The future site of The Falls at Oconee (now with 100 percent fewer falls). Photo credit: Lee Becker.

The developers of The Falls of Oconee project on Old Macon Highway have submitted revised preliminary site plans to the Oconee County Planning Department that eliminate access to the falls and the creek below it.

The falls are not natural, but rather were created by an old mill pond dam made of rock, and they are not on the Oconee, but rather are on McNutt Creek, a tributary to the Middle Oconee River.

Site plans submitted by Beall and Company of Oconee County for developer Athens Ridge Commercial Properties LLC in November included an elaborate walkway along McNutt Creek with what appeared to be a viewing stand downstream from the dam. 

That walkway has been eliminated in plans submitted on Mar. 31.

The project is across Old Macon Highway from the massive Athens Ridge student housing complex under construction and is being promoted as an attraction for students from the University of Georgia and University of North Georgia.

For more, visit Oconee County Observations.