Tag Archives: Dasher

Videos: 4 Dasher, 2 Lowndes County inc. comm. tower in Langdale Park, 2 Valdosta, 1 Hahira @ GLPC 2026-06-29

Update 2026-07-09: Draft Minutes: Lowndes County small subdivision and communications tower, Valdosta doublewide and contractor office @ GLPC 2026-06-29.

Update 2026-07-08: Work Session Monday or Tuesday? @ LCC 2026-07-14.

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commissioners (GLPC) approved everything unanimously, except for three split votes: on the proposed communications tower in Langdale Park (see below), on a CUP for a mobile home in a single-family residential zoning district in Valdosta (see below), and on setback variances at Exit 29 in Hahira (see below).

They heard all the Dasher cases together, then voted on them one by one.

https://youtu.be/xjF9ymuajvE?si=08W6F1_phjUJhfwl

For Lowndes County case 7. REZ-2026-14 6808 Wisenbaker Road

there was quite a bit of discussion about use of a dirt road but applicant said that they never used the dirt road because there are two paved access lanes to the parcel.

https://youtu.be/uyopRnx4WzI?si=5ZMwLURg93vwcUm4

4 Dasher, 2 Lowndes County, w. comm. tower in Langdale Park, 2 Valdosta, 1 Hahira, @ GLPC 2026-06-29

Regarding 8. TWR-2026-02 Bermuda Run, 3781 North Valdosta Road

I was the only speaker in opposition. My main point was that county staff had not supplied information in a timely manner so that the public, or even the Planning Commissioners, would have adequate time to consider the evidence. Plus according to conformance with the ULDC, which is what staff said the Commissioners were supposed to be evaluating, the tower does not fit in Langdale Park. For my points, see Packet: Propagation maps for Verizon tower in Langdale Park @ GLPC 2026-06-29.

http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/?p=25853

They did recommend approval, but with a split vote, 5 to 2.

https://youtu.be/djKNudEhsSw?si=FUQuYHyMoPXktGlY

Regarding 9. CU-2026-05 Request by Tierra Inman for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for the placement of a mobile home in a Single-family Residential (R-6) zoning district

Gretchen Quarterman spoke in favor, in addition to the applicant. Gretchen also noted: Continue reading →

Packet: 4 Dasher @ GLPC 2026-06-29

1 Reply

Update 2026-07-04: Packet: Propagation maps for Verizon tower in Langdale Park @ GLPC 2026-06-29.

You can see in these packet materials how the four Dasher items are related, in the agenda for the Monday, June 29, 2026, Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC).

Packet: 4 Dasher @ GLPC 2026-06-29, All related, On US 41 S

It took a while for them to arrive, since it was not obvious who was the contact or how to contact them. Now that that’s sorted, next time should be easier.

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

Also, after the GLPC meeting, Dasher put these materials on its own city webs ite. Now if they’ll just do that before the meeting, and if Lowndes County, Valdosta, Hahira, etc., will do the same, nobody will have to play this open records request game.

Packet: 4 Dasher, 2 Lowndes County inc. Verizon tower in Langdale Park, 2 Valdosta, 1 Hahira @ GLPC 2026-06-29

5 Replies

Update 2026-06-28: Packet: 2 Valdosta, 1 Hahira @ GLPC 2026-06-29.

Update 2026-06-27: WWALS blog post Verizon tower in Langdale Park? @ GLPC 2026-06-29.

Verizon Wireless wants to put a communications tower in Langdale Park, a stone’s throw from the main kiosk, at 30.885908, -83.320453.

The rezoning sign is not in Langdale Park: it’s on the private property on Hyta Mederer Road, at 30.8870644, -83.3173206.

The FAA NOTICE CRITERA say it’s in Remerton.

The packet materials for TWR-2026-02 Bermuda Run say its address is 3781 North Valdosta Road, which is misleading at best.

Packet: 4 Dasher, 2 Lowndes County, inc. Verizon tower in Langdale Park, 2 Valdosta, 1 Hahira, @ GLPC 2026-06-29

Also:

The decision to be made by the Board of Commissioners is not a zoning decision. It is a quasi-judicial decision whether the standards for a telecommunications tower in Section 5.05.05 of the ULDC are met.

The TRC analyzed the request, the standards set forth in Section 5.05.00 (attached), and Section 10.02.00 of the ULDC, and noted that 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

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

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

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 →

Workshop 1, Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update 2025-10-20

Why I went to the Monday GLPC Work Session: after it was the first Workshop for the Greater Lowndes Comprehensive Plan, including the cities of Valdosta, Hahira, Remerton, Dasher, and Lake Park. Updates to the Comprehensive Plan are required by the state of Georgia every five years.

James Horton of the Southern Georgia Regional Planning Commission (SGRC) conducted the Workshop.

Workshop 1, Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan Update, James Horton, SGRC, Monday, October 20, 2025

For the current Plan, see:
https://lowndescounty.com/DocumentCenter/View/1512/2021-Greater-Lowndes-Comprehensive-Plan-PDF?bidId=

James Horton gave a very comprehensive review of what’s in the Comprehensive Plan and what it is for. Then most of the session consisted of people filling out a SWOT analysis, mostly online. That’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. You can SWOT, too: follow the QR code.

Afterwards, County Manager Paige Dukes mentioned she had just been to a session with One Valdosta-Lowndes (OVL) and we all needed to make all these plans work together. I was slow to get the camera restarted, so I missed the first part of what she said, but you can get the gist from what’s on the video.

Each of the cities has its own planning beyond what’s in the Comprehensive Plan, Parks and Rec and the Tourism Authority each have their plans, and of course OVL was intended for projects that affect all of the above.

Reminds me of the old joke about when there were a dozen standards, so somebody started another standard to merge the standards. Then where were a dozen plus one standards.

James Horton says:

The next meeting is Workshop 2 on Monday November 17, 2025 at 325 West Savannah Avenue at 6:00 PM following the work session of the Greater Lowndes County Planning Commission.

And the third Workshop will also be after a GLPC Work Session, on January 20, 2026. Continue reading →

Lowndes County and Cities SPLOST Agreement and Project Lists 2025-08-04

Update 2025-08-24: Agenda: Millages, Opioid Litigation, Hightower Road, SPLOST IX, TREES Act, PFAS Groundwater Claims @ LCC 2025-08-25.

Update 2025-08-12: Videos: Proclamations, 2 small rezonings, Comprehensive Plan, USGS Gauges, GDOT for Shiloh Road, Civic Center Hurricane Repair @ LCC Work 2025-08-11.

On August 7, Lowndes County told me in response to the LAKE August 4, 2025, open records request:

“Regarding your below open records request, we will have this information ready for you next Thursday, August 14, 2025.”

Meanwhile, a usually reliable source has sent what appears to be the SPLOST IX Agreement and the Project Lists for the county and each of its cities. They are on the LAKE website.

Lowndes County SPLOST, Agreement and Project Lists, Valdosta, Hahira, Remerton, Dasher, Lake Park

Text and images of the Project Lists are below.

We’ll see if they match what I get from the county on Thursday.

This is what I asked for: Continue reading →

Rome-Floyd SPLOST Committee 2024-12-31

The opaque SPLOST process the Lowndes County Commission is using, in which it just sent an Agreement and a Project List to its cities for approval without the taxpaying citizens ever seeing either, is not the only way.

Rome-Floyd County, GA, Citizen SPLOST Committee, Less Population than Lowndes, More transparent process

Rome and Floyd County, Georgia, have a citizen committee that decides what is on their Special Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) list. That committee has open meetings and publishes its draft lists.
https://www.floydcountyga.gov/bc-splost

Floyd County, at 100,113 people, has less population than Lowndes County, at 120,712.

If Floyd County can be transparent, Lowndes County can also choose to be transparent. Continue reading →

Video: Special Called Meeting about SPLOST IX Agreement @ LCC 2025-08-04

Update 2025-08-05: Rome-Floyd SPLOST Committee 2024-12-31.

Here is the one LAKE video of the two-minute Special Called Meeting in which the Lowndes County Commissioners unanimously agreed to forward a SPLOST IX Agreement to the cities within the county.

Collage @ LCC 4 August 2025

The tax-paying citizens have not seen this Agreement nor the list of projects on which the county projects $17 million to be spent in Fiscal Year 2026.

According to County Manager Paige Dukes, the County Commission will have to vote again after the cities approve it.

Citizens get to vote on SPLOST IX in the General Election on November 4, 2025.

Today, they unanimously approved sending to the cities, on a motion by Commissioner Scottie Orenstien and a second by Commissioner Michael Smith. Continue reading →

On the LAKE front

Citizen dialog for transparent process by the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange