Tag Archives: Valdosta City Council

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

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Here is some information about the Verizon Wireless proposed communications tower in Langdale Park, that was missing from the board packet for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) meeting on June 29, 2026.

There are still more missing pieces that are required by the county’s own Unified Land Development Code (ULDC):

  • An inventory in VALORGIS of the applicant’s existing towers or alternative tower structures. See ULDC 5.05.05.B.2
  • Signature and seal of “appropriate licensed professionals or qualified industry experts.” See 5.05.05.E
  • An argument for why Langdale Park would not be a “historic district” or a “scenic view corridor.” See 5.05.05.G.5
  • An argument for why hiking trails cleared by numerous citizens would not be public rights of way. See 5.05.05.I.I. and the Right-of-Way definition on page 1-25.

GLPC recommended approval of TWR-2026-02, but only by a split vote: LAKE videos to come.

The Lowndes County Commission will decide at 5:30 PM on Tuesday, July 14, 2026.

[Packet: Propagation maps for Verizon tower in Langdale Park @ GLPC 2026-06-29]
Packet: Propagation maps for Verizon tower in Langdale Park @ GLPC 2026-06-29

The tower would be a stone’s throw from the main trail kiosk, at 30.885908, -83.320453, and right next to White Trail A, which many citizens helped clear of Hurricane Helene deadfalls.

Thanks to Jason Davenport, consultant for Lowndes County Planning, who sent this additional information in the morning before the meeting. He was responding to a followup I sent after the initial county response to the LAKE open records request of the previous Tuesday. My followup request was a brief version of the discrepencies I noted in the LAKE post with the previously-received TWR-2026-02 board packet materials. Continue reading →

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

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Update 2026-07-03: Packet: 4 Dasher @ GLPC 2026-06-29.

Staff recommended denial of the first of two Valdosta items, and of the one Hahira item, on the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) agenda for 5:30 PM, Monday, June 29, 2026.

The first recommendation for denial is 9. CU-2026-05, Tierra Inman, CUP, 602 Ulmer Avenue Tax Parcel 0161A 219 which is another request for a double-wide mobile home in a stick-built neighborhood. Neither GLPC nor the Valdosta City Council likes those.

The Hahira recommendation for denial is 11. HA-2026-01, Williams Investment Company, Variances Section 5-6.1 Hahira Subdivision Regulations Access Standards, I-75 Exit 29 at Union Road.

“In this particular case, it is very clear that the applicant’s request for Variances is simply a matter of convenience and that the conditions triggering the need for Variance are self-imposed. They can be easily avoided, and they do not extend from any legitimate hardship that is peculiar to the current conditions of the land nor the development thereon (it is all vacant property and this is all new development). Therefore, these Variance requests should be denied.”

[Packet: 2 Valdosta, 1 Hahira @ GLPC 2026-06-29, 2 staff recommendations for denial]
Packet: 2 Valdosta, 1 Hahira @ GLPC 2026-06-29, 2 staff recommendations for denial

Narrator: the City Planner for both cities is Matt Martin.

The board packet materials for these items, received belatedly in response to a LAKE open records request, are on the LAKE website. Images of each page are below.

See also the Continue reading →

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

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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]
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: Lowndes County small subdivision and communications tower, Valdosta doublewide and contractor office @ GLPC 2026-05-26

Update 2026-06-07: Packet: Appointments to 3 Boards, 1 small subdivision, Old US 41 N widening, Alcohol, Sewage, insurance, bonds, and roads @ LCC 2026-06-08.

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commissioners unanimously recommended approval of all the cases, except the communications tower, which was withdrawn by applicant.

They spent by far the most time (17 and a half minutes) on 5. CU-2026-03 Request by Latoyona Speed and San Antonio Graham for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for placement of a mobile home in a Single-Family Residential (R-6) zoning district. They even suggested orienting the doublewide parallel with the street, until they realized that would leave only half a foot setback on each end.

[Videos: Lowndes County small subdivision, Communications tower withdrawn, Valdosta doublewide and, contractor office @ GLPC 2026-05-26]
Videos: Lowndes County small subdivision, Communications tower withdrawn, Valdosta doublewide and, contractor office @ GLPC 2026-05-26

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes by John S. Quarterman, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the Continue reading →

Packet: communications tower and minutes of previous meeting @ GLPC 2026-05-26

Update 2026-05-30: Videos: Lowndes County small subdivision and communications tower, Valdosta doublewide and contractor office @ GLPC 2026-05-26.

Yesterday we finally got half of the missing items from the board packet for the Tuesday evening Planning Commission. We got the draft Minutes of the previous meeting, but not the materials for the withdrawn communications tower item.

[Packet: communications tower @ GLPC 2026-05-25, Minutes of previous meeting @ GLPC 2026-04-27]
Packet: communications tower @ GLPC 2026-05-25, Minutes of previous meeting @ GLPC 2026-04-27

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) almost never modifies their minutes from the initial draft. For example, for the June 30, 2025, GLPC meeting, there is no difference, other than the lack of a big slanted DRAFT marker, between the draft minutes and the approved minutes, by my visual and mechanical comparison. The approved minutes came from the Archive Center linked at the top of the Agenda Center page on lowndescounty.com.

The county could just go ahead and put the minutes of the previous meeting in the agenda center when they post the agenda for the current meeting.

The agenda also is not approved until the actual meeting, and sometimes changes. For example, for the May GLPC meeting, the TWR-2026-01 item was withdrawn after the agenda was posted.

I do not understand what advantage the county thinks it derives from lack of transparency.

We got the other Lowndes County parts of the GLPC packet for May 25 on May 22, in response to a LAKE GORA request of May 19. The City of Valdosta had already sent their items, and the other municipalities had responded saying they had none.

On May 24, I asked the county again: Continue reading →

Packet: Lowndes County small subdivision and communications tower, Valdosta doublewide and contractor office @ GLPC 2026-05-25

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) will meet Tuesday instead of its usual Monday, because of the Memorial Day Holiday.

Valdosta City staff recommend denial of a request to put a doublewide mobile home on N Barack Obama Boulevard because it might gasp! be unsightly. Nevermind the floor plan looks more substantial than many a stick-built house.

Lowndes County staff are fine with a tiny subdivision on US 41 S just north of the planned Lake Park Fire Station.

We don’t know their take on a communications tower near Meetinghouse Creek, upstream from the Little River west of Hahira, because they did not send that part of the board packet materials.

[Collage @ GLPC Packet 2026-05-26]
Collage @ GLPC Packet 2026-05-26

Here is the agenda.

The board packet materials, received from Lowndes County in response to a LAKE open records request, are on the LAKE website. Except for the materials they did not send for TWR-2026-01 Salem Church Communication Facility, Old Valdosta Road N., Hahira, GA ~25ac, Parcel 0008-010, and the minutes of the previous GLPC meeting. For the tower I’ve inserted a Lowndes County Tax Assessors map.

Images of each packet page we’ve got are below.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~
~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~

Monday, May 18, 2026 5:30 P.M. Work Session
Tuesday, May 26, 2026 5:30 P.M. Regular Session
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia Continue reading →

Videos: 1 Lake Park, 2 Lowndes County, 4 Valdosta @ GLPC 2026-04-27

Update 2026-05-10: Packet: 3 rezonings, 4 road items, 1 beer and wine, VLCIA bonds, servers, debris hauler @ LCC 2026-05-11.

“Is a daycare center technically a club for babies?” GLPC Chair Steve Miller.

Lowndes County Planning JD Dillard said he would have to ask the zoning administrator for her interpretation, of 7. VA-2026-03 Request, Jonathan Irvin amended PD, mixed-use Child Daycare – School.

The Planning Commissioners found a way not to recommend denial even of the one item for which Valdosta City staff recommended denial, 6. CU-2026-02 Request by Hedgecock Investments LLC, Conditional Use Permit (CUP). They added to one of the conditions. Calvin Graham was the lone vote against. Afterwards he told me he just didn’t think it belonged there.

[Collage @ GLPC 27 April 2026]
Collage @ GLPC 27 April 2026

Everything else sailed through, except the first Lowndes County rezoning got a split vote for recommending approval.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the Continue reading →

Packet: 1 Lake Park, 2 Lowndes County, 4 Valdosta @ GLPC 2026-04-27

Update 2026-05-09: Packet: Lake Park annexation item @ GLPC 2026-04-27.

In a rare situation, Valdosta planning staff actually recommend denial of

  1. CU-2026-02 Request by Hedgecock Investments LLC for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP)

Staff for Valdosta or Lowndes County recommend approval of all the other cases before the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) tomorrow at 5:30 PM.

[Packet: 1 Lake Park, 2 Lowndes County, 4 Valdosta cases @ GLPC 2026-04-27]
Packet: 1 Lake Park, 2 Lowndes County, 4 Valdosta cases @ GLPC 2026-04-27

Here is the agenda.

The board packet materials are on the LAKE website, with images of each page below.

Except Lowndes County did not send the Minutes of the previous GLPC meeting. I will remind them.

We do not yet have the packet materials for the Lake Park case, because we had the wrong address for the Lake Park planner. I’ve now sent a request.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~
~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~

Monday, April 20, 2026 5:30 P.M. Work Session
Monday, April 27, 2026 5:30 P.M. Regular Session
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia Continue reading →

Videos: Lake Laurie Drive case withdrawn, another Valdosta case, 2 county cases @ GLPC 2026-03-30

There was nothing for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) to vote on regarding the controversial subdivision application on Lake Laurie Drive, because it was withdrawn by applicant.

Everything else got unanimous recommendations of approval: the other Valdosta rezoning and the two Lowndes County subdivisions.

That other Valdosta rezoning, 5. VA-2026-01 Alpha Britton, Johnson Lane, 0118C 017, did get quite a bit of opposition, mostly about drainage, but the Planning Commissioners and city staff assured people that staff would handle that as the permitting process continued.

[Collage @ GLPC 30 March 2026]
Collage @ GLPC 30 March 2026

Here are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

VA-2026-01 got three videos, because the first LAKE camera ran out of space, and I had to switch to the other one. I did lose a minute or so of what one opposition citizen was saying.

See also the Continue reading →

Packet: Lake Laurie Drive case withdrawn, another Valdosta case, 2 county cases @ GLPC 2026-03-30

The controversial subdivision application on Lake Laurie Drive was withdrawn by applicant. It will still appear on the agenda for tonight’s GLPC and the April 9th Valdosta City Council meetings, but there’s nothing to vote on.

Also on the agenda for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) is another Valdosta rezoning and two Lowndes County subdivisions. That’s 5:30 PM, Monday, March 30, 2026, at 325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia.

[LAKE Collage @ GLPC 2026-03-30]
LAKE Collage @ GLPC 2026-03-30

Matt Martin wrote on March 4, 3026,“Please note that for case # VA-2026-02, there is also a separate packet for ‘public response items” which is dated March 22nd. Public response emails and letters continue to flow in to my office and I will be updating (& redistributing) this packet periodically between now and the GLPC public hearing. I will try to remember to include you on the re-distribution list as each of these revised packets come out.”

Later this came in:

Fri, Mar 27, 4:59 PM

ALL:

FYI. Attached is a copy of the applicant’s email “withdrawing” this rezoning request. Because it was an advertised public hearing, we will keep it listed on the GLPC and April 9th City Council agendas, but there will be no presentation/hearing, no discussion, and no action will be taken.

If the applicant chooses to resubmit the same or a different request for this property in the future, they will have to start all over again from scratch; new Pre-Application meeting, new application submittal, new fees, new advertisement, etc… Such requests are processed in monthly cycles. The next possible (earliest) submittal deadline date is April 15th. This would equate to a GLPC hearing date of 5/26, and City Council hearing date of 6/11. “If” a new request does get submitted, it will be fully advertised in a similar manner as before. Continue reading →