Category Archives: Lake Park

Packet: Lake Park annexation item @ GLPC 2026-04-27

Update 2026-05-10: Videos: 1 Lake Park, 2 Lowndes County, 4 Valdosta @ GLPC 2026-04-27.

Due to some confusion about who to ask, the packet materials for the one Lake Park item came in after the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) meeting on April 27, 2026.

  1. LP-2026-01 Request by the City of Lake Park to Rezone upon Annexation 1.12 acres
    from Single-Family Residential (R-1 County)
    to Single-Family Residential (R-15 Lake Park).
    The subject property is located at the East side of Long Pond Road, in Lake Park, Georgia,
    (Portion of Tax Map 0221C Parcels 002 & 003).

[Packet: Lake Park, annexation item, Calvary Baptist Church, @ GLPC 2026-04-27]
Packet: Lake Park, annexation item, Calvary Baptist Church, @ GLPC 2026-04-27

These packet materials are on the LAKE website. Images of each page are below. Continue reading →

Packet: 1 Lake Park, 2 Lowndes County, 4 Valdosta @ GLPC 2026-04-27

Update 2026-05-09: Packet: Lake Park annexation item @ GLPC 2026-04-27.

In a rare situation, Valdosta planning staff actually recommend denial of

  1. CU-2026-02 Request by Hedgecock Investments LLC for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP)

Staff for Valdosta or Lowndes County recommend approval of all the other cases before the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) tomorrow at 5:30 PM.

[Packet: 1 Lake Park, 2 Lowndes County, 4 Valdosta cases @ GLPC 2026-04-27]
Packet: 1 Lake Park, 2 Lowndes County, 4 Valdosta cases @ GLPC 2026-04-27

Here is the agenda.

The board packet materials are on the LAKE website, with images of each page below.

Except Lowndes County did not send the Minutes of the previous GLPC meeting. I will remind them.

We do not yet have the packet materials for the Lake Park case, because we had the wrong address for the Lake Park planner. I’ve now sent a request.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~
~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~

Monday, April 20, 2026 5:30 P.M. Work Session
Monday, April 27, 2026 5:30 P.M. Regular Session
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia Continue reading →

Videos: 3 Rezonings, 1 Subdivision, Paving, Alcohol, Housing Loan, LMIG @ LCC Regular 2026-03-10

The Lowndes County Commissioners voted to table 5.a. REZ-2026-04 Jay Ma Khodiyar, 5507 Central St. Clyattville, R-10 To C-G until their first meeting in May.

They unanimously approved the other two rezonings, and all the other agenda items, at the Regular Session of Tuesday, March 10, 2026.

However, they spent almost 20 minutes on 5.c. REZ-2026-06 Val Del Mobile Home Park, 3910 Val Way, R-A – P-D To P-D. One speaker got tired of them being called trailers and said they called them manufactured homes.

[Collage @ LCC 10 March 2026]
Collage @ LCC 10 March 2026

There were five Citizens Wishing to Be Heard, all against datacenters. One thought datacenters should go out in the woods in the country. I beg to differ.

They went into an executive session, but it’s not clear they said what for.

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 Continue reading →

Videos: 3 Rezonings, 1 Subdivision, Paving, Alcohol, Housing Loan, LMIG @ LCC Work 2026-03-09

Update 2026-03-12: Videos: 3 Rezonings, 1 Subdivision, Paving, Alcohol, Housing Loan, LMIG @ LCC Regular 2026-03-10.

Mary Beth Brownlee did not appear to report on One Valdosta-Lowndes (OVL). We don’t know why. They didn’t say.

At their Monday morning Work Session, the Lowndes County Commission heard the three rezoning requests. They had the most discussion about the third one, 5.c. REZ-2026-06 Val Del Mobile Home Park, ~34ac, 3910 Val Way R-A – P-D To P-D. Commissioner Demarcus Marshall seemed concerned that it’s about mobile homes. That is affordable housing these days.

They had less to say about the other items.

They voted Tuesday evening; LAKE videos of that to come.

[Collage @ LCC 9 March 2026]
Collage @ LCC 9 March 2026

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 Continue reading →

Packet: One-Valdosta Lowndes Report, 3 Rezonings, 1 Subdivision, Paving, Alcohol, Housing Loan, LMIG @ LCC 2026-03-09

Update 2026-03-12: Videos: 3 Rezonings, 1 Subdivision, Paving, Alcohol, Housing Loan, LMIG @ LCC Work 2026-03-09.

In the Work Session Monday morning, Mary Beth Brownlee will report on One Valdosta-Lowndes (OVL). Be there or watch it in the forthcoming LAKE video, because the Lowndes County Commission does not post videos of its work sessions.

The rezoning the Planning Commission recommended against last month because of inadequate site plan now has an updated plan. That’s REZ-2026-06 Val Del Mobile Home Park, ~34ac, 3910 Val Way, R-A & P-D to P-D, County Utilities. The other two rezonings look much the same.

Also on the agenda is $1,491,023.01 more from GDOT for resurfacing Radar Site Road, Coffee Road, Hamby Lane, and Webb Road North. And another $1,100,000.00 from TIA for Kinderlou-Clyattville Road Paving and Drainage Improvements. Plus acceptance of a subdivision’s infrastructure, a beer and wine license, and a half-million dollar housing loan.

[Packet: One-Valdosta Lowndes, 3 Rezonings, 1 Subdivision, Paving, Alcohol, Housing, LMIG @ LCC 2026-03-09]
Packet: One-Valdosta Lowndes, 3 Rezonings, 1 Subdivision, Paving, Alcohol, Housing, LMIG @ LCC 2026-03-09

The Lowndes County Commissioners vote Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM.

Here is the agenda.

The board packet, received in response to a LAKE open records request, is on the LAKE website. Images of each page are below.

See also the Continue reading →

Videos: Valdosta downtown multi-family residential development and office and storage in Lowndes County @ GLPC 2026-01-26

Update 2026-02-08: Packet: 3 rezonings, 1 Utility Easement Termination, Orr Road Bids, Backup Generators for Pruitt Health Facilities @ LCC 2026-02-09.

They unanimously recommended approval of all items, at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC), at its January 26, 2026, Regular Meeting.

[Collage @ GLPC 26 January 2026]
Collage @ GLPC 26 January 2026

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, received in response to a couple of LAKE open records requests.

Why should a private media firm have to pry these materials out of the county?

I’m not blaming the county staff. They do what they are told to do by the County Commissioners.

I’m not blaming the Planning Commissioners. They are merely an advisory body.

So please ask your Lowndes County Commissioners why they do not publish important materials so the public can see what they the Commissioners are using to make decisions? Continue reading →

Packet: 3 Lowndes County rezonings @ GLPC 2026-01-20

Update 2026-01-24: Packet: Valdosta downtown multi-family residential development and office and storage in Lowndes County @ GLPC 2026-01-26.

Lowndes County has three small rezoning cases on this week’s agenda for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC).

This post has what Lowndes County sent before the GLPC Work Session, coming up 5:30 PM, Tuesday, January 20, 2026.

Obviously these materials are not yet complete, since the third one has nothing but one conceptual site plan. The agenda is also not yet ready.

And the county tells us that County Planner JD Dillard said, “The DRAFT minutes are still in draft status.”

[Collage @ GLPC Packet 2026-01-20]
Collage @ GLPC Packet 2026-01-20

The City Clerks of Remerton and Lake Park say they have no items for GLPC this month.

Valdosta, Hahira, and Dasher have not been heard from yet.

This may be the first time Lowndes County has responded first to a LAKE open records request for GLPC materials. Those materials are on the LAKE website.

Since I seem to have been hasty in sending this request before the Work Session, I guess I’ll send another request before the Regular Session, which the county says will be January 26.

As always, the appointed GLPC Commissioners make recommendations, and the county or city elected officials make the actual decisions later. Continue reading →

Videos: Workshop 2, Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update 2025-11-17

Update 2026-01-17: the next such Workshop is being rescheduled; we don’t yet know until when.

Update 2026-01-16: Power, water, and datacenters –Suwannee Riverkeeper 2025-11-17.

Very interesting discussions at the second Workshop on the five-year Update to the Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan. Datacenters, water, sewer, power, trash, accessibility, affordable housing, guiding development, and more.

The third Workshop will be this Monday Tuesday, January 20, 2026, about 6 PM, after the Work Session of the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC), at 325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, GA.

Update 2026-01-17: the next such Workshop is being rescheduled; we don’t yet know until when.

[Workshop 2, Lowndes County, Comprehensive Plan Update, Many interesting discussions, 2025-11-17]
Workshop 2, Lowndes County, Comprehensive Plan Update, Many interesting discussions, 2025-11-17

Suwannee Riverkeeper noted reliable power and water are needed for economic development, and AI datacenters could be a problem for that. Also, don’t assume just because the governor says we’re doing datacenters that they will expand everywhere. Remember the dotcom bust and how cheap PCs took over, then smartphones. Somebody will invent a much less expensive method of doing so-called artificial intelligence, a method that does not require huge datacenters. Meanwhile, there are natural limits on water, witness Barber Pool, fed by a spring that now hardly ever trickles. Continue reading →

Videos: Alcohol, Health insurance, GEFA Lift State Pump Loan, Rascals demolition for Fire Station, Bemiss Road Mowing @ LCC Regular 2025-10-28

At the Tuesday evening Work Session, the Lowndes County Commissioners approved everything unanimously.

They chatted quite a bit about 6.a. Demolition for Lowndes County Fire Rescue Station 3. Apparently the old Rascals did come with some equipment in the kitchen, although County Manager Paige Dukes declined to call it kitchen equipment.

On the 5.c. GEFA Loan for Lift Station Bypass Pumps Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted clarification that this was for sewage, not other kinds of water. Answer: yes.

In 7. Reports – County Manager she had EMA Director Ashley Tye talk about remaining federal funds promised but not yet received. The big batch will not qualify for the relaxed timeline for budgeting, due to how late it is.

She also had Fire Chief Billy Young talk about fire safety in this dry season, a topic the Commissioners continued to discuss for a bit.

[Collage @ LCC 28 October 2025]
Collage @ LCC 28 October 2025

In Citizens Wishing to Be Heard, Steve Schreck apologized if the shirt he wore Monday morning offended anyone. The Chairman had told him after that Work Session never to come back wearing that shirt. Schreck talked about a display near him that children could see, which he said was at least equally offensive. He asked for an ordinance banning public obscenity.

Commissioner Joyce Evans remained absent due to Continue reading →

Videos: Alcohol, Health insurance, GEFA Lift State Pump Loan, Rascals demolition for Fire Station, Bemiss Road Mowing @ LCC Work 2025-10-27

Update 2025-10-29: Videos: Alcohol, Health insurance, GEFA Lift State Pump Loan, Rascals demolition for Fire Station, Bemiss Road Mowing @ LCC Regular 2025-10-28.

Seven minutes for this morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall was absent. Commissioner Joyce Evans remains absent due to health reasons.

They vote tomorrow (Tuesday) evening at 5:30 PM.

[Videos: Alcohol, Health insurance, GEFA Lift State Pump Loan, Rascals demolition for Fire Station 3, Bemiss Road Mowing @ LCC Work 2025-10-27]
Videos: Alcohol, Health insurance, GEFA Lift State Pump Loan, Rascals demolition for Fire Station 3, Bemiss Road Mowing @ LCC Work 2025-10-27

There were no surprises, except maybe County Manager Paige Dukes lauding Public Works Director Robin Cumbus for organizing 6.b. Bid for Bemiss Road Right of Way Mowing.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, plus a few stills of some people, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the Continue reading →