural or equestrian uses. “I’m here to ask the council to adopt some of these edits that we’ve suggested or delay this vote to a point where we can have some time to discuss this specific node … to be a better representation of how this corridor has been treated for the last eight years and three different studies,” Zaworski said. “It’s just a little concerning.” Councilwoman Lauren Bentley point-
ed out that the very first work program calls for creation of a “small area plan” for the Arnold Mill area that will involve research and analysis by city staff. It will also ask for input from stakeholders, including property owners, before the City Council decides whether to adhere to the plan. Community Development Director Robert Buscemi said the last time they made a small area plan for the Arnold Mill area was in 2014 and that he was aware it had changed significantly since then.
ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Milton’s own Painted Horse Winery is expanding into neighboring Alpharetta and opening a tasting room/wine bar on Roswell Street. The new PHW Alpharetta will occupy a 1,000-square-foot building and will provide patrons the full gamut of Painted Horse’s wine offerings. Laura Jesseph, director of marketing, called the expansion a logical and exciting next step for Painted Horse Winery. “It’s absolutely spiritually an extension of the farm without the horses,” Jesseph said with a laugh. Local fans of the woman-owned Milton winery will now be able to sip its wide array of wine offerings in downtown Alpharetta while also enjoying live music and charcuterie. “Inside, it is quaint and small, and we will have a bar and will do tastings, but there is also a nice, big lawn so that we can continue to have people sit out back, listen to the music and enjoy their afternoon or their evening,” Jesseph said.
See COUNCIL, Page 8
See WINERY, Page 4
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The Milton City Council has adopted a long-term plan to enhance its parks system that includes more than two dozen specific projects over the next five years.
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