Category Archives: Planning

Videos: Deannexation, Rezonings, Right of Way, Software, Health Insurance, Road Repairs @ LCC 2020-02-24

The longest item of those I videoed (yes, I was late to this Work Session) was 6.f. Deannexation of Ganas Property by Lake Park, which apparently doesn’t cost the county anything. Directly, at least. Maybe even net positive, due to property taxes.

Deannexation

Here are the costs found in the agenda sheets for the items, from most expensive down, with links back into the agenda.

CostWhat
$290,000.00 2020 Administrative Services Agreement with Allied Benefit Systems, Inc.
$50,433.00 Bid for Repairs to Knights Academy Road; emergency repairs for Culvert Aprons
$43,245.50 Approval of Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. ROW Purchases
$24,613.44 Microsoft Server 2019 Data Center License
$11,535.00 Approval of Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. ROW Acquisition
$419,826.94Total

The actual cost for one item is larger; see below for Clyattstone Road and Simpson Lane ROW Purchases.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes. See also Continue reading →

Val Del Wetherington, Baytree Nijem, Pregnancy Clinic @ GLPC 2020-02-24

Neither of the two Valdosta cases at Monday evening’s Planning Commission Regular Session looks controversial, although you never know. Jon Nijem wants to rezone and then get approval for a Planned Development at 406 & 410 Baytree Road. And Pregnancy Support Clinic of Valdosta wants to rezone for office space at 2203 N. Oak St.

In Lowndes County, yet another Val Del Road subdivision, REZ-2020-03 Wetherington Property, is proposed diagonally northeast across the road from Nelson Hill, which makes even clearer why the county wants to pave Clyattstone Road, going from Val Del Road between those two west to Old US 41 North (see below).

[Wetherington property]
Lowndes County Property Appraiser, Wetherington property, WETHERINGTON FRANK L LIVING TRUST, parcels 0071 055, 056, 056A (not 55A), at 4154 and 4424 Val Del Road.

The subject property is in the watershed of Bay Branch, but apparently Continue reading →

Rezonings, Right of Way, Software, Health Insurance, Deannexation, and Road Repairs @ LCC 2020-02-24

The two rezonings on the Lowndes County Commission agenda for this week seem to cancel each other out, since one wants to go “back” to Estate Agriculture (E-A), while the other wants to rezone from E-A to R-A, both on about ten acres.

[Future Development Map]
Future Development Map

Because by an open records request we got the agenda packet, we know how much the agenda items costs, even though dollar amounts are not listed in the agenda.

The Request to Accept Hamm Estates Dr. into the County Road Inventory for Maintenance is listed as “BUDGET IMPACT: N/A”. What if those subdivision roads need repairs, like Knights Academy Road?

The unusual Deannexation of Ganas Property by Lake Park apparently costs the county nothing. Not even legal fees?

[Survey]
Survey

The high-dollar item is $290,000.00 for health insurance administration. Employees pay their Continue reading →

Videos: Verizon Country Club tower, halfway house, and Providence Missionary Baptist Church @ GLPC 2020-01-27

Surprisingly the longest item on this (possibly) longest-ever Planning Commission agenda was 5. CU-2020-01 Verizon Wireless, conditional use cell tower at Country Club, clocking in at almost an hour, accounting for almost a third of the more than three-hour meeting, and getting a denial recommendation on a split vote of 6:3:1.

VZ Country Club tower

Second longest at more than forty-two minutes was 6. CU-2020-02 Natalie Bailey, 4019 Forrest Run Circle – Halfway House, resulting in a very unusual unanimous recommendation for denial. The actual decision will be made at the Valdosta City Council meeting tonight.

Usually church requests sail through, but 13. HA-2020-01 Providence Missionary Baptist Church, 707 West Park Street, took more than sixteen minutes, largely to everyhone acting as a committee designing an access ramp which turned out to already be there.

Pete’s Otto had it pretty easy at nine minutes Pete’s Otto was previously at GLPC in January 2017 about establishing its business, and at the Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) in in July 2019 about setbacks.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also the GLPC agenda. And the Valdosta City Council agenda for the meeting where they will decide the half-way house and other Valdosta items.

Lowndes County Commission Annual Planning Meeting 2020-02-04-06

The annual Lowndes County retreat, er, Planning Meeting, is in the middle of this week, starting tomorrow morning.

When: 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM, Tuesday – Thursday, February 4-6, 2020

Where: Quail Branch Lodge, 7601 Zeigler Road, Lake Park, GA 31636
The lowndescounty.com calendar item says “Board of Commissioners Administration Building”, but nevermind that.

Agenda: They never post an agenda in advance for these retreats.

Yes, LAKE will be videoing this meeting.

-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!

Lowndes County and every city except Dasher @ GLPC 2020-01-27

Update 2020-02-10: Videos: Verizon Country Club tower, halfway house, and Providence Missionary Baptist Church @ GLPC 2020-01-27.

This may be the longest agenda ever for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission, meeting tonight at 5:30 PM. Gretchen Quarterman will be there with the LAKE video camera.

Pete’s Otto was at GLPC in January 2017 about establishing its business, and at the Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) in in July 2019 about setbacks.

Pete's Otto ZBOA variance

This time Pete’s Otto seems to want to spread down the street.

And Nancy Hobby wants to go “backwards” to E-A on 10 acres on Loch Laurel Road.

Here is the agenda: Continue reading →

Videos: Developer opposes his own application @ GLPC 2019-10-28

Well, I’ve never seen this before, in a dozen years of watching this Planning Commission: an applicant opposing his own annexation request.

[Applicant against annexation, HA-2019-06 Ben House, 6670 Brookridge Drive, Hahira]
Applicant against annexation, HA-2019-06 Ben House, 6670 Brookridge Drive, Hahira

I asked the applicant afterwards, and he said Continue reading →

4 Hahira, 2 Valdosta, 1 Remerton @ GLPC 2019-10-28

Three of the four Hahira cases before the Planning Commission tomorrow (Monday) evening are for one parcel, 0048 044 at 6670 Brookridge Drive.

[Parcel 0048 044]
Parcel 0048 044

The applicant, Ben House (presumably for the owner of record, DB Land Development LLC), wants to rezone from R-21 (county) to R-10 (city), get approval for a residential Planned Development, and get it annexed into the City of Hahira. Given that it is right next to an existing development on Tillman Street South, that seems pretty reasonable.

The other Hahira case is for Continue reading →

Videos: More Natco on Val Del Road + 2 more Lowndes County cases @ GLPC 2019-09-30

Longest at 22 minutes was the second Natco subdivision on Val Del Road. At least they’re moving back towards Valdosta, remaining within existing services (which were run out Val Del Road for Nelson Hill).

The Wisenbaker rezoning on Great North Road sailed through even faster, with nobody speaking against. The Hogan heavy manufacturing rezoning at US 41 N and Wellman Place was recommended to be tabled, 7:0, at the request of the applicant, who discovered a variance is needed first.

They also recommended 7:0 approval by the various elected bodies a Joint Ordinance, which is apparently about the operations of GLPC itself. What’s in it is mysterious. Why they can’t put it on the county or city website is even more mysterious.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with Continue reading →

More Natco on Val Del Road + 2 more Lowndes County cases @ GLPC 2019-09-30

Look who’s back after last month’s rezoning on Val Del Road, which was heard by the Planning Commission and approved by the Lowndes County Commission: Natco, with another rezoning for twice as many acres, also on Val Del Road, just south of that previous rezoning.

[56 acres for sale just to the south]
56 acres for sale just to the south

Also a Joint Ordinance, which one can guess is the one Lowndes County Chairman talked to the Planning Commissioner about after adjournment last month, which one can guess is the SPLOST VIII agreement.

Why do we have to guess what our elected and appointed boards are up to? Would it be so hard to include a few words on that agenda item to say which Joint Ordinance? For that matter, would it be so hard to publish the GLPC board packet along with the agenda, like many counties much smaller than Lowndes have already been doing for years?

Here is the agenda:

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

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING AGENDA
Monday, September 30, 2019 5:30 P.M.
Public Hearing, Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia

Continue reading →