Tag Archives: Planning

the expense of agendas @ GLPC 2014-01-27



The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission meets tonight at 5:30PM,
but there’s no agenda posted anywhere online.
At
the same meeting at which he asserted

“we have broadband”,
and

“transparency is not a problem”
County Chairman Bill Slaughter said the county doesn’t publish
agendas or minutes for the Planning Commission because of
“the expense”.

“the expense”

v.

“When officials act like

they have something to hide,

they often do”

I suppose I don’t know much about this Internet stuff,
so maybe somebody can explain it to me:
what’s the big expense in publishing the GLPC agendas and minutes
the same way the county publishes its own

agendas and

minutes?
Yet if you search for the Planning Commission on the county’s website,
all you find is its name in a list of

Boards, Agencies & Commissions;
tonight’s meeting is not even listed in

the county’s online calendar.

For that matter, what would be the big expense in posting
the entire agenda packets, like for example Continue reading →

Nash County, NC has agendas and minutes for many local boards online



A county

no bigger than Lowndes County has

agendas and minutes online for
its Board of Commissioners, Board of Health, Local Emergency Planning Committee,
Board of Adjustment,
Board of Elections,
Social Services Board,
and yes, its Planning Board.

Why can Nash County, NC afford this yet Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter
says Lowndes County can’t afford to put agendas and minutes online for
the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission?


And if a county can require a solar farm to follow stormwater management
and numerous other regulations, why can’t a county require a natural
gas pipeline to follow local regulations?

It can, if its elected officials actually stand up for their citizens.
And why can Nash County, quite a bit north of Lowndes County,
install solar farm after solar farm while there are none in Lowndes County?

The Nash County online documents also include the details of what the
various boards were considering, such as in the

Agenda and Minutes of the Nash County Planning Board 21 October 2013,
which include this item:



  1. Conditional Use Permit Request CU-130901 (Previously Tabled Item).


    Made by Chris Killenberg With Community Energy Solar on Behalf of Castalia Solar LLC to
    Develop a Solar Farm on an Approximately 22.91 Acre Portion of Two Tracts Located on
    the West Side of N NC Highway 58 and South of NC Highway 56 in the A1 Agricultural
    Zoning District.

And not just the agenda item, also

extended discussion in the meeting, including: Continue reading →

Agenda! yes Nottinghill and new chair and vice-chair, 1 Hahira, 4 Valdosta @ GLPC 2013-11-25


Agenda page 2 @ GLPC 2013-11-25
How would you as a citizen have known
Nottinghill
is on the real agenda
they’re using right now in the Planning Commission meeting?
What if you wanted to speak for or against in that public hearing?

The one in the last post wasn’t the real agenda,
and even some people who work for local governments didn’t know that.

Here is the real agenda, photographed by Gretchen just now,
followed by text version.
It also contains an additional item about
election of a new Chair and Vice Chair.


Agenda page 1 @ GLPC 2013-11-25

Update: I had the date of this meeting wrong in the transcription; fixed now to November 25, 2013. If the county published the agendas and minutes of the Planning Commission, nobody would have to be transcribing by hand….

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING


AGENDA


Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office

325 West Savannah Avenue

Monday, November 25, 2013* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing



CALL TO ORDER, INVOCATION, PLEDGE


  1. Approval of the Minutes: October 28, 2013



CITY OF HAHIRA CASE:


FINAL ACTION by the City of Hahira Mayor-Council

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Hahira City Hall, 102 S. Church Street, Hahira, Georgia

7:30 p.m.


  1. HA-2013-05 Wendy Black


    Property Location: 7495 Union Road

    Request for Variance from Section 10-6 of the Hahira Zoning Ordinance pertaining to size requirements for signs



CITY OF VALDOSTA CASES:


FINAL ACTION by the City of Valdosta Mayor-Council

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Valdosta City Hall, 216 E. Central Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia

Council Chambers, 2nd Floor

5:30 p.m.


  1. CU-2013-04 Cynthia McDougle


    Property Location: 808 Bethune Street

    Request for a Conditional Use Permit to establish a personal care home for 4-6 residents in a Single-Family Residential (R10) zoning district


  2. CU-2013-05 Jessie Marshall, III


    Property Location: 625 East Gordon Street

    Request for a Conditional Use Permit to establish a church in a Single-Family Residential (R-6) zoning district


  3. CU-2013-06 Theresa Patterson


    Property Location: 108 East Adair Street

    Request for a Conditional Use Permit to establish a personal care home for 4-6 residents in a Residential Professional (R-P) zoning district


  4. VA-2013-16 Mac Mackey


    Property Location: 103 B Avenue

    Request to rezone 2.2 acres from Manufacturing/Distribution (M-2) to Wholesale Light Industrial (M-1)


Agenda page 2 @ GLPC 2013-11-25




LOWNDES COUNTY CASES:


FINAL ACTION by the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Lowndes County Judicial and Administrative Complex

Commission Chambers, 2nd Floor

327 North Ashley Strcet, Valdosta, Georgia

5:30 p.m.



  1. REZ-2013-11 Nottinghill


    Location: Orr Road, Valdosta, Georgia

    Request to rezone 14.99 acres from R-A (Residential Agricultural) to R-21
    (Medium Density Residential)

    *Note: This case was tabled from the GLPC’s
    September 29th
    and
    October 28th,
    2013, regular mtg.



    REZ-2013-11 Nottinghill was tabled by GLPC
    30 September 2013
    and again

    28 October 2013    .


    REZ-2013-11 was also tabled by the Lowndes County Commission

    8 October 2013
    and

    12 November 2013    , specifically
    until the County Commission’s 10 December 2013 meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS




  1. Attendance policy for appointed Boards

  2. Election of 2014 GLPC Chair and Vice Chair


  3. GLPC 2014 Meeting Schedule


ADJOURNMENT

-jsq

Agenda: No Nottinghill and no county cases, 1 Hahira, 4 Valdosta @ GLPC 2013-11-25



I guessed wrong:
Nottinghill is not on the agenda.
Yet the County Commission decided at its November meeting to hear
Nottinghill at its 10 December 2013 meeting, which will be without
the Planning Commission ever having discussed this item.
How is that right?
If Planning Commission agendas were made public some days before
the meetings, the public could point out things like this in time
for them to be fixed.



REZ-2013-11 Nottinghill was tabled by GLPC
30 September 2013
and again

28 October 2013.


REZ-2013-11 was also tabled by the Lowndes County Commission

8 October 2013
and

12 November 2013, specifically
until the County Commission’s 10 December 2013 meeting.
So if the Planning Commission doesn’t discuss Nottinghill tonight,
the County Commission can vote on it in December without the
Planning Commission ever having discussed it.

Here’s the agenda for tonight, supplied by an informant about an hour ago.
Will anyone from the county even show up, since without Nottinghill
there are no county cases on the agenda?
Continue reading →

No public agenda for Planning Commission today @ GLPC 2013-11-25



Why so secretive, planning board that recommends on
issues that affect citizens all over Lowndes County?
Where is your agenda for your meeting at 5:30 PM today?
Sure, Gretchen only asked for it today, but why
does LAKE have to wheedle it out of somebody?
Why don’t you or the county publish it so the
public can see?
Do you, the affected public, agree with
Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter that

transparency is not a problem?

We can guess the proposed Nottinghill subdivision will be back,
since it got tabled (again) at GLPC’s

October meeting.


Also probably the

attendance policy, since last time the GLPC Chairman wasn’t there
and only 6 of 11 Commissioners showed up.
But what else?
And why should have to guess what public business a public board
is taking up tonight?
Why do we have this Planning Commission if it doesn’t take its
responsibilities to the citizens of this county seriously enough
to show up or to tell us what it’s doing?

Lowndes County doesn’t even have today’s meeting

on its public calendar.
The City of Valdosta

does;
here’s

Valdosta’s GLPC listing for today: Continue reading →

Videos: Steward, Chancy, VLCIA, Nottinghill, and Teramore @ GLPC 2013-10-28



Prequel of the
bogus VLMPO maps!
Maybe the

Valdosta City Council tonight
will clarify why the
Industrial Authority is asking it to

annex
and

rezone
a parcel it apparently does not own.
Here’s what the Planning Commission said about that,
plus rezonings in

Dasher
(no speakers and approved unanimously)
and

Hahira
(tabled at request of applicant;
see

separate post for more on that one),
plus two in Lowndes County:

Teramore (yes, it’s Dollar General again, and they unanimously recommended it),
and

Nottinghill is

back and got tabled again.

Here’s

the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING

AGENDA

Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office

325 West Savannah Avenue

Monday, October 28, 2013* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

Videos: Nottinghill tabled, Barrington, Whitewater, New Statenville + VLD * 2 + Dasher + Hahira variance @ GLPC 2013-09-30



In last month’s Planning Commission meeting we learned that
developers get agenda items in PDF;
yet the county still doesn’t publish agendas or minutes,
much less agenda packets, online.

Nottinghill (on Orr rather than Cat Creek Road this time)
was

tabled.

Norwood (on Springhill Drive in Valdosta)
got recommended denial by 5-4
and was later

withdrawn,
plus a
a

Hahira variance (5 to 3 against), a

Valdosta conditional use permit (unanimously recommended),
a

Dasher zoning text amendment (unanimously recommended),
and three other rezonings in Lowndes County, on

New Statenville Highway,

Whitewater Road @ Williams Road,
and

Barrington Drive @ Bemiss Road.

Here’s

the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING

AGENDA

Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office

325 West Savannah Avenue

Monday, September 30, 2013* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

Steward, Chancy, VLCIA, Nottinghill, and Teramore @ GLPC 2013-10-28



Why is the Industrial Authority asking Valdosta to

annex
and

rezone
a parcel it apparently does not own?
That plus rezonings in

Dasher
and

Hahira
(see

separate post for more on that one),
plus two in Lowndes County:

Teramore,
and

Nottinghill is

back.

Here’s the agenda.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission

Lowndes County City of Valdosta City of Dasher City of Hahira City of Lake Park

REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING

AGENDA

Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office

325 West Savannah Avenue

Monday, October 28, 2013* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

Open House at Mildred Hunter on Common Community Vision @ VLMPO 2013-10-23

“We have broadband”, said Bill Slaughter, while other people had
different opinions on that and other topics Wednesday night at
the Mildred Hunter Community Center.



Corey Hull introduced the session and a small but vocal group of citizens
discussed all

the main topic headings.
He noted that there are more than twelve plans already in place
in the various cities and counties in the Valdosta Lowndes Metropolitan
Planning Area.
Yet there were many common themes in those plans, and VLMPO was looking
for other common areas in these meetings and online,
and more specifically strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
If you have a community group of any size, VLMPO can come talk to it.
They’ve been to the Chamber, to Rotary, to churches, etc.
They expect to wrap this process up in December,
with common vision and goals for the next ten or twenty years.


Matt Martin
Local officials present included Matt Martin,

Planning and Zoning Administrator for the City of Valdosta,
and Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter.
Martin didn’t say much, but Bill Slaughter was quite vocal.
I thanked him for speaking up, even though I didn’t agree with everything he said.
He helped clarify current county codes for stormwater retention,
and Martin helped clarify the city’s codes.

As a long-time participant in
local development (he’s CEO of Waller Heating and Air)
Slaughter said when people are buying houses all they look at is Continue reading →

Two Lowndes, two Valdosta variances @ ZBOA 2013-10-01



Today: setbacks and nonconforming use in the county,
and setbacks and buffers in the city of Valdosta,
at the Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals.
They start in a few minutes from now at the Valdosta City Annex.

Here’s

the agenda.

Valdosta – Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals

Matt Martin, Valdosta Planning and Zoning Administrator

300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, Georgia

(229) 259-3563

Carmella Braswell, Lowndes County Zoning Administrator

327 North Ashley Street, Valdosta, Georgia

(229) 671-2430

AGENDA

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

2:30 p.m.

Continue reading →