Author Archives: John S. Quarterman

Agenda: Four Valdosta cases @ GLPC 2023-03-27

Update 2023-03-29:
Videos: Four Valdosta cases @ GLPC 2023-03-27.

All four Planning Commission cases for tonight are Valdosta cases.


[Agenda, cases, GLPC 2023-03-27]

Agenda, cases, GLPC 2023-03-27

Here is the
agenda.

Thanks to Valdosta City Planner for sending those board packet items,
which are

on the LAKE website.

When we get the minutes for the previous GLPC meeting from Lowndes County,
we will put that there, too.

Update 2023-03-29:
those previous minutes are in the post with the LAKE videos of the most recent GLPC session.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~

~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~

Monday, March 20, 2023 5:30 P.M. Work Session

Monday, March 27, 2023 5:30 P.M. Regular Session

Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office

325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia

Continue reading →

Videos: Four Valdosta cases @ GLPC 2023-03-27

All four cases got recommendations from the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC)
for approval by the Valdosta Mayor and Council.
However, all but the first and last were on split votes, and the last had one Commissioner recuse himself.


[Collage @ GLPC 27 March 2023]

Collage @ GLPC 27 March 2023

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item,
with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman,
followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the agenda and the board packet items for the Valdosta cases.
Lowndes County later sent the
minutes of the previous GLPC meeting
in response to a LAKE open records request,
after only one reminder. Continue reading →

Packet: Howell Road rezoning, Trash colleciton centers, Windstream Broadband map @ LCC 2023-03-27

Update 2023-03-30:
Videos: Howell Road Halfway House tabled @ LCC Regular 2023-03-28.

The Lowndes County Commission board packet for this week’s meetings
contains no letters supporting the Howell Road halfway house rezoning.
It does contain eleven opposition letters plus 31 pages of opposition petition signatures,
which at about a dozen a page comes to somewhere around 372 signatures.
Commissioners will decide tomorrow evening at 5:30 PM,
after a Public Hearing.


[Howell Road rezoning, Trash colleciton centers, Windstream Broadband map @ LCC Packet 2023-03-27]

Howell Road rezoning, Trash colleciton centers, Windstream Broadband map @ LCC Packet 2023-03-27

The packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request,
is
on the LAKE website.

See also

the agenda
and
the LAKE videos of this morning’s Work Session.

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!


http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/donate

Videos: Howell Road Halfway House @ LCC Work 2023-03-27

Update 2023-03-27:
Packet: Howell Road rezoning, Trash colleciton centers, Windstream Broadband map @ LCC 2023-03-27.

Commissioner Wisenbaker asked this morning whether they could table

6.a. REZ-2022-10 Campus Transitional Care Facility 2193 Howell Road, E-A to P-D.
He was concerned that Commissioner Clay Griner will not be present,
so once again the Chairman may have to break a tie,
as happened last year in the vote that they later had to rescind
because they did not give proper notice of the Public Hearing.

Answer from Chairman Bill Slaughter and the Attorney:
yes, Commissioners can move and vote to table.

Does this mean they’ve all already made up their minds before
they even listen to the Public Hearing tomorrow evening?


[Collage @ LCC 27 March 2023]

Collage @ LCC 27 March 2023

Both DSS and

ADS asked for a trash pickup fee increase from $20 to $25/month,
and deposit center hours changed from 7AM to 7PM to 8AM to 6PM.
According to the Chairman, those things will not change yet,
rather they will be addressed in the retreat.
Also,
Deep South Sanitation has 6,900 customers and Advanced Disposal Services has 9,000.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item,
with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman,
followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also

the agenda and agenda sheets. Continue reading →

Agenda: Howell Road Halfway House @ LCC 2023-03-27

Update 2023-03-27:
Packet: Howell Road rezoning, Trash colleciton centers, Windstream Broadband map @ LCC 2023-03-27.

Update 2023-03-27:
Videos: Howell Road Halfway House @ LCC Work 2023-03-27.

The controversial halfway house on Howell Road
is back for its final Public Hearing Tuesday evening, with review this morning at 8:30 AM.


[Agenda, The Campus @ LCC 2023-03-27]

Agenda, The Campus @ LCC 2023-03-27

$22 million is a lot of money, but almost all of it is incoming grant funds.

Cost What
$21,853,779.00 A New Headquarters for Second Harvest of South Georgia
$116,286.00 PowerPhone Emergency Medical Dispatch with CAD Integration
$86,266.00 Acceptance of the FY2023 VAWA Continuation Grant Award
$500.00 Lowndes County DUI Court Technology Supplemental Grant Award
$250.00 Adult Accountability Court Technology Supplemental Grant Award
$22,057,081.00 Total

Here is

the agenda.
The agenda sheets from the county’s website are also

on the LAKE website.

We do not have the board packet because I didn’t send the GORA request until this morning.
LAKE will publish it after we get it.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2023, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 2023, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Videos: Contentious James Road rezoning @ LCC Work 2023-03-13

This wasn’t even the Public Hearing, which is tomorrow evening.
The Lowndes County Commissioners themselves were trying to make sense
of

the James Road rezoning.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know how many floors the current zoning allows,
and whether Smith Road would be improved.
Two floors and the county has no plans to modify Smith Road at this time.


[Collage @ LCC 13 March 2023]

Collage @ LCC 13 March 2023

Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker wanted to know when James Road got widened.
The County Planner said, “prior to 2008, for sure.”
The County Manager said, “about fifteen years ago.”
Actually, that widening started on February 16, 2009, which is 14 years ago.
The County Manager later did produce the date of 2009;
apparently the County Attorney looked that up.

The widening happened because of the proposed-in-2007 but-never-built Continue reading →

Videos: One rezoning each, Valdosta and Lowndes County @ GLPC 2023-02-27

It took the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC)
about an hour to consider the Valdosta and Lowndes County rezonings.
Each case had quite a few citizen speakers and much Commissioner discussion.

The

one Lowndes County case got a 6:2 recommendation to deny.
It will be decided by the Lowndes County Commission tomorrow evening, March 14, 2023.

The

one Valdosta case got a unanimous recommendation to approve.
It was decided by

the Valdosta Mayor and Council on March 9th.


[Collage @ LCC 27 February 2023]

Collage @ LCC 27 February 2023

Below are LAKE videos of each agenda item,
followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the

agenda and the board packet materials for the Valdosta item.
And the
board packet materials for the Lowndes County rezoning
that the county got around to sending the day after the GLPC meeting are

linked into the agenda post for the deciding Lowndes County Commission meeting.

Here’s

a LAKE video playlist:



Videos: One rezoning each, Valdosta and Lwondes County @ GLPC 2023-02-27

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC), Regular Session, February 27, 2023, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, .

Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!


http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/donate

Firefighters grant, Madison Highway rezoning, Webster Street purchase, Wild Adventures expansion, Peterson Road Sewer Main Open Cut @ LCC Regular 2023-02-14

Nobody spoke for or against the one rezoning,

6.a. REZ-2023-02 Thomas Property, Madison Hwy, R-1 to R-A, ~10 acres,
which passed unanimously.
Everything else also passed unanimously.


[Collage @ LCC 14 February 2023]

Collage @ LCC 14 February 2023

There was one

Citizen Wishing To Be Heard,
but it never became clear what
Karen Carlisle was talking about, nor who “we” was on behalf of which she was asking.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item,
with a few notes by Gretchen Quarterman,
followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also Continue reading →

James Road rezoning, Kinderlou well emergency repair, Francis Lake sewer rehab, Val Del water main extension to McMillan Road @ LCC 2023-03-13

It will be a busy Work Session this morning at the Lowndes County Commission,
with a rezoning, an emergency well repair, a sewer main rehab, and yet another water main extension northwards along Val Del Road, pushing sprawl with it.

As usual, they pretend the rezoning will cost the county nothing,
yet the vast majority of the more than a million dollars for the water items
is for the water main extension, which will result in more rezonings and more subdivisions.
This has been the county’s practice on Val Del Road since they pushed water and sewer north for Nelson Hill subdivision.
As goes Val Del, so goes the county, if the County Commission continues to have its way.

Cost What
$980,051.00 Val-Del Water Main Extension
$225,910.30 Francis Lake Sewer Rehab
$26,585.50 Kinderlou Offsite Well Emergency Repair
$1,232,546.80 Total

I do not have the board packet, because I forgot to send in a GORA request.
Why the county does not put its board packets on its own website is mysterious.
Under Agenda Center
for each County Commission agenda there is even a pulldown slot for “Packet”.
That currently has only the agenda and the one-page agenda sheets.
There is no reason it could not instead have the PDF of the entire board packet.


[Agenda, James Road rezoning]

Agenda, James Road rezoning

However,
the county got around to sending the GLPC materials for the rezoning the day after the GLPC meeting,
well after the statutory three day limit for the Georgia Open Records Act (GORA).
So those rezoning materials are

on the LAKE website.

Here is the

agenda. Continue reading →

Halfway house rezoning has Public Hearing date 2023-03-28

Update 2023-03-27:
Agenda: Howell Road Halfway House @ LCC 2023-03-27.

The halfway house rezoning on Howell Road is back for its final Public Hearing,
on March 28, 2023.


[Second Public Re-Hearing, Zoning Location Map]

Second Public Re-Hearing, Zoning Location Map

Back in May 23, 2022, the Greater Lowndes Planning
recommended denial by 7:2.
Nonetheless,
the Lowndes County Commission
approved this rezoning on 2022-06-16 with
the Chairman breaking
a tie.

After an attorney for opponents dug in,

that vote was determined invalid, because the county had not advertised the Public Hearing according to

state law specific to Transitional Care Facilities.
The first of two new Public Hearings was held

2022-09-13.

See also the Lowndes County Commission board packet 2022-06-16,
the
board packet 2022-09-12,
and the GLPC board packet 2022-05-23.

In the Valdosta Daily Times, March 5, 2023:



PUBLIC NOTICE TO THE CITIZENS OF LOWNDES COUNTY


[Public Notice of Second Public Re-Hearing]


Lowndes County Board of Commissioners
will hold a public hearing to consider the following rezoning request. The location, date and time of the public hearing are as follows:


Tuesday, March 28, 2023 – 5:30 p.m.


Lowndes County Board of Commissioners (official public hearing) Lowndes County Judicial and Administrative Complex Commission Chambers, 2nd Floor 327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia

The Board of Commissioners of Lowndes County will hold a public
hearing pursuant to OCGA § 36-66-4(A) at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday,
March 28, 2023, in the Lowndes County Judicial and Administrative
Complex, Commission Chambers, 2nd Floor, 327 North Ashley Street,
Valdosta, Georgia, in Case Number REZ-2022-10 regarding all or part
of Tax Map 0186 Parcel 107 and Tax Map 0187 Parcel 082 on the
application by Redeemed Living, c/o Charles B. Moore, Jr., on behalf
of Parkerson Properties, LLC/Thomas A. Parkerson, to amend the
Zoning Map of Lowndes County, Georgia, to rezone 23 acres located at
2193 Howell Road, Valdosta, Georgia, from E-A (Estate Agriculture)
zoning district to PD (Planned Development) zoning district for uses
to include a Transitional Care Facility. The Lowndes County Unified
Land Development Code defines Transitional Care Facility to mean “A
building or buildings in which is provided long-term but not
permanent living accommodations for one or more persons who are in
need of short term or long-term housing assistance, and in which may
also be provided meals and social services including physical
therapy, social therapy, emotional therapy, counseling,
rehabilitation, or substance abuse recovery assistance.” The legal
dictionary definition of halfway house is “A transitional housing
facility designed to rehabilitate people who have recently left a
prison or medical-care facility, or who otherwise need help in
adjusting to unsupervised living.”

The proposed zoning decision
relates to or will allow the location or relocation of a halfway
house, drug rehabilitation center, or other facility for the
treatment of drug dependency.

Any comments may be presented at the public hearings, or filed in
writing prior to the public hearings. Also, review of the above
applications is available in the Office of the County Planner
located at 327 North Ashley Street.

Pursuant to O.C.G.A. 36-67A-3, any opponent of this proposed
rezoning who has made campaign contributions aggregating $250.00 or
more to a local government official of Lowndes County Board of
Commissioners, within two years immediately preceding the filing of
the application, is required to file a disclosure statement, at
least five days prior to the hearing, with the Zoning Administrator
or County Planner, stating the name and position of the local
official to whom contributions were made, the amount, description
and date of each campaign contribution.

680722-1

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!


http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/donate