GWINNETT COUNTY, GA-Concerned over new road needs and construction volume, elected officials in this Atlanta-area county have postponed a final vote to Feb. 7 on a $25-million townhome and single-family subdivision. The project would be the largest of its kind attempted here since 2001, according to research by the Atlanta Regional Commission.

The ARC maintains the east Gwinnett County project proposed by joint-venture developers Touchstone Homes and Poole Mountain LLC is too far from retail and office properties. The planned subdivision is on a rural 462-acre site near the Barrow County line on Mount Moriah, Clack and Mineral Springs roads, about five miles from Hamilton Mill, another existing large community. The project is about 40 miles northeast of Downtown Atlanta.

Despite the concerns of the ARC and county commissioners, the Touchstone-Poole venture already has been approved by county planners and the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. The county, however, has the final say on all real estate developments in its jurisdiction. The ARC prefers a mixed-use development on the proposed site.

The project's first phase would have 768 homes and the second phase, 199 homes, according to preliminary plans filed with the county. Prices would range from $200,000 to $400,000. The entire project would take until 2012 to build out.