Local brief
Whitfield County, Georgia: GDOT asks for a stream-buffer variance to build a roundabout at SR 3/US 41 and Five Springs Road; comments through Nov. 12
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division posted public notice BV-155-26-01 for a Georgia Department of Transportation request to work inside the 25-foot state waters buffer of Jobs Creek while converting the SR 3/US 41 and Five Springs Road intersection into a multi-lane roundabout. Comments are taken through Nov. 12, 2026.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has posted public notice BV-155-26-01, a request for a variance to encroach within the 25-foot state waters buffer in Whitfield County. The notice is dated Oct. 14, 2026, and the comment period closes Nov. 12, 2026.
Who is asking. The applicant is the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), Office of Environmental Services.
The project. GDOT plans to convert the intersection of SR 3/US 41 and County Road 666/Five Springs Road into a multi-lane roundabout. The work would affect the buffer of Jobs Creek in the Conasauga River watershed (HUC 03150101).
How much. The notice says the disturbance would cover 839.72 square feet and include fill for roadway slopes, clearing and grubbing for construction access, and installing erosion-control best management practices.
The law. The request falls under the Georgia Erosion and Sedimentation Act (O.C.G.A. § 12-7-1 et seq.) and EPD rules chapter 391-3-7.
How to comment by Nov. 12. Email EPDcomments@dnr.ga.gov and put the words "Buffer Variance Comment" and the control number BV-155-26-01 in the subject line. Written comments can also go to EPD’s Nonpoint Source Program in Atlanta, at the mailing address on the notice. EPD says it cannot zone property or decide land use, so only comments about environmental issues (air, water and land protection) will be considered.
See the plans. EPD says site plans can be reviewed at its Watershed Protection Branch file room in Atlanta. The notice is here: https://epd.georgia.gov/document/document/bv-155-26-01-whitfield-county-public-notice/download. EPD’s list of buffer variance notices for counties S through W: https://epd.georgia.gov/requests-state-waters-buffer-variance-counties-s-w. Contact: Josh Hanselman, EPD Watershed Protection Branch, 470-524-0599.
Original source: Georgia EPD email "Request for State Buffer Variance," Oct. 13, 2026, and EPD public notice BV-155-26-01. Notice Nearby wrote this brief in its own words.
What to read next: the Whitfield County hub (https://noticenearby.com/ga/whitfield), the Georgia hub (https://noticenearby.com/ga) and all public papers (https://noticenearby.com/papers). Local businesses, parks and places nearby are on ZOST.app (https://zost.app).
Notice Nearby is a Public Register listing, not a newspaper, and this page is not Legal Publication. If EPD and this note disagree, EPD wins.
Source: the public notice on this register NN-GOVEMAIL-20261013-GABV15526 · Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
This is a Notice Nearby local brief — an in-house explainer written from a government-posted notice on this register. It is not official minutes, not a newspaper story, and not Legal Publication.