Tag Archives: Val Del Road

What are they going to put for a buffer for farms at Nottinghill —Calvin Marshall @ LCC 12 July 2011

Neighboring landowner demolishes developers’ arguments; explains agriculture to Lowndes County Comission.

Neighboring landowner Calvin Marshall, speaking against rezoning for REZ-2011-10 Nottinghill, said neighbors,

“We’re not interested in a Bluepool, We’re not interested in a Chatham Place. And we’re certainly not interested in what they built out on Val Del Road. We’ve also looked at what they’ve done with Old Pine, and we’re definitely not interested in that, either. Too small lots, small homes.”
That last one is presumably Glen Laurel, which had a roomful of neighbors opposing it last year.

Calvin Marshall asked for the Commissioners to deny the Nottinghill rezoning request.

He also asked:

“The other thing that we asked the developer … what you going to do about the neighbors that have got a farm on each side? What kind of buffer are you going to put there?
…
We farm that land, we grow crops, we run cows, we run goats, we run hogs, and we’re going to continue to do that.
…
We don’t have an answer as to what they’re going to do for a buffer.”

Calvin Marshall continued with the economic argument:

“There’s three or four generations of property owners in this room tonight. These people go back for three or four generations. And these people have worked hard.
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$7.5 million T-SPLOST for a bus system

What costs less than $10 million to widen New Bethel Road from 2 to five lanes and less than $8 million to widen Old US 41 North? The answer is $7.5 million for a Valdosta Urbanized Area Transit System
…including the creation and maintainance of a Public Transit System in the City of Valdosta and Greater Valdosta-Lowndes County.
What would be the benefits?
This project will provide mobility options for all travelers; improve access to employment; and help mitigate congestion and maximize the use of existing infrastructure by promoting high-occupancy travel.
And that’s the entire description for this project. Nothing about promoting sprawl. Would actually promote dense close-in development. Can’t be very important, then, right?

Not when the sprawl plans for Val Del Road and Cat Creek Road add up to $6 million, or almost enough for the entire bus system.

Last time the transit system was being considered by the county, I was asked by a prominent local politican, “would you ride it?” Not every day. But more often than I would drive on the $10 million five lane New Bethel Road.

If you’re interested in a potential bus system, here is a lot more information about it.

Here’s what Lowndes County submitted for T-SPLOST funding, extracted from the 171 page PDF.

Project Sheet

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$3 million T-SPLOST to widen Val Del Road

In the Lowndes County T-SPLOST boondoggle of the day, the county wants $3 million to widen Val Del Road: all of it that’s in the county, plus adding paved shoulders, and at some intersections turn lanes, plus fiddling with drainage. Nothing in the writeup about promoting new development, although we saw in the proposal for Old US 41 N that that’s exactly what road widening projects are for.

Here’s what Lowndes County submitted for T-SPLOST funding, extracted from the 171 page PDF.

Project Sheet

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Nature Makes Healthy

Wide base Something to consider when planning development:
The closer you live to nature, the healthier you’re likely to be.

For instance, people who live within 1 kilometer (.6 miles) of a park or wooded area experience less anxiety and depression, Dutch researchers report.

The findings put concrete numbers on a concept that many health experts had assumed to be true.

“It’s nice to see that it shows that, that the closer humans are to the natural environment, that seems to have a healthy influence,” said Dr. David Rakel, director of integrative medicine and assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

That’s Amanda Gardner, writing in USA Today. A few other points:
Children and poor people suffered disproportionately from lack of green acres, the researchers found.
And what affects the most vulnerable affects all:
More green space may also be a way for whole communities to become healthier.
The cypress pictured is much like those in the swamp on Val Del Road that the county let a developer cut down last year.