Tag Archives: rezoning

Rezoning for another industrial park? @ VCC 2013-11-07

Why is the Valdosta City Council considering annexing and rezoning land for VLCIA that the Industrial Authority apparently doesn’t even own? Revolving loans, railroad, and appointments to the Central Valdosta Development Authority/ Downtown Development Authority, to the Valdosta-Lowndes County Conference Center & Tourism Authority, to the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Citizen Advisory Committee, and the Valdosta Tree Commission.

That rezoning was considered at the 28 October 2013 Planning Commission meeting. Here’s the Valdosta City Council agenda:

AGENDA
REGULAR MEETING OF THE VALDOSTA CITY COUNCIL
5:30 PM Thursday, November 7, 2013
COUNCIL CHAMBERS, CITY HALL
Continue reading →

Videos: Attorney set different prices, Commissioners set millage date @ LCC 2013-07-09

The most interesting developments were not on the agenda. Commissioners approved dollar amounts for two purchase orders that were completely different from the ones they were quoted the morning before, with no discussion: the County Attorney quoted the new figures, asked for approval, and immediately got it. Commissioner Richard Raines still didn’t want to enforce a neighborhood covenant yet it was Commissioner Raines who made the motion last fall to let an Exclusive Franchise with Advanced Disposal Services; a covenant the county is now trying to enforce by having the County Attorney sue local business Deep South Sanitation. They said nothing about that 100 foot wide pipeline barrelling through the county. They could have the County Attorney investigate that, but they aren’t. They approved meeting for millage rate approval 8:30 AM Friday 26 July 2013: that’s for the property taxes they collect, which presumably partly go to pay the County Attorney. And the Chairman refused to let a citizen speak on a technicality.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes. See also videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

The Covenant at James Road @ LCC 2013-07-09

“All right, we’ll take one more!” said County Chairman Bill Slaughter in a public hearing at the 9 July 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission. The Commission declined to enforce a covenant for the neighbors, but it is still playing enforcer for a garbage company owned by investors in New York City.

5. Public Hearing — REZ-2013-07 Leatherwood, 2402 or 2406 James Rd. R-1 and R-21 to R-10, LC Water and Sewer, ~0.71 acres

REZ-2013-07 map 1 County Planner presented the case the same way he did the previous morning at the Work Session. This time they had a copy of the agreement with the neighbors signed by the applicant. The neighbors still wanted the Commission to guarantee that covenant.

REZ-2013-07 map 2

Speaking Against

Curtis Hankins, 2109 Jeff’s Place, said Continue reading →

Videos: Water, Sewer, Video Arraignment, and Backups @ LCC 2013-07-08 @ LCC 2013-07-08

Not big enough, I guess:

I don’t have any interest at all in this board enforcing covenants like that.
Commissioner Richard Raines said that at yesterday morning’s Work Session about a covenant the neighbors want a rezoning applicant to sign, yet it was Commissioner Raines who made the motion last fall to let an Exclusive Franchise with Advanced Disposal Services; a covenant the county is now trying to enforce by suing local business Deep South Sanitation. They said nothing about that 100 foot wide pipeline barrelling through the county. They vote tonight, 5:30 PM.

County sound still wasn’t working, going on a month now, back in the videoing pen in the back of the room, so what you hear is what we hear back there, as recorded by the LAKE camera.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Water, Sewer, Video Arraignment, and Backups @ LCC 2013-07-08

A very light agenda for the Lowndes County Commission, still avoiding topics of public interest, such as that 100 foot wide pipeline barrelling through the county and the county suing a local business to the benefit of a monopoly owned by investors in New York City.

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 8, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2013, 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 — June 24, 2013
    2. Regular Session — June 25, 2013
  5. Public Hearing — REZ-2013-07 Leatherwood, 2402 or 2406 James Rd. R-1 and R-21 to R-10, LC Water and Sewer, ~0.71 acres
  6. For Consideration
    1. Video Arraignment for Magistrate and Juvenile Court Contract
    2. Enterprise and Backup Storage Solution Scope of Work
  7. Reports-County Manager
  8. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

-jsq

Videos: Two rezonings and a lease @ LCC 2013-03-11

A surprising number of questions were asked by Commissioners at yesterday morning’s Work Session, yet still nobody asked about the well near one of the proposed rezonings. We had a microphone failure during the first few items; sound picks up as the Commissioners start asking questions on 5.b. REZ-2013-04. Because of the sound glitch you can’t tell that for sure from the videos that nobody discussed SPLOST, but Gretchen was there from call to order to adjournment, and she didn’t hear anything about SPLOST. Maybe they’ll say something about it tonight at their 5:30 PM Regular Session, at which they vote on these rezonings and contract.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and some notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Agenda: Two rezonings and a lease @ LCC 2013-03-11

REZ-2013-03 Rezoning for Jeremy Valler, Knight s Academy Rd. R-21 to R-A, Well/Septic, ~10.4 Five minutes, or maybe ten each for Monday’s Work Session and Tuesday’s Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission?

Here’s the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, MARCH 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013, 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 — February 25, 2013
    2. Regular Session — February 26, 2013
  5. Public Hearings
    1. REZ-2013-03 Rezoning for Jeremy Valler, Knight’s Academy Rd. R-21 to R-A, Well/Septic, ~10.4 acres
    2. REZ-2013-04 Doug Thompson Property, 3432 Bemiss Rd. C-H (conditional) to C-H, Comm. Well & Comm. Sewer, 1.28 acres
  6. Bid — Land Application Site (LAS) Farm Lease
  7. Reports-County Manager
  8. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

-jsq

Are Augusta and Richmond County special in transparency?

So why does Augusta have the second highest high tech job growth in the country? I can only speculate, but local government transparency could be a factor. If you had a high tech company and were looking to open an office, would you go for a place where you couldn't tell what the local governments were up to, or one where you could easily find out? Augusta's combined City Council and County Commission meetings (it's a consolidated government) are on video, online. Their agendas are available in either HTML or PDF, with attachments.

Here's an example, their 5 December 2012 Commission Meeting. It includes a proposed amendment to their land subdivision code. The actual proposed ordinance is linked right into the agenda so everybody can see it.

And yes, they link attachments into their agendas before their meetings; here's Augusta's agenda for their meeting tomorrow 18 December 2012, already with attachments, such as this one about a zoning exception, which was apparently submitted on a standard agenda submittal form, and approved by the Clerk of Commission.

Meanwhile, the outgoing Lowndes County Chairman complained the Chamber of Commerce hadn't read a proposed zoning code change even though that change is not linked into the agenda (nor is anything else) and last year the same Chairman said no drafts would be published. Tuesday last week, Lowndes County Commissioners passed changes to the solid waste ordinance and to the alcohol ordinance that voters and taxpayers and business owners did not get to see before the Commission voted on them. Those ordinances seem to be on the county website now that it's too late to provide input on them: alcohol and waste. Both ordinances were revised with no public hearings. And the Chairman even forgot to hold a scheduled public hearing on special tax lighting districts. Oh, and they apparently now have property owners paying on almost $9 million in bonds for a county palace that only two years ago they said was already completely paid off out of sales taxes.

If you had a high tech company and were looking to open an office, Continue reading →

Car wash, parking, alcohol, and night flights: Videos @ GLPC 2012-10-29

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission made recommendations on cases involving buffering a car wash, sizing parking spaces, alcohol at a corner store, and a development inside the Moody exclusion zone, all at its 29 October 2012 Regular Session.

Here’s the agenda, and here’s a video playlist, followed by a summary of the cases.

Regular Session, Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 29 October 2012.

Valdosta, Final action Thursday 8 Nov 2012

2. CU-2012-07 Stafford Properties

1609 Norman Drive, Valdosta
Request for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP for a Car Wash in a Community Commercial C-C zoning district.

Developer from Columbus spoke for.

Continue reading →

Agenda @ GLPC 2012-10-29

GLPC Agenda 2012-10-29 The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) meets tonight. Here’s the agenda.

The agenda was faxed by GLPC Chairman Bill Slaughter to Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, at her request; GLPC itself still doesn’t have agendas online, fifteen months after SGRC stopped posting them.

In his fax cover letter of 23 October 2012, Bill Slaughter noted:

Videos of 30 Club Candidates Forum 2012-10-22

Great Job Last Night!

See You Wed. Evening!

Videos of AAUW Candidates Forum 2012-10-24 Presumably he was referring to her appearance at the 22 October Candidates Forum 30 Club at Serenity Church and the then-upcoming 24 October Candidates Forum by AAUW at Valdosta High School. Gretchen Quarterman and Bill Slaughter are the two candidates for Chairman of the Lowndes County Commission. You can see LAKE videos of all four Candidate Forums online.

There is one Valdosta permit case on tonight’s GLPC agenda, and three rezoning cases, one from Hahira, and two from the county. I have been transcribing these faxes, but I don’t have time today, so here’s a brief summary table.

Valdosta,
Final action
Thursday
8 Nov 2012 		2. CU-2012-07 Stafford Properties
1609 Norman Drive, Valdosta
Request for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP for a Car Wash in a Community Commercial C-C zoning district.
Hahira,
Final action
Thursday
1 Nov 2012 		3. HA-2012-01 Gateway Pines
1022 W. Stanfill Street, Hahira
Request for a Variance to Parking Requirement prescribed by Section 7-1.1, 7-4, and 9-3.2 of the Hahira Zoning Ordinance
Lowndes County,
Final action
Tuesday
13 Nov 2012 		4. REZ-2012-16 Cook County Land Ventures
SW corner of Georgia Highway 122 East and Cat Creek Road, Hahira
Request to rezone ~2 acres from E-A (Estate Agriculture) to C-C (Crossroads Commercial)
5. REZ-2012-17 John Henry Davis dba Lowndes Development, LLC
Davidson Road, Valdosta
Request to rezone 23.49 acres from MAZ-II and MAZ-III (Moody Activity Zone) to R-10 (Suburban Density Residential)

-jsq