As promised, JD Dillard and BOC Records provided the packet materials for
the two county rezonings on the
agenda for the Monday evening
Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) meeting.
Staff wants conditions on one, but not the other.
Staff lists conditions, but does not propose including them as conditions in approval,
for the RV park north of Hahira halfway to Cecil, in the watershed of Franks Creek,
which goes to the Little River. Continue reading →
One is north of Hahira halfway to Cecil, in the watershed of Franks Creek,
which goes to the Little River.
The other is directly across the Withlacoochee River from Langdale Park,
on Coleman Road off of North Valdosta Road.
Presumably the part proposed for M-1 (Light Manufacturing) zoning
is next to Coleman Road, not next to the river.
We will know after the County Planner finishes the board packet materials.
Meanwhile I have included maps of the subject properties
from the Lowndes County Tax Assessors.
According to Lowndes County Planner JD Dillard this morning at 8:55 AM,
“The board packets have not been completed yet. Once available, I will send them to the BOC Records.”
Presumably then BOC Records will send them to LAKE to finish their response
to the LAKE open records request.
After we get them, I will publish them.
The Commissioners unanimously denied the rezoning for the
subdivision on Miller Bridge Road.
Applicants spoke a minute over their time, yet did not present the slides
they said the previous morning they were going to present;
we include scans of those slides here for historical reference,
for when the next subdivision like this comes up, next week or next year.
Commissioners unanimously approved the other two rezonings.
Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker wanted to know if this was for private wells.
County Planner JD Dillard said the application was for a community well,
and while the lots were big enough for private wells, the soils had
not been tested for that.
Don Powell spoke for the applicant.
Jesse Bush also spoke for, listing many things they were not there to talk about,
including aquifer recharge or community wells.
He said the only question was six homes (which the landowner can do by right anyway) or twelve homes.
Chairman Bill Slaughter cut them off saying he’d given them an extra minute,
and he’d give the other side an extra minute.
Brad Folsom spoke against on behalf of a room full and a 360-signer petition of opponents.
He reminded the Commissioners that the subject property was in an Agricultural and Forestry Character Area.
While R-A was permissible in such an Area, it was not appropriate.
He discussed nearby zonings and lots that had been brought up by staff previously.
Among the many other points he brought up was flooding would be exacerbated by tree cutting and paving for a subdivision.
He reminded the Commissioners that they had told him they did not want any more community well systems.
Somebody else (unnamed, but see below) speaking against said it would be spot zoning.
He said he owned 320 acres and had been there for more than a hundred years.
This rezoning would change the character of the community and would be
a precedent for other rezonings.
He said he owed this community a debt and he would like to repay it.
Elton D. Redding, 7649 Webb Road, representing the Redding property,
John L. Redding his brother.
Demarcus Marshall moved to deny, Mark Wisenbaker seconded, unanimous vote to deny.
Unanimously voted down: Miller Bridge Road subdivision @ LCC 2022-02-08
Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Lowndes County adheres to Local and State standards when in the Groundwater Recharge Area
Notable Developments in Recharge Area in Lowndes County)
Landfill
Kinderlou Forest and Foxborough Subdivisions
Valdosta Regional Airport
Moody Airforce Base
City of Dasher
City of Lake Park and surrounding area
Lake Park Industrial Park
While probably all these points are true (I haven’t checked each location),
most of them precede current concerns about groundwater recharge,
and there is no need to make the problem worse.
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!
The developer of the proposed
5.c. REZ-2022-03 Windy Hill Subdivision, 7532 Miller Bridge Rd.
plans to make a presentation this evening at the voting Regular Session,
we heard at yesterday morning’s February 7, 2022, Work Session of the Lowndes County Commission.
Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes by Gretchen, who was there, followed by a LAKE playlist.
See also the agenda and board packet,
and that post has links to the previous relevant meetings and materials.
On the agenda for tomorrow morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session,
county staff included the petition against
REZ-2022-03 Windy Hill Subdivision, 7532 Miller Bridge Rd..
County staff note “RECOMMENDED ACTION: Board’s Pleasure or Deny”,
unlike the other two options, where the second option is “Approve”.
Those who do not want that rezoning to pass would do well to contact their Commissioners before the meetings, and then show up at the meetings,
or at least the Tuesday 5:30 PM voting Regular Session.
As usual, county staff say rezonings do not cost the county anything.
Nevermind that subdivisions far from county services will never pay enough
in property taxes to fund sending school buses, fire trucks, and Sheriff vehicles,
so all the taxpayers subsidize those costs.
Apparently there was no legal public notice and no recording of the
April teleconference meeting with the dial-in code changed less than three hours before, with $6,913,575.06 in taxpayers’ money being decided.
The April 28th telephone meeting was not recorded other than the
minutes that were taken. Further, the program used does not record a
phone log for the option utilized for this meeting. This being case,
there are no records responsive to your request. I do expect the
next meeting to be held in the Commission Chambers with social
distancing requirements observed. This being the case, citizens will
have an opportunity to attend in person which is a much better
format for everyone.
Well, that’s a matter of opinion.
Do you think it’s better to have to wear a mask to the Commission Chambers and risk getting infected, than to listen on the phone?
The Valdosta City Council had their meeting this Thursday on facebook live.
The Madison, Florida, BOCC has been doing theirs on gotomeeting.
It’s curious how the most populous county in the region can’t manage a teleconference or video meeting.
LAKE received the full board packet two days after the meeting, at 5:07 PM on Thursday, April 30, 2020, in response to an open records request.
It’s
on the LAKE website.
We look forward to Lowndes County putting its full packet on its website along with
the agenda and one-page agenda sheets per item.
Many other counties in Georgia and Florida have been doing this for years.
When will the Lowndes County Commission catch up with the 21st century?
By far the biggest item was the
$6,545,729.00
Coleman Road Force Main Replacement.
The county apparently saved a bunch of money by removing many amounts from the bid for the county to do directly.
Was this even a public meeting?
The Lowndes County Commission approved everything on its agenda yesterday,
even though only really perceptive citizens could figure out how to listen to the teleconference.
In which they approved everything, with only one split vote,
for a $45,120.00 single-source item.
Old:
“The call in number is 813-769-0500 and the access code is 373-829-614#”
New:
“The call in number is 813-769-0500 and the access code is 584-852-611#”
Can you spot the change? It’s the access code.
I didn’t notice the agenda had changed, so I used the old access code.
Which only started a teleconference five minutes late, and then had 18+ minutes of silence.
Gretchen did notice the agenda had changed, but there was no indication of what had changed.
She carefully looked to find that different access code.
It’s a good bet Gretchen was the only citizen on the conference call,
because likely few other people figured that out.
But that didn’t stop the Commissioners from approving everything on the agenda.
This April 28, 2020, Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission will be held by teleconference.
There will be Citizens Wishing to Be Heard, but as usual that will be after the Commissioners vote.
This is the only County Commission of the many counties I’ve been to in two states that does not let citizens speak either at the beginning of the session or on each agenda item as it comes up.
Citizens wishing to be heard should email County Clerk, Paige Dukes at pdukes@lowndescounty.com or call 229-292-6142 during normal business hours to register to speak. Please register prior to 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28th. Thank you.
Notice no Work Session is listed on the agenda, and a Commissioner tells me
there will be no Work Session, which is marked in the county calendar as
Cancelled.
County Manager Joe Pritchard said Finance Director Stephanie Black has
received a millage report from the Tax Commissioner.
He and she will prepare something from it for the Lowndes County Commissioners for a later meeting.
The board packet is
on the LAKE website,
in response to a LAKE open records request.
The resolution to reimpose the SPLOST tax as
SPLOST VIII,
was not included with
the agenda for the tax-paying public to see.
LAKE has filed an open records request for the entire board packet.
Perhaps the county will supply it before they vote tomorrow.
Four bids were received for
LAS and Pump Station Improvements
with the high bid at $3.3 million, and the low at $2.5 million,
but apparently the county negotiated the low bidder,
Doyle Hancock & Sons, down to
$1,520,858.00.
This is “for improvements to the LAS [Land Application Site, aka wastewater spray field], Bevel Creek, Francis Lake, and Coleman Road lift stations.”
The LAS is between Grassy Pond and Pike Pond, a few thousand feet from the GA-FL line, in the Withlacoochee River watershed. Continue reading →
![[An RV park and a large warehouse type campus @ GLPC 2025-06-30]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/glpc/2025-06-30--glpc-packet-rezonings/many.jpg)
![[Two Lowndes County rezonings, @ GLPC 2025-06-30, Cain, 6161 US 41 N, Langdale CA, Coleman Road]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/glpc/2025-06-30--glpc-packet/many.jpg)
![[WINDY HILL SUBDIVISION, Lowndes County Rezoning Application, REZ-2022-03]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0001.jpg)
![[Requested Zoning Change]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0002.jpg)
![[WINDY HILL SUBDIVISION CHARACTERISTICS]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0003.jpg)
![[Location of Property]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0004.jpg)
![[Justification for Zoning Request]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0005.jpg)
![[Zoning map]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0006.jpg)
![[OPPOSITION POINTS ADDRESSED (1 of 3)]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0007.jpg)
![[OPPOSITION POINTS ADDRESSED (2 of 3)]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0008.jpg)
![[OPPOSITION POINTS ADDRESSED (3 of 3)]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-08--lcc-videos/small/REZ-2022-03-applicant-slides-0009.jpg)
![[Chairman and Miller Bridge Road rezoning]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-07--lcc-videos/many.jpg)
![[Miller Bridge Road rezoning: Petition, Opposition parcels; Bemiss Road rezoning]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2022-02-07--lcc-packet/many.jpg)
![[Photo: Pine Grove Road Collection Center]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2020-04-28--lcc-packet/April-28-2020-Commission-Meeting-Packet-0021.jpg)
![[Amount Removed from Bid]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2020-04-28--lcc-packet/April-28-2020-Commission-Meeting-Packet-0066.jpg)
![[Agenda Versions]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2020-04-28--lcc-packet/agenda-versions.jpg)
![[Map: Coleman Road, VALORGIS]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2020-04-28--lcc-packet/map-coleman-road-valorgis.jpg)
![[Land Application Site]](http://www.l-a-k-e.org/govt/loco/2019-08-12--lcc-packet/map-las.jpg)