What does a big parcel of flood plain property on the east (left) bank of the Withlacoochee River have to do with a subdivision to the west, both on the agenda for this Monday’s Greater Lowndes Planning Commission?

Well, both seem to have been requested by the same person, who is also somehow involved with the owner of the land in between.

What do the various LLCs and people involved want to do with hundreds of acres of floodplain next to the Withlacoochee River? They probably can’t build subdivisions on it, but they could log it, dig sand mines, put a shooting range there, or many other possibilities that might not be good for the river or nearby homeowners.

I have filed an open records request with Lowndes County so we can find out more.

Let’s start with the Valdosta deannexation case:

City of Valdosta Cases:

5. VA-2021-16 Uvalde Land Co. (Cherry Creek — Withlacoochee River) Deannex 310 acres from the City of Valdosta

Map: Uvalde Land Company, LLC:

The Lowndes County Tax Assessor says:

Parcel ID: 0072 031
Address: WITHLACOOCHEE RIVER
Acres: 530.24

The Georgia Secretary of State Corporations Division says about, Uvalde Land Company, LLC:

Registered Agent Name: James Warren
Physical Address: 519 Conley Avenue, Valdosta, GA, 31602, USA
County: Lowndes

There is no Conley Avenue in Valdosta. There is a 519 Conoley Avenue, which the Lowndes County Tax Assessors say is “DIAMOND OIL & CONOLY ST” and is owned by ARMSTRONG INDUSTRIES LLC 121 BRECKENRIDGE DRIVE, VALDOSTA, GA 31605

Also, the state of Georgia the other day filed a notice of intent to dissolve Uvalde Land Company:

FILING HISTORY Filing Number Filing Date Time Effective Date Filing Type

18810037 3/18/2020 10:41:00 AM 3/18/2020 Business Formation

21657974 7/19/2021 12:00:00 AM 7/19/2021 Notice of Admin. Dissolution/Revocation

Notice Uvalde Land Company was only formed in 2020, with that erroneous street address.

That formation was less than a week before the 3/23/2020 land sale from ARCH FOUNDATION FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA to Uvalde Land Company.

In the Uvalde business formation document, there’s also this:

ORGANIZER Zachary Cowart
ADDRESS 109 W. Adair St., Valdosta, GA, 31601, USA

Not clear how Zachary Cowart is otherwise related to all this.

James Warren is also the Registered Agent for:

• Northside Property Development, LLC, Date of Formation / Registration Date: 7/9/2014
• Sendero Ranch, LLC, Date of Formation / Registration Date: 3/18/2020
• Warren Family Funeral Services, LLC, Date of Formation / Registration Date: 8/4/2017

The Tax Assessors show no land owned by Sendero Ranch, LLC. However, note that Sendero Ranch, LLC, was formed the same day as Uvalde Land Company. That seems like a very big coincidence unless there is some related purpose.

Northside Property Development owns land many places, but the biggest concentration is lots off of Val Del Road on Bettys Place.

Map: Bettys Place

Didn’t we just see that location? Yes, we did, west across the Withlacoochee River from Uvalde’s acreage.

Map: Bettys Place and Uvalde

When the Lowndes County rezoned what is now Betty’s Place as REZ-2019-12, back in September 2019, the survey plat was done for “JOYNER & WARREN, VALDOSTA GA 31605”.

Survey Plat
PDF

JOYNER is presumably Clint Joyner, who wrote the 2019 rezoning request.

It seems a safe bet that WARREN is James Warren.

But the survey plat annotated with flood certification says:

SUBDIVISION PLAT FOR:
NATCO, LLC
TRACTS

Survey with flood certification
PDF

So apparently James Warren is involved with NATCO LLC. and NATCO

Hm, who owns the property just to the south of Bettys Place? NATCO LLC.

Map: NATCO next to Bettys Place

And to the south of that? NATCO LLC.

Map: NATCO and Uvalde

That last NATCO parcel crosses the river and adjoins Uvalde’s land.

What about to the north of Uvalde? There is one intervening property, and then: NATCO LLC, STATEN ROAD.

Map: NATCO Staten Road

The Georgia Secretary of State does not have much about NATCO LLC.

PRINCIPAL OFFICE ADDRESS
ADDRESS
3353 WOOD VALLEY ROAD, ATLANTA, GA, 30327, USA

REGISTERED AGENT
NAME
W EMORY WATERS
ADDRESS
3353 Wood Valley Rd., ATLANTA, GA, 30327, USA

AUTHORIZER INFORMATION
AUTHORIZER SIGNATURE
W EMORY WATERS
AUTHORIZER TITLE
Member

Still quite interesting, that NATCO owns the land between Bettys Place and Uvalde, and at least one person is involved in all three.

Let’s look at the other case on the Monday GLPC agenda:

Lowndes County Cases:

7. REZ-2021-13 The Val Del Villas, Val Del Rd., 0072 061C, 28.4 ac., P-D to PD (Amendment)

Where’s that? Well, it’s on Bettys Place:

Map: Val Del Villas

Google maps doesn’t know about Bettys Place yet, but plenty of online real estate websites like Re/Max have, “Brand new 4BR/2BA floor plan in Lowndes County’s newest subdivisions.”

And the Lowndes County Tax Assessor knows Bettys Place.

Map: Bettys Place in Val Del Villas

So Val Del Villas is the subdivision name of Bettys Place.

Which means apparently James Warren is asking for a deannexation from Valdosta on the east side of the Withlacoochee River, and a subdivision rezoning on the west side of the river, while he’s somehow involved with the company that owns the land in between.

Inquiring minds want to know: what do Uvalde Land Company and NATCO LLC plan to do with all that land along the Withlacoochee River?

I’d think the GLPC board members would want to know that, too.

-jsq

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