The Senoia City Council will conduct a public hearing on Aug. 18 to consider amending the agreement with Stalwart Films that would leave a 15-foot wall in place around portions of the Gin Property until 2019. The wall is being constructed to serve as a contained set for the filming of AMC television’s “The Walking Dead.”
The council on July 7 approved the construction of the 15-foot temporary wall which will enclose a number of Gin Property residences and close several streets within the property to through traffic.
Stalwart Films representative Mike Riley said the request to construct the wall dealt with creating a contained set for filming portions of the The Walking Dead episodes for the 2014-2015 season.
The wall will be constructed and in place from mid-September until the end of November 2015. To have the wall in place for that amount of time presumes that The Walking Dead will be renewed for another season, though no official word to that effect has been forthcoming.
Riley was back at the July 21 meeting, asking that the council consider an option for Stalwart that would extend the agreement until 2019.
City Manager Richard Ferry on Tuesday said Riley informed him that the owners whose residences are situated inside the wall had already agreed to the 2019 proposal.
Plans call for the closure of Morgan Street near Main Street on the east and just past the homes on Lower Creek Trail to the west. McKnight Drive will be closed as will Amey Street at its intersection with Morgan Street.
Access to the contained set area will be by way of manual security gates located on both sides of Morgan Street, Morgan at Amey Street, on McKnight Drive at Lower Creek Trail and at McKnight at Baggarly Way.
Riley said the gates will be staffed by security personnel on a 24-hour basis, adding that deliveries to the area will be coordinated.
Riley on July 7 said plans call for the metal wall to be anchored in such a way that it will withstand winds of 115 miles per hour.
Now in its fifth season of filming in and around Senoia and at Raleigh-Riverwood Studios, and beyond its worldwide popularity, The Walking Dead continues to have an obvious economic impact on this city of less than 4,000 residents.
The public hearing will be held Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. in the council chambers on Howard Road.
