Tag Archives: LAKE

REZ-2012-09 Copeland rezoning @ LCC 2012-06-12

How can a man with health care financial troubles make a living with a shop he’s had for decades when some of the neighbors complain about a rezoning that is now required? A controversial case that raised issues ranging from wetlands to public safety to Moody Air Force Base jets flying out of Valdosta Airport made its way through two appointed boards to a Solomonic rezoning decision by the elected Lowndes County Commission. Nobody wanted to deny a man a living, but many people wanted to limit potential commercial uses of the subject property. The Commissioners attempted to take all that into account, yet failed to incorporate two major considerations raised by neighbors, mentioning one of them only to disparage it. Even that isn’t the end of it, since it may head back to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a buffer variance. Here are videos of REZ-2012-09 Copeland at the Lowndes County Commission.

It had been to the Planning Commission for a recommendation on rezoning, it had been to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a buffer variance, Monday morning it had been to the County Commission Work Session at which we learned a bit more, and Tuesday evening it went to the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session for a vote on rezoning.

Monday 11 June 2012 Work Session

At the 8:30 AM Monday Work Session, County Planner Jason Davenport had several updates since Commissioners had received their packets the previous week.

  • An email from a Mr. Bradford in opposition.
  • Some open records requests to be filled after the work session.
  • Some opponents of the rezoning had hired a lawyer. (Those of you who watched Bill Nijem at the Zoning Board of Appeals meeting already would have guessed that. Nijem also spoke the next day at the Regular Session.)
  • Davenport had met with the applicant, Mr. Copeland, who had provided more materials because he believed there were some accusations about lack of continuous operations in the building.

Davenport summarized that he thought there were three camps:

  1. Those not supporting the case.
  2. Those supporting the case,
  3. Those supporting the case with conditions,

He said one possibility would be for he and the county attorney to meet with the opposition attorney to try to work out some conditions.

Tuesday 12 June 2012 Regular Session

The agenda item was

6. Public Hearings – REZ-2012-09 Copeland, 3258 & 3264 Loch Laurel Rd, R-A & R-1 to C-C, well & septic, ~5 acres

Here’s a list of every citizen speaking for, at any of GLPC, ZBOA, or County Commission: John A. Copeland (the applicant), Kevin Copeland (applicant’s son), Nancy Hobby, Charles Miles, Fuller Sorrell, Alan Davis, Robert Roffe, and Norman Bush, plus a petition for.

Here’s a list of every citizen speaking against, at any of GLPC, ZBOA, or County Commission: Bill Nijem (attorney for several neighbors), Jimmy Hiers, Gail Hiers, Greta Vargas, and Patty Haynes.

For the rezoning

Continue reading →

Internet speed and access —John S. Quarterman @ LCC 2012-05-08

At a recent Lowndes County Commission meeting, I said:

I was interested to learn two weeks ago that my neighbor Timothy Nessmith was interested in getting DSL on Hambrick Road.

He said you can get it as close to him as Quarterman Road. I can attest to that because I have 3 megabit per second DSL, due to being just close enough to Bellsouth’s DSL box on Cat Creek Road, but most of Quarterman Road can’t get DSL due to distance. There are some other land-line possibilties, involving cables in the ground or wires on poles.

Then there are wireless possibilities, including EVDO, available from Verizon, with 750 kilobit per second (0.75 Mbps) wide area access from cell phone towers.

Verizon’s towers could also be used for WIFI antennas, for up to 8 Mbps Internet access, over a wide scale.

Then there’s metropolitan-area Internet. Chattanooga has the fastest such network, with 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps). But hundreds of communities around the country have such networks, including (continued after the video)…

Internet speed and access —John S. Quarterman
Regular Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 8 May 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

…Lafayette, Louisiana, Bowling Green, Kentucky, Lagrange, Georgia, and Thomasville, Georgia. They use it for public safety, education (Wiregrass Tech, VSU), and

It attracts new industry. If you want knowledge-based industry, they’re going to be expecting Internet access not just at work, but at home, whereever they live.

Other uses include Continue reading →

Video Playlist @ ZBOA 2012-06-05

Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) had one Lowndes County case at its 5 June 2012 meeting, VAR-2012-07, already posted separately. ZBOA, unlike GLPC, does actually make binding decisions, but chose not to do so at this meeting for this case.

First they considered two City of Valdosta cases, APP-2012-06 (Bill Nijem spoke for the applicants) and APP-2012-07, both about signs, one at Academy Sports, and the other at Gander Mountain, both of which had been tabled at their previous meeting. ZBOA approved both with conditions.

Here’s a video playlist. Audience left to right, with name, appointed by, and date term expires:

  • Laverne Gaskins, Valdosta, 05/08/12
  • Gretchen Quarterman, Lowndes County, 05/07/14
  • Paul Alvarado, Valdosta, 07/01/13
  • Scott Orenstein, Vice-Chair, Valdosta, 10/11/13
  • Dr. Willie Houseal, Lowndes County, 05/07/14
  • Nancy Hobby, Valdosta, 07/01/13
  • Dave Kirk, Lowndes County, 08/28/13
Not present:
  • Allan Strickland, Chair, Valdosta, 05/07/14

Video Playlist
Regular Session, Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 5 June 2011.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

Here’s ZBOA’s own summary of this meeting. Continue reading →

Buffer variance? VAR-2012-07 Copeland @ ZBOA 2011-06-05

A controversial case made its way from the Planning Commission for a rezoning recommendation to the Zoning Board of Appeals for a buffer variance decision, all before it reached the Lowndes County Commission for a decision on the rezoning.

Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBOA) had one Lowndes County case at its 5 June 2012 meeting, a buffer variance request, VAR-2012-07. Related aspects of this same property had already been heard by the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) on 21 May 2012 as the controversial rezoning case REZ-2012-09 Copeland. ZBOA member Nancy Hobby recused herself from VAR-2012-07. ZBOA discussed it at great length and eventually decided to table it. ZBOA, unlike GLPC, does actually make binding decisions, but chose not to do so at this meeting for this case.

Presenting the Case

  • Carmella Braswell, Lowndes County Zoning Administrator, presented the case, saying the property owner, John A. Copeland, wanted a buffer variance for his property at 3258 Loch Laurel Road. The applicant and four neighbors spoke for the buffer variance, but one neighbor spoke against, and others had hired locally famous lawyer Bill Nijem to speak against.
  • Carmella Braswell noted that GLPC had moved its meeting ahead a week, but staff had managed to meet statutory requirements. ZBOA wanted to know what they were buffering against. Answer seemed to be one single-family residence and a pasture. Ms. Braswell said staff had considered buffering according to the zoning statutes, and there were for example churches nearby, plus the existing buffering was mostly on other landowners’ property, and the applicant would be required to plant his own vegetative buffer, plus staff recommended a six foot privacy fence. Dave Kirk noted the abuse of the property had been occuring since 1967. Ms. Braswell said that was unbenownst to county zoning. Also there was no current business license on the property, not since 2007. Gretchen Quarterman asked how long the residents to the north had been there: before or after 2007. Ms. Braswell said well before 2007, and they were present at the meeting. (See Gail Hiers below.)

Speaking For

Continue reading →

Copeland rezoning REZ-2012-09 @ GLPC 2012-05-21

This difficult and complicated rezoning case went to all three of the Planning Commission, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Lowndes County Commission. First, here are videos of REZ-2012-09 Copeland at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC), 21 May 2012.

Presenting the Rezoning Application

This is case REZ-2012-09 Copeland, 3258 & 3264 Loch Laurel Rd, R-A & R-1 to C-C, well & septic, ~5 acres.

  • County Planner Jason Davenport presented the case.

    The request is to rezone about 5 acres of the subject property to from Residentidal Agriculture (R-A) and R-1 to Crossroads Commercial Zoning (CC). He noted that Mr. Copeland was not proposing a new use of the property, but:

    It’s just he’s had a history of not operating with current zoning.

    Davenport said part of that was the fault of the county for not keeping up with what was going on, and part of it was to the credit of the applicant for operating in such a way he hadn’t disturbed his neighbors. And the case itself was very difficult.

    It was so challenging it split the staff.

    The staff meet as the Technical Review Committee (TRC) about cases before they get to the GLPC. New material before the GLPC, he said, included a new survey.

  • Ted Raker (GLPC for City of Hahira) had a question:
    This survey has changed from what the original packet indicated, and the differences of opinion among the staff was prior to this change?

    Davenport said when staff voted they had no survey, but he didn’t think the survey changed their opinions, since what they thought applicant was proposing was pretty much what the survey indicated.

  • Ryan Warren (GLPC for City of Dasher) wanted to know the entrance road frontage width.

    Jason Davenport’s answer was he believed the survey indicated 60 feet width.

Speaking For

Continue reading →

Remerton Mill discussion @ RCC 2012-06-11

Haley Hyatt took this video at yesterday's Remerton City Council Regular Session. -jsq

The 1899 Strickland Cotton Mill is the reason the little town of Remerton, GA exists. The mill village is unique, being an incorporated town within the city limits of Valdosta, GA. The current owners asked to be granted a permit to immediately demolish the historic mill. But many people came forth and made impassioned pleas that the landmark not be torn down. The Remerton City Council voted to table the request to demolish until its Sept. 4, 2012 work session, in hopes of getting more information before making the final decision.

Here's the video:

Remerton Mill discussion
Regular Session, Remerton City Council (RCC),
Remerton, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 June 2012.
Video by John S. Quarterman Haley Hyatt for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

I wish more citizens would do that: go to meetings, take videos, and post them! Send them here and we'll blog some of them.

-jsq

Appointments to 3 boards, a rezoning, and more: Video Playlist @ LCC 2012-06-11

Here are videos for the 11 June 2012 Lowndes County Commission Work Session. Including a speed zone ordinance they plan to pass this evening; we the public have no idea what's in it. Here's the agenda.

One item has already been blogged separately: Waste disposal has been decided: when?

Here's a video playlist:

Appointments to 3 boards, a rezoning, and more: Video Playlist
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 June 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Waste disposal has been decided: when? @ LCC 2012-06-11

The Lowndes County Commission continues to make decisions about waste disposal at meetings to which the public is not invited.

County Manager Joe Pritchard said at yesterday morning’s Work Session:

Mr. Chairman and Commissioners, I’d like to give you an update concerning the sales of the trash cards for use for access to the convenience centers. As we discussed in our retreat as well as in consideration of the budget staff will be having, will have these cards ready by this Friday for sale to the public. Cards will be for a six month period. The cost will be $50 for that six month period. We will not be able to allow those cards to be
[interjection from unknown commissioner: “prorated”]
as we did the previous ones. This will enable us to complete the process that Commissioners asked us to do concerning evaluation of several RFQs and RFPs that we will be presenting to you in the next weeks or months. This will be available this Friday. A notice will be placed [inaudible].

So apparently waste disposal was decided at the 4 June 2012 stealth meeting or at their April retreat at an undisclosed location. We don’t know where our elected officials made this decision about a matter that directly affects us. Apparently what they’ve decided so far is they’re going to buy time to pick one or more waste disposal pickup contractors (“RFQs and RFPs”) by issuing trash collection center cards for only six months at a time instead of a year at a time. And oh by the way they won’t prorate any time if you don’t happen to buy yours Friday. So the Commission continues to move towards privatizing the profits of trash pickup and socializing the losses onto landowners (who have to pay for fences and gates), onto the general public (who have to pay for law enforcement to catch dumpers), and onto those who can’t afford to pay for private dump fees (who will get stuck with fines instead).

Here’s the video:

Waste disposal has been decided: when?
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 11 June 2012.
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

 

Video playlist of Remerton City Council Work Session @ RCC 2012-06-04

Here are videos of the Remerton City Council Work Session of 4 June 2012, including three citizens speaking first against demolition of Strickland Mill. They meet again tonight.

First speaking was Emily Foster, who first informed us about this issue.

Here's a video playlist:

Video playlist of Remerton City Council Work Session
Work Session, Remerton City Council (RCC),
Remerton, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 June 2012.
Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

Previously I said I couldn't find the agenda, but it was actually online; here it is.

-jsq

CITY OF REMERTON
WORKSESSION AGENDA
MONDAY, JUNE 4, 2012
COUNCIL CHAMBERS

5:30 PM

WELCOME GUESTS.

CITIZENS TO BE HEARD.

NEW BUSINESS:
  1. Discussion regarding Certificate of Appropriateness 2012-04 for 1853 W. Gordon Street, Remerton, Ga.— Jessica Freeman
  2. Discussion regarding continuation of moratorium to update Sign Ordinance for an additional 30 days — Jessica Freeman and Brad Folsom
  3. Discussion regarding Statewide Mutual Aid 2012 Agreement requested by Ashley Pye with Lowndes County — Rachel Tate
  4. Discussion regarding removal of speed bumps on Plum Street — Mayor Holsendolph
  5. DEPARTMENT REPORTS:
    1. City Clerk —Rachel Tate
    2. Probation — Jessica Freeman
    3. Police — Mike Terrell
    4. Fire/Utilities/Public Works — Scott Fowler
ADJOURN.

Agenda for work session @ LCC 2012-06-11

Better late than never, I suppose; yesterday there was no agenda posted; this morning it’s there: the agenda for this morning’s work session. It does not appear to have anything about waste management. It does have appointments to there boards, a rezoning, and a bunch of for considerations.

-jsq

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JUNE 11, 2012, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JUNE 12, 2012, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
  1. Call to Order
  2. Invocation
  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
  4. Minutes for Approval
    1. Work Session — May 7, 2012 (May 21, 2012, Work Session cancelled)
    2. Regular Session — May 8, 2012 (May 22, 2012, Regular Session cancelled)
  5. Appointments
    1. Lowndes County Department of Family and Children Services Board
    2. Public Facilities Authority
    3. South Georgia Community Service Board
  6. Public Hearings – REZ-2012-09 Copeland, 3258 & 3264 Loch Laurel Rd, R-A & R-1 to C-C, well & septic, ~5 acres
  7. For Consideration
    1. Speed Zone Ordinance
    2. Abandonment of a portion of Brinson Drive
    3. Motorola Support Agreement for Offendertrak and PMDC
    4. Nondisclosure Agreement with JMF Solutions, Inc.
    5. Contract with Municipal Code Corporation
    6. Lowndes County Fire Rescue Firehouse Subs Grant
    7. Funding approval for a new Message Switch (Server) for Lowndes County Telecommunications
  8. Bid — SCBA Cylinders
  9. Reports-County Manager
  10. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

-jsq