Tag Archives: Valdosta

County back at Lake Alapaha, Hahira dwelling, Solar maybe solved in Valdosta @ ZBOA 2014-09-09



Back again:

the county’s never-ending no-bid Alapaha Water Treatment plant.
And

Dr. Urbonas may withdraw his solar parking variance
because if he connects the structures to his building they don’t need a variance.

New cases:
a

single-family design variance near Hahira
an

accessory structure near Valdosta,
and a

sign variance in Valdosta.

Here’s the agenda for Tuesday 9 September 2014.
The City of Valdosta puts ZBOA agendas and minutes

online in real PDFs. Continue reading →

What are REZ-2014-15 and Hahira’s Extraterritorial Request? @ LCC 2014-09-08


300x268 Location map, in GP Investments, by John S. Quarterman, 8 September 2014

Public hearings with no details: how is the public to know to show up?
Why no description at all for

“Rezoning case REZ-2014-15”?
And no identifying number for

the next case?
And why the extra obscurity about

“Hahira’s Extraterritorial Request”?
This agenda goes beyond brief into opaque.
LAKE can answer two of these questions because Gretchen went to the
Planning Commission meeting and photographed that agenda that
Lowndes County refuses to even publish.
But why should the taxpayers be left guessing about what their
only elected county-wide government is doing?

Also two appointments: the Planning Commission’s recommendation

to replace its departing young black woman member with an old white man
and
somebody unnamed to the

Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities
Plus the annual renewal of

hiring prisoners from Valdosta State Prison.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Solar Parking v. accessory structure in Valdosta LDR @ ZBOA 2014-08-05



Both of
Dr. Urbonas’ solar parking lot
variance cases
were tabled by ZBOA for a month so he could figure out a revised way to do it,
probably involving connecting the supports to the building so
they wouldn’t be accessory structures.
Plus some sentiment that Valdosta City Council needed to address this
issue that solar parking shouldn’t be classed as accessory structures.
This was at the

5 August 2014 Regular Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals.



  1. APP-2014-07 — Arunas Urbonas


    (2922 N. Oak Street)

    Variance to LDR Section 218-7 as it
    pertains to the location and setback distance for accessory structures



    Video.

    Arunas Urbonas is a doctor     with an office at 3564 N Crossing Street.
    My guess (some sort of addition to his offices) was wrong.
    He wants to upgrade his solar panel structures,
    to shade parking lots.
    TRC recommended denial because of canopy oak trees that would get
    bigger, probably shading the panels, and were not permitted to be removed. ZBOA found many more issues pro and con than that. Continue reading →

Videos: ULDC Lake Alapaha, house, design; LDR solar parking lot @ ZBOA 2014-08-05



ZBOA postponed

Lowndes County’s Lake Alapaha water treatment plant variance
so the county could think about it some more,
presumably related to that
no-bid contract for equipment upgrade..
Two other county
Lowndes County
variances (
minimum side yard setbacks (approved),

lot access (denied).
Both of

Dr. Urbonas’ solar parking lot
Valdosta cases
were tabled for a month so he could figure out a revised way to do it,
probably involving connecting the supports to the building so
they wouldn’t be accessory structures.
Plus some sentiment that Valdosta City Council needed to address this
issue that solar parking shouldn’t be classed as accessory structures.

The county cases are variances from the
Unified Land Development Code (ULDC)
and the city cases are variances from Valdosta’s
Land Development Regulations (LDR),
and both the ULDC and LDR are supposed to be consistent with the

Comprehensive Plan.



Here’s

the agenda with links into the videos and some notes.
All ZBOA members were present: Paul Alvarado, Laverne Gaskins, Nancy Hobby, Dr. Willie Houseal,
Mac McCall, Scott Orenstein, Gretchen Quarterman, and Chairman Allan Strickland.
The City of Valdosta puts ZBOA agendas and minutes

online in real PDFs.

Valdosta -Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals

Continue reading →

Nova Scotia banned fracking; will southeast U.S. ban fracked methane pipelines?



Yesterday
Nova Scotia announced a ban on fracking.
Will local or state governments in the southeast, now threatened
by the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline,
ban such pipelines?
Especially since FERC has now directed Sabal Trail to examine
routes through Americus, Cordele, Ashburn, Tifton, Adel, Valdosta, and even Thomasville,
in addition
to the ones it already proposed through Dougherty, Colquitt, Brooks, and Lowndes Counties?

Sierra Club Canada wrote about public meetings
in its Media Release of 28 August 2014,

Government of Nova Scotia Needs to Ban Fracking,

“Public meetings held by the panel were attended by an
overwhelming majority of well-informed citizens who had deep
concerns about fracking,” according to [Gretchen] Fitzgerald,
“Those concerns should be met with the type of leadership they
deserve: an immediate, legally binding ban.”

And the Nova Scotia government listened.
Bruce Erskine wrote for The Herald Business 3 September 2014,

Nova Scotia to ban fracking,
posting a video in which you can hear
Energy Minister Andrew Younger say: Continue reading →

Quitman 10+2 third trial



“Thank you for not plea bargaining” said George Boston Rhynes
starting his series of videos on the ongoing third trial of
Lula Smart of the Quitman 10+2.
No newspapers, radio, or TV reporters at this trial
about voters’ rights.
But George is there.

Here’s

George’s first report: Continue reading →

A presentation and some rubberstamping @ LCC 2014-08-26



Congratulations to Ashley Tye for being

only the third in the state to attain
a certificate as a professional emergency manager.

“I was trying to break a record,”
bragged County Chairman Bill Slaughter as several people reminded
him not to skip approving the minutes,
presumably referring to

the previous morning’s three-minute Work Session.
After the six-minute presentation,
they took less than a minute on each of the remaining items,
except they did find time for an

Executive Session for Attorney-Client Privilege.
Who are they suing this time?
Crawford Powell had to remind the Chairman not to skip

Citizens Wishing to Be Heard, but “There are none,”
said the Chairman, with satisfaction.

This time the contractor

had magically finished punchlist for Nottinghill that
the previous morning the County Engineer said would take a week,
but had not finished the work.
What does this rubberstamp punchlist mean, then?
They approved the

Davidson Road drainage easement quit claim from the county back to the landowner.

Here’s

the agenda with links into the videos and a few notes,
followed by a video playlist.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2014, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Water, events, flea market, religious events @ GLPC 2014-08-25



The

Turner Brooks
rezoning next to Pine Tree Road turns out to be in paved-over
wetlands that previously flooded, only slightly uphill from
notoriously-problematical Sugar Creek.
GLPC recommended tabling until Historic Preservation could look
at one of the houses, but these water issues could be
at least as important, and Valdosta City Council could decide
to approve anyway without waiting.

Also in Valdosta an

accessory building,
an
event center and flea market,
and
an

office park.
In Lake Park an

ordinance text change
about religious meetings in commercial districts.
In the county, a

request to remove some existing zoning restrictions
and

the county wants to approve all its recent ULDC changes.

And they only submitted one name for the County Commission

to consider for appointment to GLPC.

Here’s

the agenda
followed by links to the videos as events occurred in the meeting.

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, August 25, 2014* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

Turner Brooks: flooding, runoff, Sugar Creek? @ GLPC 2014-08-25



The

Turner Brooks
rezoning next to Pine Tree Road turns out to be in paved-over
wetlands that previously flooded, only slightly uphill from
notoriously-problematical Sugar Creek.
GLPC recommended tabling until Historic Preservation could look
at one of the houses, but these water issues could be
at least as important, and Valdosta City Council could decide
to approve anyway without waiting.

People were
six deep in the foyer Monday night Continue reading →

DuPont withdraws mine permit application after citizen opposition



After only a few weeks of organized opposition by citizens,
including Satilla Riverkeeper and activists from as far away as Waycross,
mighty DuPont has had to think again about mining Wayne County near Jesup.
Not given up, but at least not just breezing through unnoticed.

Update 2014-08-28 14:00: Greenlaw Press Release.

Terry Dickson wrote for jacksonville.com 27 August 2014,

DuPont withdraws application for permit to mine more than 2,200 acres in Wayne County, Continue reading →