Category Archives: Planning

Critical Mass this Friday

Critical Mass is riding again this Friday, September 24, starting from the Bleu Pub downtown.

The gathering starts at 6pm, followed by a 30 minute ride at 6:30pm.
Help raise awareness for the need of bike lanes and improved bicycler safety in Valdosta. Come and experience Valdosta in a new way- on a bike ride through the city with a few dozen friends!
All level-riders welcome and encouraged to participate.
Coming from VSU? Meet us at the Student Union at 5:50pm, a group will leave from the Student Union at 6pm and head to the Bleu Pub starting point downtown.

It has been happening in Valdosta since July 2009:

-jsq

Communities, not Cul de sacs

Update: Trees make streets safer and Fixing a perfect storm of bad planning and design.

Eric M. Weiss writes in the Washington Post on 22 March 2009 about In Va., Vision of Suburbia at a Crossroads: Targeting Cul-de-Sacs, Rules Now Require Through Streets in New Subdivisions

The state has decided that all new subdivisions must have through streets linking them with neighboring subdivisions, schools and shopping areas. State officials say the new regulations will improve safety and accessibility and save money: No more single entrances and exits onto clogged secondary roads. Quicker responses by emergency vehicles. Lower road maintenance costs for governments.

Banning cul-de-sacs was one of the New York Times Magazine’s 9th Annual Year in Ideas, because it’s safer and less expensive: Continue reading →

Solar Companies Booming in Buffalo

There’s still time to lead the solar parade:

“The solar market is the fastest-growing market worldwide, bar none,” said Ryne P. Raffaelle, director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Center for Photovoltaics in Colorado. “For the last half-dozen years, it’s grown at about a 40 to 45 percent compound annual growth rate per year.”
That growth is expected to accelerate next year, said Raffaelle, who was a Rochester Institute of Technology faculty member for 10 years. But the vast majority of that growth, both in the manufacturing and deployment of systems, is happening outside the United States. Asia has taken a “commanding lead” in manufacturing, and Europe leads in deployment, he said.
“But the rest of the world, they’re still watching the United States. They still see us as the 800-pound gorilla,” Raffaelle said. “It’s like, ‘When are they going to do something?'”

That was from a conference held in the Buffalo area recently.

In Buffalo, New York, they’re not just talking about solar power: Continue reading →

Perspectives on Biomass Permit

This is Karen Noll’s LTE to the VDT as sent on 12 Aug 2010. It doesn’t seem to have ever turned up in the online version of the VDT, but here it is:

While certain entities see no negative environmental impact of the proposed biomass plant, the information and data that I have does not indicate that incineration of wood is efficient, environmentally sound, or safe for our citizens. Yet others see this as a win-win scenario claiming a vastly different perspective on the situation; economically, environmentally and in regard to the health of our citizens. Why is that?

Continue reading →

If it’s sunny enough in Buffalo….

Charlotte Hsu writes in the UB Reporter about Site preparation to begin on ‘Solar Strand’:

Workers will begin mowing, clearing and grading land adjacent to Flint Road next month to make way for “The Solar Strand,” a 1.1 megawatt solar-energy array designed by internationally renowned landscape architect Walter Hood and funded by a $7.5 million grant from the New York Power Authority.
The installation, with 5,000 photovoltaic (PV) panels powering more than 700 student apartments at UB, is calculated to reduce carbon emissions by more than 500 metric tons per year. That will bring the university closer to its goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2030 under its Climate Action Plan. But the project is more than a means of generating energy.

Buffalo is at 42 degrees 53 minutes north, about a thousand miles north of Valdosta at 30 degrees 49 minutes north. On the NREL solar radiation map, Buffalo shows significantly less solar radiation than Valdosta.

So if Buffalo can do it, why can’t Valdosta? Continue reading →

Videos: McDonald’s vs. Foxborough Sign Variance

The corpulent corporate giant asked for a variance, and met with unexpected opposition, as well as unexpected results. The formal title of the item was VAR-2010-15 McDonald’s Corp. (4601 Foxborough Avenue), on the agenda of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA). McDonald’s was “Requesting a Variance to the maximum square footage allowed for drive-thru signage.”

Lowndes County Zoning Administrator Carmella Braswell. introduced the case, and Chair Allan Strickland mentioned pictures of other fast food restaurants with signs within ordinance limits.

A McDonald’s employee and his lawyer presented their case, in which we learned that McDonald’s wants two signs for a large total variance and that McDonald’s doesn’t want to do custom signs.

Well-known local lawyer Gary Moser stepped up to speak for over 200 residents of the Foxborough neighorhood who don’t want a McDonald’s at their entrance. Continue reading →

On What Basis Does ZBOA Decide?

How does the Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) base its decisions? Well, its members are appointed by two different local governments, of the City of Valdosta and Lowndes County, and each government provides its own criteria. Here they are: Continue reading →

Who is ZBOA?

The current members of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) are:

City of Valdosta
Allan Strickland, Chair
Laverne Gaskins
Scott Orenstein, Vice-Chair
Nancy Hobby
Paul Alvarado

Lowndes County
Gretchen Quarterman
Dr. William Houseal
Dave Kirk

Here they are at their 14 Sep 2010 meeting:

Left to right: Laverne Gaskins, Gretchen Quarterman, Paul Alvarado, Allan Strickland (Chair), Scott Orenstein (Vice-Chair), and Dr. William Houseal. (Nancy Hobby and Dave Kirk were not present at that meeting.)

According to the city’s web page about them:

The ZBOA is a joint board consisting of eight appointed citizens, four each for the City of Valdosta and Lowndes County. Members are appointed for three year terms. City board members are appointed by the Mayor-Council based on their experience in land development, their familiarity with the City of Valdosta Zoning Ordinance, and their willingness to commit sufficient time to the board in order to be an effective board member.

What do they do? Continue reading →

McDonalds Denied Sign Variance for Foxborough Store

Update: Videos are here.

Fast-food giant McDonalds applied for a sign variance so they could have signs the same size as everywhere else, so they wouldn’t have to do a custom job. The Technical Review Committee (TRC) recommended against. Attorney Gary Moser summed up the opinions of 200 Foxborough residents who don’t want the added light from the sign and headlights. He also mentioned Vince Schneider is being deployed to Afghanistan and doesn’t want the added lights when he gets back in six months.

Surprise speaker Gary Minchew, a well-known local developer, spoke against the variance, citing the arrogant behavior of McDonalds, which he said insisted on keeping a variance through his property he had granted First State Bank, even though he had not intended it to be used by a fast-food buyer of the bank property.

The Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously to deny the variance. Pictures and videos to follow.