Spotlight On: Brandon Hembree, Mayor, City of Sugar Hill
October 2024 — Brandon Hembree, mayor of the city of Sugar Hill, sat down with Focus: to discuss Sugar Hill’s value proposition to the Metro Atlanta area, the importance of active prioritization of green spaces and recreational areas, tackling low inventory of affordable housing and more.
What major accomplishments occurred under your leadership in the past 12 to 18 months?
I have been the mayor of Sugar Hill for just over two years now. In that time, we have made a lot of investments in green space. Two of the items I am most proud of are our new parks. One is Gold Mine Park, the trailhead for five miles of our new Sugar Hill Greenway. Last year, we opened a 20-plus-acre park called Ridge Lake Park, located at 5494 Cumming Highway. Ridge Lake Park is a 22-acre property purchased by the city several years ago with the intention to retain green space along the Highway 20 corridor.
Phase 1 is now complete for all to enjoy. This includes site development, landscape screening, parking, pond/dam reconstruction, restroom/storage building, picnic pavilion, and a dog park. Phase 2 will begin immediately and will include the installation of a dock, gazebo, walking trails, and disc golf. This phase is programmed in the city’s Capital Improvement Budget.
What new community engagement initiatives have been implemented lately?
The city of Sugar Hill’s extensive calendar of over 200 events serves as a cornerstone of economic development. These events attract visitors, stimulate local businesses, and foster community pride. From the Sugar Rush Arts Festival to the Sugar Hill Live On Stage concert series and Splash Nights, each gathering draws people to downtown where they can shop, eat, and mingle with friends and family.
How is local economic growth being prioritized?
The city of Sugar Hill is committed to enhancing the community’s quality of life for residents, businesses, and visitors alike through its connectivity. After decades of remarkable growth, Sugar Hill has become one of the premier places to live in Gwinnett County. One key to Sugar Hill’s success is the high value the city places on quality of life. This commitment is exemplified in the city’s initiative to develop the greenway, an 11.5-mile greenway around the city with approximately 16.5 miles of trail.
A pedestrian bridge is in the pipeline, designed to span Highway 20 and connect the northern part of the city to downtown at The Landing. The Landing, the city’s newest plaza located at the end of The Bowl’s amenity pond, plays a crucial role in creating a walkable community. By providing a safe and convenient link to the Sugar Hill Greenway and downtown, this bridge promotes active lifestyles and encourages residents and visitors to explore the city on foot or bike.
By intentionally designing public spaces and creating “third places” throughout the community, Sugar Hill creates opportunities for community members to come together outside of their homes and workplaces. These third places not only enhance the overall vibrancy of the city but also contribute to a sense of belonging among residents.
Whether it’s taking a stroll along the greenway, meeting someone for a cup of coffee, or gathering at Ridge Lake Park for a dog playdate, Sugar Hill’s emphasis on creating public spaces fosters a strong sense of community and strengthens the bonds between residents, visitors, and businesses.
Sugar Hill is growing from a commercial retail and restaurant standpoint, particularly in our downtown area. This is mostly a community of small businesses. Our largest employers are more industrial or construction in nature. A lot of our focus in the last two years has been geared toward supporting small businesses. This is not a new thing, but we have a coworking space downtown called The Suite Spot to serve as a pipeline for small businesses wanting to grow in Sugar Hill. We have seen great successes from this endeavor.
The Suite Spot is the city of Sugar Hill’s solution to help small businesses grow and flourish. The Sugar Hill Downtown Development Authority repurposed the old two-story Sugar Hill City Hall originally built in 1939. Rather than demolishing the only historic building in Sugar Hill, it was decided that a better use of the space would be to help the rapidly growing business community, over 80% of which are home-based. Giving local businesses a space to incubate while having the ability to work alongside other business-minded people and openly collaborate will lead to more successful businesses and a more successful city.
What other strategies and resources are in place to support small businesses?
First and foremost, space. We don’t have a lot of commercial space in Sugar Hill, but we are working on this investment and hope to have some announcements soon on new commercial spaces downtown. This is a primary need for these small businesses. We have the traditional coworking space at The Suite Spot, and the upstairs area has office space available to rent for businesses that have expanded beyond just the need for a desktop. City staff work on-site at The Suite Spot to support these small businesses through networking events and opportunities.
What is your perspective on Sugar Hill’s affordable housing availability?
It is definitely a challenge in Sugar Hill, but it is a challenge in the county in general. We know that it is also a Metro Atlanta problem. It is something that we talk about together, not just in the city but when we gather together as elected officials in other meetings. Affordable housing is at the top of the list in our conversations. The county has done a lot toward gathering data on this issue and providing forums for us as elected leaders to learn about the causes of it and solutions people have attempted in other areas of the country. We do not have anything to announce at this point, but we have been working diligently to figure out how to address this in our community. We know that a housing shortage causes an affordable housing problem, but it is politically challenging in high-growth areas to discuss affordable housing projects if the phrase “high density” is associated with it. We have the challenge of addressing the political association with high-density opportunities and making certain we have good, adequate housing in the community that covers different age groups and income levels.
How are you leveraging technology to enhance not only the city’s efficiency but also its relationship with residents?
The coolest thing we have done recently is that we invested in an AI tool that you attach to a vehicle. You can drive around the community and assess the quality of pavement using this tool. That has helped us better budget our repaving program. I am absolutely fascinated by those capabilities.
The city has several websites that are designed and managed in-house by city staff. These websites have a consistent flow of information relevant to residents and visitors. Whether you’re looking to pay your gas bill or purchase a concert ticket for a performance at The Bowl, it is all at your fingertips and accessible through using our websites.
What are your priorities for Sugar Hill looking ahead?
We are very focused on what we call the Riverlands area of Sugar Hill. We are very fortunate to be the first city below Buford Dam. In addition to that, we are also close to the Chattahoochee River. There are many opportunities for our residents and visitors to fish, kayak, hike, birdwatch, and more. In the future, we will put more emphasis on how we can take advantage of those resources for our community. At the beginning of 2023, we formed a Riverlands Authority with local residents with an interest in conservation and green space. They are in the process of doing a master plan for the Riverlands area, to preserve and provide low-impact access to some of the city’s most diverse and sensitive green space.
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