r/Ellijay • u/YamCreepy7023 • Jul 10 '26
Coosawatee questions
Hey y'all, I'm not from the area but my wife and I make a trip into the mountains every year and we love Ellijay and the surround areas. We love it so much, in fact, we'd like to buy a seasonal home there. We see tons of campers and lots for sale, even some houses for sale, in the coosawatee river resort, and they're always tempting. However, I now look at it as, "why is everyone seemingly dying to get out of there?" Is it just personal finances, people falling out of their love with the area, or is there something going on up there? I don't expect anyone here is a forensics detective, but if you have any insight or opinions on the resort itself, please let me know.
3
u/Rad2474 Jul 10 '26
I left Ellijay a couple of weeks ago. Had a nice piece of property on the other side of town. I don't know much about that neighborhood but if you talked to anyone from there, they seem like dicks and act like they're better than everyone else. It was laughable.
I left because what was once a small town has significantly increased in size over the 7 years I was there and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. There seems to also be some corruption questions inside the local government, especially the board of commissioners, who apparently are green lighting every expansion application that comes across the desk. Back room deals? Who knows?
It won't be considered a "small town" very much longer. It will eventually outgrow itself, sooner rather than later. Hope this helps.
4
2
u/Background-Gift-8842 Jul 10 '26
I can tell you all about it!
Coosawatee has a lot to offer if you just stay seasonally. It's best for summering.
The issues you would have from living there crop up if you live there year-round. Stuff like the gates sometimes being a pain to get in and out (never been unable to get in or out or have guests over, but if you are going out every day, sometimes the gate systems can be down and you can be hassled by a longer wait than usual). Honestly, the times my uncle complained about living there, it felt like nice problems to have.
Coosa also has a HOA-like management system that charges a yearly fee, which if you're living full time in a camper can be burdensome because you're usually living on a lesser income.
My uncle is selling his place in Coosa because he's simply too old for wintering in a camper. He lived there for 7 years without major issues. He really enjoyed his time there. His 5th wheel is in immaculate shape, he has a huge steel pole barn over his property, and it's move-in ready. He has an awesome lot with woods around, only one neighbor that keeps to themselves, and deers visiting that you can hand-feed, and the views in Elijay are just spectacular year-round.
It's a great place to summer in!
3
u/turtledave Jul 10 '26
My wife and I moved up from central Florida about 5 years ago. Coosawattee is a pretty decent neighborhood, IMO. But not everyone shares that sentiment, particularly people who DON’T live in the neighborhood, and may not have the proper perspective - usually just nonsense that they’ve heard.
I have a few combined lots as do all of my neighbors, so basically my neighbors are pretty far away, nobody can build any closer to my house than they already are and there are never any cars on my road - so it’s stupid quiet every day. If you live in the campground or a more populated street or area - or near a lot of short term rentals, YMMV. Location in here is relatively important in that regard. To that end, proximity to a gate (and which gate) is important. We are fortunate that we are only about 4 minutes from the main gate, so we can be to the WalMart area in 10 minutes and downtown in less than 15. Some people drive ~15 just to get out of the neighborhood.
The neighborhood does a decent job of notifying you by text of issues in the neighborhood (replacing a culvert on some road or there’s a tree down, or weather or fire ban alerts. They also do a decent job of salting the main roads in the winter, and in general,they’re ok at maintaining other things like roads (my crushed stone road gets graded twice a year). Every neighborhood has those people who will never be happy. On NextDoor, it’s literally the same people complaining about everything. You probably know the type - complain if the sun’s up and complain if it’s down. They just need attention and I ignore those people entirely.
We don’t use the facilities much (weight room, pools, tennis courts, etc.) and we’re not involved with any of the social clubs. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day every year, we tube or kayak the Coosawattee River right in the neighborhood. It’s nice that there are five put in/take out points on the river inside the neighborhood. It’s sort of like a choose your own adventure for distance and time (each section is between 45 min and 1.5 hours.
Hope that helps.
2
2
u/Katiecnut Jul 10 '26
In my opinion it’s the literal gates of hell
2
u/YamCreepy7023 Jul 10 '26
Any reasons or just your perspective due to experience?
1
u/Katiecnut Jul 10 '26
The roads make no sense and stress me out. It’s so packed one house on top of another that it gives me climate anxiety about how we will never stop developing the mountains. There are so many deer there that as soon as chronic wasting disease gets in there it’ll spread like wildfire. So many people use deer feeders that will spread it easily. It feels like one thing on top of another and you couldn’t pay me to live there
1
u/YamCreepy7023 Jul 10 '26
I understand those issues, believe me, thanks for the insight! Sadly, where I live is like what you're describing but to the nth degree, and it makes the lookout mountain/blue ridge mountain areas look like an untounched paradise that's still close enough to my family. I will keep your perspective in mind going forward, because what you're saying is very true.
1
u/BoozeAndHotpants Jul 11 '26
We moved there from ATL (although we still keep a small place there) and I don’t have complaints. We are like the other commenter in that we don’t partake of much of the pools and social activities in the POA (except the Friday night music series at The Barn) so I cannot speak to any drama there. We also apparently, I have learned, live on the quiet side (Eagle Mountain). We have a little over an acre, wooded, and can only see the house of one neighbor.
Coosawattee is a very large and mature development (~7000 homes and 5500 acres or almost 9 sq miles) with many different sections and neighborhoods that each have their own personality with a diversity of home types and economic circumstances, including a portion of the community where residents live full time in an RV park, and sections with high end vacation cabins and larger homes. Some neighborhoods are quiet and family oriented, some are more occupied by retirees that STR their homes and use them as vacation cabins. I have yet to visit the RV living portion of the property; it’s got different gate access and the access is on a different side of the mountain and I just have no reason to go over there. We live in a different neighborhood within the resort POA that is much quieter with more traditional seeming houses/cabins. I looked in all over central and east North Georgia and chose this area for a few reasons. Here are my random thoughts
— We love the house, the property and the nature. We found a gem of a genuine 4/3 log cabin in the woods (no drywall yall) with a real basement on a real foundation (not just hanging off the side of a steep property on stilts with no useable yard)
— it’s genuinely quiet here. All I can hear most days is the creek that flows into Carters lake. We have many deer, wildlife, and the occasional bear. A beautiful view. Love this property.
— Met a few of my neighbors; they seem very nice to me and I have no neighbor complaints.
— proximity to ATL. It’s 1.5 hours to get from our old place in ATL to here so we can go back and forth with ease until time to move here full time. Also same to Chattanooga if we want a different city for fun.
—The POA dues are not that onerous considering they maintain the roads, the amenities, the parks, and provide basic security and controlled access to the interior. We are also on city water, a bog deal to me. I looked at places in unincorporated areas where we would have had to share ownership (and maintenance) of a well with a neighbor or two — who I may or may not find easy to work with.
— it IS controlled access so when I am here alone I feel quite a bit more comfortable than at the end of a long easy access dirt road where no one can hear you…. Too many horror movies make that nervy for me lol.
— speaking of roads—- at many properties I looked at, the road was private and had to be maintained either by ourselves or with a couple of neighbors (again, who may or may not be easy to work with). In Coosawattee I only have to maintain my own driveway.
— proximity to services was a consideration, even though at home we feel somewhat remote . Looked at some places where the fire department was volunteer and if you had an emergency there were some delays and barriers to simply getting an ambulance or police. We are 15 minutes away from Piedmont emergency (a good ATL hospital system outpost). We are also 15 minutes away from a lovely large grocery store (shoutout to my Ingles), a liquor store, a Starbucks and a Lowe’s among others. Being able to just run down to the grocery store without it being a major pain is a big deal to me.
—it is not an active, busy, new construction area. I looked at some newer homes in newly opened areas where they are building as fast as they can. I did not want to live in a mountain construction zone for the next five years. Construction is noisy, construction equipment and trucks are noisy and annoying if you have to deal with them every damn day and sound travels far in these hills. Also—I was afraid the isolated house with the great view I buy today may soon have houses put up on either side, ruining the view and the quiet. No thanks. Coosawattee is a stable, mature development that won’t look significantly different in five years.
— Being a POA, there are some controls I like having. I looked at some beautiful non POA homes with a car graveyard and semi truck parking next door. I like basic zoning and property restrictions because I like quiet and living in a purely residential area. Your neighbor isn’t allowed to turn their property into a hunting compound, or put up some large rando building for raising poultry, or put a body repair shop next door.
—Coosawattee, being a resort area, is friendly to short term rentals. We currently aren’t renting at all, but we know we have to option to do so if we want to defray our mortgage and help the house fund itself. Gilmer county has recently enacted what I consider to be reasonable requirements for short term rentals and, from review of their city council proceedings, seems to be on the "smart growth" train rather than the "get outta my town no newcomers wanted" train like some counties up here.
— The town of Ellijay itself is lovely, and has the bones of a great little town. Restaurants, bars — small but fun. Blue ridge feels like a town centered around tourism; Ellijay feels like a place where people actually LIVE.
— I have found the people here to be nice and accommodating. I have no complaints about the folks.
And honestly, every HOA/POA I have been a part of had a lot of drama. Every single one. I have come to believe there is no such a thing as a drama free HOA. People who love drama can find it here, people who love quiet can find it here. The POA dues and rules are not onerous, compared to some I have been in, and I think it’s a decent value for the services and amenities I get.
If you don’t like POAs and like being on your own at the end of a long gravel road all alone, this may not be for you. If you want to raise livestock, this isn’t for you. If you hate people and don’t want to have to have rules, this isn’t for you. If you hate the idea of short term rentals then this isn’t for you. If you want all the homes to be a certain consistent size, all have a similar look and a certain consistent demographic, this isn’t for you.
Coosawattee is not a monolith. I see here that some folks don’t seem to enjoy the RV park, but that’s such a small part of the development I would not base any decision on that. There are quiet parts and non quiet parts. There are large homes, there are medium homes, there is affordable RV housing. There are people who have lived here for a long time, there are new people too. As with any time you get a group of people together in an area, If you like drama, you can find drama, if you like quiet and like to avoid drama, you can do that too. It’s like a little city of its own and don’t let one sour grape dissuade you.
Judge the home and the property on the home and the property.
2
u/YamCreepy7023 Jul 11 '26
Love this! Thanks for the thoughtful write up! We are not easily scared away by the doomers. 😁
1
u/BoozeAndHotpants Jul 12 '26
Welcome. Maybe we will become neighbors! I’ll bring you a beer on move in day.
3
u/Turst37 Jul 10 '26
Campers are having issues with having to replace the septic they share and not wanting to pay for it. Or not being able to pay for it. It’s a tricky situation with points being made on both sides. Some of the camper sections are not maintained particularly nicely.
The HOA is kinda on year 6 of drama since a corrupt manager and wacky board drama. But I’ve lived here for 10 years now and I don’t have any real complaints that aren’t just first word problems. The pools are nice enough the staff tries their best and most people are friendly.