The Sembler Company, developers of a new Canton mixed use development, got a permit from the Army Corp of Engineers that will allow them to pipe 5,380 feet of small streams and fill half an acre of wetlands on property at I-575 and Ga. 20. This will allow them to begin development of 400 acres and create Canton Marketplace, an 88 acre shopping center including discount department stores, big box retailers, shop space and outparcels. For the rest of the 400 acres, plans call for homes and commercial development, including a proposed site for Northside Hospital-Cherokee.

This decision by the Army Corp of Engineers isn’t without controversy. A local environmental group, has and continues to fight this development as they say the streams from the proposed Canton Marketplace site feed Canton Creek, which is home to a federally protected fish called the Cherokee Darter. Development of this site would create lots of silt which would cover the gravel of Canton Creek, which is used by the Darter for breeding and hunting.

Developers are working with the state and nearby land owners towards a solution. Sembler proposes buying 10 acres of nearby land in the Canton Creek watershed to set aside as green space, it will restore and stabilize banks on Brewton Creek in Forsyth County to mitigate damage of piping over the small feeder streams on the Canton property.

Sembler hopes to have the 800,000 square foot shopping center open for business in the fall of 2008.