{"id":22400,"date":"2021-10-12T15:54:14","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T19:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=22400"},"modified":"2021-11-08T18:20:50","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T23:20:50","slug":"videos-many-objections-at-comprehensive-plan-stakeholder-meeting-lcc-comp-plan-2021-09-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2021\/10\/videos-many-objections-at-comprehensive-plan-stakeholder-meeting-lcc-comp-plan-2021-09-28.html","title":{"rendered":"Videos: Many objections at Comprehensive Plan Stakeholder Meeting @ LCC Comp Plan 2021-09-28"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Update 2021-11-08<\/strong>:\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2021\/11\/videos-comprehensive-plan-update-public-hearing-2-lcc-2021-10-26.html\">Videos: Comprehensive Plan Update Public Hearing 2 @ LCC 2021-10-26<\/a>.\r\n<p>\r\nAll of the speakers at the Comprehensive Plan Stakeholder Meeting were\r\nopposed to moving the Suburban Area line farther north on the\r\nCharacter Area Map.\r\nThey presented cogent reasons, such as they live up there and aren&#8217;t going to sell,\r\nthere are already 750 lots available for sale while it took a decade for Nelson Hill&#8217;s 500 lots to sell,\r\nand the county should be looking out for its people and preserving much of the county for the next 50 years.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Comprehensive Plan Update, Crowd, Lowndes County Character Areas, Map of those opposed to changing Character Areas\" name=\"M:Comprehensive-Plan-Update-Crowd-Lowndes-County-Character-Areas-Map-of-those-opposed-to-changing-Character-Areas\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/many.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/many.jpg\"  alt=\"[Comprehensive Plan Update, Crowd, Lowndes County Character Areas, Map of those opposed to changing Character Areas]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/many.html\">Comprehensive Plan Update, Crowd, Lowndes County Character Areas, Map of those opposed to changing Character Areas<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nMost of the Commissioners acted like further development northwest in \r\nthe county is a force of nature over which they have no control,\r\nand expressed more concern for developers and investors than for the room\r\nfull of people in front of them or the 900 petition signatories opposed.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nHere are links to each LAKE video of each speaker with copious notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist.\r\nThere was no agenda.\r\nThe lowndescounty.com online calendar had only a title,\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/lowndescounty.com\/Calendar.aspx?EID=494&#038;month=9&#038;year=2021&#038;day=11&#038;calType=0\">\r\nComprehensive Plan Stakeholder Meeting<\/a>, date, time, and place,\r\nwith no agenda.\r\nThe\r\n<a href=\"Comprehensive-Plan-Stakeholder-Meeting-Minutes.pdf\">draft minutes<\/a>\r\nare sketchy, omitting key points such as the <a href=\"#dorfmanreport\">Dorfman report<\/a>,\r\nbut you can find that report below.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"Presentation-and-some-comments\" href=\"#Presentation-and-some-comments\">\r\nPresentation and some comments<\/a>\r\n<br>\r\n<a title=\"video: Presentation and some comments\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Zfeubr8D3zQ\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"Presentation and some comments\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/Zfeubr8D3zQ\/hqdefault.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Zfeubr8D3zQ\">Video.<\/a>\r\nPresentation by JD Dillard (0:16 &#8211; 3:37)\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Why\" name=\"Presentation:Why\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/02-why.html\"><img decoding=\"async\"  width=\"600\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/02-why.jpg\"  alt=\"[Why]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/02-why.html\">Why<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<br>\r\nKathy MacMillan Adkins (3:38 &#8211; 9:07)\r\n<br>\r\nBrad Folsom (9:08 &#8211; 31:17)\r\n<br>\r\nCommissioner Demarcus Marshall and discussion (31:18 &#8211; 36:56)\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nThe keyword is &#8220;grow&#8221;, as in sprawl.\r\nAs County Planner J.D. Dillard said, &#8220;that&#8217;s kind of why we&#8217;re here tonight,&#8221;\r\nafter he read this from the bottom of\r\n&#8220;Future Land Use Character Areas&#8221;:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\n&ldquo;As the community gains a greater understanding of the role\r\nand value of character areas, their descriptions should be fine-tuned.\r\nAdditionally, as the community continues to grow, specific\r\ncharacter area depictions may need adjusting.&rdquo;\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<a title=\"06 Future Land Use Character Areas\" name=\"About-Land-Use:X06-Future-Land-Use-Character-Areas\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/06-future-land-use-character-areas.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/06-future-land-use-character-areas.jpg\"  alt=\"[06 Future Land Use Character Areas]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/06-future-land-use-character-areas.html\">06 Future Land Use Character Areas<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nThe County Planner said we were there particularly to discuss\r\nAgricultural Areas, Rural Residential, &ldquo;and again moving forward into some of the Suburban Areas, and how we continue to look at the county&#8217;s growth.&rdquo;\r\n<p>\r\nNo copies of the draft plan were distributed.\r\nCounty Planner J.D. Dillard said it was online on the county&#8217;s website,\r\nbut it is not under\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/lowndescounty.com\/156\/Planning\">\r\nOFFICE OF THE COUNTY PLANNER<\/a>,\r\nwhere there is only a copy of the\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/lowndescounty.com\/DocumentCenter\/View\/1512\/2016-Greater-Lowndes-Comprehensive-Plan-PDF\">update from 2016<\/a>.\r\nSearching for &#8220;Comprehensive Plan Update&#8221; finds\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lowndescounty.com\/documentcenter\/view\/2484\">\r\n2021\r\nJoint Comprehensive Plan Update\r\nFor Lowndes County &#038; the Cities of\r\nDasher, Hahira, Lake Park,\r\nRemerton, and Valdosta,\r\n9\/9\/2021<\/a>.\r\nA search on sgrc.us finds\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sgrc.us\/documents\/comprehinsiveplans\/Draft%20Lowndes%20Comp%20Plan%20Update%209_9_21.pdf\">\r\nthe same file<\/a>.\r\nNeither file includes the character area maps, even though there was one in the front of the room and another in the slides.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Map: Lowndes County Character Area\" name=\"About-Land-Use:Map-Lowndes-County-Character-Area\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/07-map-lowndes-county-character-area-map.html\"><img decoding=\"async\"  width=\"600\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/07-map-lowndes-county-character-area-map.jpg\"  alt=\"[Map: Lowndes County Character Area]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/07-map-lowndes-county-character-area-map.html\">Map: Lowndes County Character Area<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>\r\nHowever, upon request, the County Planner sent the\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Lowndes-County-wValdosta-map-9-0001.html\">Unfinished Lowndes County Character Area Map<\/a>, with this explanation:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThe map presented during the September 28th meeting was the Character Map from the 2016 Comprehensive Plan. The colors might have been slightly different from the printed hard copy, but the information was the same.\r\n<p>\r\nThe SGRC created a map for me that I used in the PowerPoint presentation (attached), that used the 2016 Comprehensive Plan Character Areas with the Approved TSPLOST Paving Projects, and the Current Lowndes Utility Locations. There were several slides in the presentation that were simply zoomed in portions of the attached map, for the sake of legibility.\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"North Lowndes County Character Areas\" name=\"About-Land-Use:North-Lowndes-County-Character-Areas\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/12-hahira-character-areas.html\"><img decoding=\"async\"  width=\"600\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/12-hahira-character-areas.jpg\"  alt=\"[North Lowndes County Character Areas]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/12-hahira-character-areas.html\">North Lowndes County Character Areas<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>\r\nThe Draft 2021 Comprehensive Plan available on our websites does not contain the Character Maps for unincorporated Lowndes County, as they have not been created yet.\r\n<p>\r\nThe hard copy map [in the 2016 Update] showed the Urban Service Area in a curvilinear red outline.\r\n<p>\r\nThe map presented in the Stakeholder meeting did not have that line as it cluttered the parcel outlines. Instead, the current water and sewer utilities were shown.\r\n<p>\r\nTo my knowledge, that line has not change[d]. I would defer to the GIS department at the Regional Commission for confirmation.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nIn addition, Elizabeth Backe of the SGRC sent the completed Character Area Maps for Hahira, Dasher, Lake Park, Remerton, and Valdosta.\r\n<p>\r\nAll those Character Area Maps are included <a href=\"#charmaps\">at the end of this post<\/a>.\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"adkins\" href=\"#adkins\">\r\nKathy McMillan Adkins<\/a>\r\n<br>\r\n<a title=\"video: Kathy McMillan Adkins\"\r\nhref=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Zfeubr8D3zQ&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiG_kSH5HYn5uO8xP_-U2jD9&#038;index=3&#038;t=252s\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/13-adkins.jpg\"  alt=\"[Honor our heritage --Kathy McMillan Adkins]\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Zfeubr8D3zQ&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiG_kSH5HYn5uO8xP_-U2jD9&#038;index=3&#038;t=252s\">\r\nVideo.<\/a>\r\nShe thanked the Commissioners, then:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nIn preparing these maps, I am amazed by the numbers of subdivisions going up on Val Del Road.\r\nClyattstone Road, all the way to Highway 41.\r\nThe destruction of our rural lands is very disturbing.\r\nI have not spoken of anyone who is in favor of the tidal wave\r\nof these subdivisions, and the rezoning of our rural residential areas\r\nto suburban.\r\nWith the exception of one person who is in favor.\r\nThe impacts of these massive developments are not yet known,\r\nin many many aspects.\r\n<p>\r\nMost everyone repeated the same thing, and that was, if we wanted to live in a suburb,\r\nwe would have built or moved to the suburbs.\r\nWhen these agricultural areas are gone,\r\nand farmers are no more growing our crops,\r\nwhere is our food and our clothing going to come from.\r\n<p>\r\nConcerning the water pipe planning to be run up to McMillan Road from Lucas-Richardson Road,\r\nthe only advantage this will serve is to\r\nthe investors and the developers.\r\nFor the 64-acre tract that was recently withdrawn on Val Del and Bethany Drive,\r\nthis will cost $550,000 in SPLOST money that has been paid for by the Lowndes County taxpayers.\r\nThis is a waste of taxpayers&#8217; money.\r\nThis will only benefit the developers.\r\nSo if you are expecting a return on investment you are going to be very disappointed.\r\n<p>\r\nThere isn&#8217;t anyone on McMillan Road willing to sell their land.\r\nNot anyone.\r\nThis land has been in my family for seven generations.\r\nThe land on Val Del and Parker Place has been in my family for seven generations.\r\nI&#8217;m talking my mother and my father.\r\nSo, in the future, if you&#8217;re planning on running water and sewage lines\r\ndown McMillan Road, you will have to go several miles down McMillan Road\r\nto find anyone to sell to developers and investors.\r\n<p>\r\nIn collecting these signatures for our petitions\r\nI have listened to everyone&#8217;s concerns as evidence\r\nby my neighbors who are able to attend the meeting tonight who sit behind me.\r\nWe have collected over one thousand signatures.\r\nWe have petitions signed, we have evidence.\r\n<p>\r\nWe respectfully ask that you honor our heritage,\r\nour decades-long hard working of our lands,\r\nand keep the 2016 Comprehensive Plan, Zoning Plan in place,\r\nallowing for two and a half acre lots only.\r\nI respectfully ask for common sense to be used in this vote, not financial gain.\r\nAnd I thank you for your time.\r\n<p>\r\nAny questions?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThe Commissioners had no questions.\r\n<p>\r\nThe Minutes only say:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nKathy McMillan Adkins, 5224 McMillan Road, addressed the commission in opposition to changing\r\nthe existing character area map. Ms. Adkins thanked the Commission for their service to our\r\ncommunity. Ms. Adkins stated no one on McMillan Road is willing to sell their property and she has\r\nland that has been in her family for over seven generations. Ms. Adkins asked the commission to keep\r\nthe 2016 Comprehensive Plan in place.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"folsom\" href=\"#folsom\">\r\nBrad Folsom<\/a>\r\n<br>\r\n<a title=\"video: Brad Folsom\"\r\nhref=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Zfeubr8D3zQ&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiG_kSH5HYn5uO8xP_-U2jD9&#038;index=5&#038;t=554s\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\"  width=\"600\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/14-folsom.jpg\"  alt=\"[Brad Folsom]\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Zfeubr8D3zQ&#038;list=PLshUv86fYkiG_kSH5HYn5uO8xP_-U2jD9&#038;index=5&#038;t=554s\">Video<\/a>\r\nBrad Folsom thanked the Commissioners for &#8220;going back in the process a bit.&#8221;\r\nThen:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHowever, you know, we are at somewhat of a disadvantage, I think, because,\r\nwe don&#8217;t know what is being proposed, or even thought of, by the Commission.\r\nWe have, as he mentioned, a draft of the Comprehensive Plan,\r\nbut that draft doesn&#8217;t contain any maps\r\nof changes to the character areas.\r\nSo somewhat of what I&#8217;m saying tonight is a little bit based on supposition\r\nand word of mouth, which is not good things for the Commission, the county, or the residents.\r\nSo I would encourage you all to put out there, either tonight or soon,\r\nwhat it is you&#8217;re thinking of, so it can be addressed as well.\r\n<p>\r\nBut I&#8217;m here representing a group of concerned home and landowners,\r\nmost of which you&#8217;ll see on this map.\r\nI wanted Ms. Adkins to leave this up here,\r\nbecause this map shows you just how pervasive the sentiment is\r\nabout this issue in north Lowndes County.\r\nAnd these are, not that you need reminding, about a thousand residents\r\nin that area, and most of the land mass in that area,\r\nare represented on this map.\r\n<p>\r\nAnd uh, you know, I don&#8217;t think any of the folks in the group I represent\r\nwant to be necessarily no, never, and not in my back yard folks.\r\nThey want to come to the table; they want to get something that will work for everybody.\r\n<p>\r\nBut they also at a premium want to protect the lifestyle\r\nthat has been guaranteed them by the things this commission has done in the past.\r\nMaybe before some of you were on here, or whatever.\r\nBut they want that protection.\r\nAs Ms. Adkins mentioned, 900 folks signed the petition when we were here for the Bethany rezoning that was withdrawn.\r\nSince then another 100 or 150 or so have added their names to that petition.\r\n&#8230;the wording says that they would like the same thing: the rural residential character area of this particular area.\r\n<p>\r\nI want to talk a little bit about the things we can all agree on.\r\nFirst of all, between North Valdosta Road and Lucas-Richardson Road\r\nis approximately 750 lots as we sit today, by Mr. Dillard&#8217;s count,\r\nready for development.\r\nAlready developed, I should say.\r\nThey are ready for sale and ready for building. That&#8217;s vacant land.\r\nThere&#8217;s also several tracts of land that owners who, NATCO, the Dasher &#8230; Corporation, all those groups have their land for sale, ready for development.\r\nThis is all south of Lucas-Richardson Road, which is where, as you know,\r\nthe county&#8217;s water and sewer ends at this point.\r\n<p>\r\nOne key point that we&#8217;ve talked about a good bit is the Val Del Road capacity,\r\nas you may know, is 6,000 cars per day.\r\nIn 2019 it was at 4,950.\r\nAs you all know if you&#8217;ve been down Val Del Road, how many houses have been built since then, and how many cars are coming down that road.\r\nI would venture to say that we&#8217;re pretty dang close to the 6,000 cars per day now.\r\nThis will only, any changes to that will only add to the issue.\r\nAnd as we&#8217;ve been told, any changes to Val Del Road are in the 2026 area,\r\nfive years from now.\r\nSo that&#8217;s a long time to deal with possible issues that are already present.\r\n<p>\r\nI came down Val Del the other morning just as a sort of test run at 7:30 in the morning\r\nand I sat at that red light through three changes of the red light\r\nat North Valdosta Road to turn left.\r\nThat&#8217;s an onerous burden for somebody living out there.\r\nI don&#8217;t know if any of you live ut there; I don&#8217;t think any of you do.\r\nBut you ought to go down and come through that way.\r\nThat&#8217;s not a good thing for a resident.\r\n<p>\r\nYou know this chart shows very clearly the folks who are against this type of small lot development.\r\n<p>\r\nAnd one of the other things we did, just today,\r\nwas we took an area from Union Road on the west\r\nto the [Withlacoochee] River on the east,\r\nbounded by Lucas-Richardson on the south,\r\nbasically the existing rural residential character area,\r\nand on the north by Thompson, Bethany, McMillan.\r\nI think it&#8217;s [something] to know that area counts as 6,250 acres approximately.\r\nAnd again, we&#8217;re going on supposition.\r\n<p>\r\nBut what we&#8217;ve heard is that you&#8217;re thinking of increasing the suburban character area up to McMillan and up to Bethany Road.\r\nBut you&#8217;re increasing that area almost 6,300 acres.\r\nThat&#8217;s a lot of land to be developed\r\nthat there hasn&#8217;t really been shown to be anybody in favor of\r\nthat live in that area now.\r\nAnd this encompasses right at 80 to 85% of the land area of the people that signed this petition.\r\n<p>\r\nAnd I know in a perfect world, and I&#8217;ve said this to many of you,\r\nwe would encourage density closer to urban areas,\r\nthat&#8217;s the ideal decision here.\r\nAnd I think it&#8217;s left up to you,\r\nand I&#8217;ve thought this ever since I was on the Planning Commission,\r\nbefore we had the meltdown in 2008,\r\nour banking community did a lot of this for us.\r\nYou know, they determined where development ought to go,\r\nby the loans they made.\r\nI know for a fact that doing this type work with banks these days that a lot of those banks are more focussed on the amount of business they write\r\nrather than making these decisions.\r\n<p>\r\nThat leaves the decision to local government.\r\nIt lands squarely in your lap\r\nand the Planning Commission&#8217;s lap.\r\nI want you to take that as very important.\r\n<p>\r\nYou know I think that we would all encourage smart development in our community,\r\nand not let development be driven simply by what non-resident or non-local in some cases\r\ndevelopers and others want to do.\r\nThat&#8217;s not the pattern for economic growth.\r\nThe pattern for economic growth is protecting and densifying near urban areas,\r\nnot moving into rural character areas.\r\n<p>\r\nI&#8217;ll end by this. As I said, we&#8217;re not here to say no, never, not in my back yard.\r\nI want you to consider a few things&#8230; I&#8217;ve said it to some of you,\r\nI&#8217;ve said it to J.D. a couple of times.\r\nThere is very easily, it may take some more times, more effort,\r\nbut there is very easily created a new buffer area, a new character area\r\nthat would be a rural suburban buffer area\r\nthat would not allow for different size lots,\r\nthat would not allow for different development standards,\r\nthat could shelter some of the development that&#8217;s occuring\r\nsouth of Lucas-Richardson and between this area\r\nthat we&#8217;re thinking about expanding into.\r\nI think you could easily do that with development standards and increase\r\nthe development standards within the ULDC.\r\n<p>\r\nI think you ought to consider focusing water-sewer expansion\r\nrather than down McMillan, as we&#8217;ve heard, up Staten.\r\nIf you go up Staten, that gets you closer to what I&#8217;ve heard is to loop the system\r\nfor quality.\r\nBut it also gets you closer to school campuses.\r\nIt also gets you closer to Moody Air Force Base and\r\nthe development out Bemiss.\r\nAll that plays into development that&#8217;s already occuring.\r\nAnd not taking away rural areas that ought to be protected.\r\n<p>\r\nAnd as a last resort, if you find that this commission wants to change these character areas,\r\nthen I think that you very, you must look very strictly at development standards.\r\nYou know the last thing we need in this community is to turn into communities that\r\nhave nothing but rooftops when you ride up to a subdivision.\r\nYou have to make sure that we have some development standards that require a more\r\nsophisticated type of development in this community.\r\nAnd not the lowest common denominator of laying roads and utilties and [inaudible].\r\n<p>\r\nSo I hope you&#8217;ll consider that.\r\nWe&#8217;re happy to continue to work with the county\r\nand the commission on all these; happy to come to the table\r\nand try to work through some alternatives.\r\nBut I want you to very much know there is a large group of people,\r\na large group of homeowners, landowners, and voters, who are absolutely\r\nagainst what we are hearing.\r\n<p>\r\nThank you, and I&#8217;ll be glad to answer any questions if I can.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nCommissioner Scottie Orenstein said there are things they would disagree on.\r\n<blockquote>\r\nI&#8217;m not being defensive, but I kind of understood what you are saying is that\r\nwe are letting developers drive our growth.\r\nIs that what you said?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBrad Folsom answered:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nYes.\r\nAnd I didn&#8217;t say it [inaudible] way, I said non-resident.\r\nWhat I meant is developers who don&#8217;t live in these areas\r\ncoming in and buying property and convincing people because\r\nthey can sell their property for more than rural\r\nand land uses they can come in and develop it.\r\nEverybody surrounding does not want that.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nOrenstein continued;\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nSo, the challenge, though,\r\nBrad, is it&#8217;s not where the development&#8217;s going to be.\r\nThe developers are not going to develop land,\r\nthe landowners are not&#8230;\r\nLet&#8217;s back up.\r\nThe landowners are not going to sell property that a landowner can&#8217;t buy\r\nthat a builder can&#8217;t purchase lots in\r\nthat an end user ends up zoning in.\r\nIn my opinion, it really boils down to that&#8217;s where people want to be.\r\nI mean, we won&#8217;t name any specific developments, but we all know of some\r\nthat everybody seems to say, we don&#8217;t want any more of these.\r\nI publicly said that I didn&#8217;t want any more R-10\r\nand we had to be really thoughtful about where we allowed any more R-10.\r\nBut really, it&#8217;s where people want to go.\r\nSo I mean really, this group of folks will say,\r\nand you said a minute ago,\r\nyou ought to focus your efforts\r\nover closer to Staten.\r\nWell you&#8217;re going to be right back up here with a group of folks who\r\nlive on Staten Road\r\nand that side of Skipper Bridge and all that, if that&#8217;s the case.\r\nI mean, it truly is not in my back yard type situation.\r\nAnd I&#8217;m very empathetic\r\nto everybody here tonight.\r\n&#8230;I agree with a lot of what you said.\r\nBut as somebody who passionately cares about our community and doesn&#8217;t want to be\r\nlike other communities that&#8217;s been discussed, where they&#8217;ve said,\r\nwe&#8217;re not encouraging any more growth here,\r\nwe don&#8217;t want it, stay away,\r\nand some of those people are struggling\r\nhere twenty years later.\r\nSo we don&#8217;t want to be known as a group of commissioners who&#8217;ve said\r\nthat, you know, absolutely not, developers stay away from here,\r\nand everything&#8217;s going to stay the same,\r\nwe&#8217;re all going to be comfortable and peaceful where we&#8217;re at,\r\nwe&#8217;re not going to be able to change.\r\n<p>\r\nSo, how do we find that balance?\r\nEspecially when everybody wants to be from North Valdosta Road to Bethany Road?\r\nAnd I&#8217;m saying all the way left to right, east to west.\r\nI mean, that&#8217;s where the growth is occuring.\r\nSo how do we?&#8230;\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBrad Folsom responded:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nWell no, I get that.\r\nI think the thing that lets the air out of that argument a little is the 16 hundred 70 acres that NATCO owns that&#8217;s ready for development.\r\nThe two or three hundred the Dashers own that&#8217;s ready for development.\r\nAll in that area.\r\nYou know that inventory alone, you develop those two tracts&#8230;.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nScottie Orenstein interjected:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBut we&#8217;re not the developers!\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nFolsom continued:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nI understand,\r\nI&#8217;m venturing a little here, because I don&#8217;t know,\r\nbut I would venture to say that the developers\r\nwho have approached NATCO and Dasher don&#8217;t want to pay the prices for those,\r\nbut will pay the prices that a tract on Bethany or whereever,\r\nprobably a lower price.\r\nThat&#8217;s pure speculation on my part.\r\nBut what that tells me is, what sort of lets the air out of that argument,\r\nis that that land is plenty in that area, in the exact area you&#8217;re talking about,\r\nfor development for the next ten years, or fifteen years.\r\nWe already have 750 lots today that are ongoing.\r\n750 between North Valdosta Road and Lucas-Richardson Road.\r\nAdd 1600 acres development. What does that give you?\r\nThree times that? Four times that?\r\nTell me there&#8217;s going to be 2100, 2500, 3000 more houses built\r\nin the next ten years in that area.\r\nI don&#8217;t personally see it.\r\nOur population went up 5, 7,000 in the census?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nScottie Orenstein interjected:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nWe&#8217;ve all said we don&#8217;t know.\r\nI would love to know where the people&#8230;.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nFolsom continued:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nI would venture to say, and I&#8217;ve said this to some of you\r\nand everybody in the room probably already knows it,\r\nI can&#8217;t also see that we won&#8217;t have another economic downturn in the next five years.\r\nAnd none of us can.\r\nBut you kind of have to put that into your equations.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nCommissioner Clay Griner spoke up.\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s a way to look at it.\r\nStarting with the 1920 census, every forty years Lowndes County has gone up 80 to 90% in population.\r\nSo if you&#8217;re at 100,000, forty years later you&#8217;re going to be at 180-190,000 people.\r\nSo we just had 119,000 in the last census count.\r\nSo by 2060 you&#8217;re going to have about 215,000 who live in Lowndes County.\r\nWhere are they gonna go; where are you going to put them.\r\nThe city grew 800 people over the last ten years.\r\nNot the city.\r\nIt&#8217;s going to be unincorporated area.\r\nProperty is where they&#8217;re moving to.\r\nSo&#8230;.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBrad Folsom replied:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nOf course we know the larger issue this entire community has to deal with\r\nis people, the tax base, moving out of the city of Valdosta. \r\nI believe that even though we all talk about getting along,\r\nwe all talk about all of that,\r\nwe have to do something about that as the county.\r\nAnd we have to get the cooperation of the city to do that.\r\nBrad talking as a county resident.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nGiner interjected:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nI agree.\r\nI don&#8217;t disagree with you. I&#8217;m just saying&#8230;.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBrad Folsom continued:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nWe can&#8217;t continue to\r\nmultiply the county and let our urban area continue to dedensify.\r\nThat&#8217;s not good planning; J.D. says it is&#8230;.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nGriner replied:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nI don&#8217;t disagree with you.\r\nBut I&#8217;m looking at what the trends are and what&#8217;s actually happening.\r\nI can say I would love for everybody to move inside the city limits of Valdosta,\r\nbut that&#8217;s not what&#8217;s happening.\r\nThat&#8217;s not what happened in the last ten years.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBrad Folsom replied:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nAnd all we&#8217;re asking is for this commission to find a way to reverse that trend,\r\nor at least to try to stem to tide.\r\nAnd not just continue to add and add and add and take away from our rural areas.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nGriner replied:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nI&#8217;ve looked at the numbers, and so by 2060 we&#8217;re going to have 215,000 people\r\nin Lowndes County, and there&#8217;s got to be growth somewhere.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nScottie Orenstein added:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nAnd I don&#8217;t think they&#8217;re gonna grow, the city of Valdosta, is going to grow,\r\nand this is just my opinion,\r\nI don&#8217;t think they&#8217;re going to grow within their city limits now.\r\nSo then what are you talking about: annexing property on the other side of the bridge towards the north end?\r\nThe same thing&#8217;s going to happen then, and maybe even more densely populated than what we&#8217;re talking about.\r\nI don&#8217;t know, it&#8217;s been nice&#8230;\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBrad Folsom replied:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nI don&#8217;t know. Nobody has a crystal ball.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nChairman Bill Slaughter complimented Ms. Adkins for her presentation, then:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nHowever, she made the statement she never intends to sell any of her property\r\nthat&#8217;s there.\r\nThere&#8217;s nobody out there, regardless of where this imaginary line ends up,\r\nthere&#8217;s nobody twisting anybody&#8217;s arm to make them sell,\r\nthe acreage that they have.\r\nThat&#8217;s a decision that those individuals make, that they want to market their property\r\nwhether it&#8217;s a farmer that&#8217;s looking for a retirement strategy or whatever it may be,\r\nand then on the other hand you have a developer who\r\nrecognizes the fact of where that growth if at and he makes that investment to\r\nfigure to that I&#8217;m going to gamble on\r\nthis and see if I can put a development in here and then sell these properties.\r\nWe know, as you said, a downturn turns in the market, all this is not really\r\ngoing to matter until it make another adjustment, but reality is,\r\nas we&#8217;ve said, we have a responsibility as well as to be able to look at this growth\r\npatterns that we have before us at present so that we can\r\nmake the adjustments.\r\n<p>\r\nAnd I say this a lot of times,\r\nwe never want to get in a position where we&#8217;re actually chasing development,\r\nwe&#8217;re chasing growth in this county.\r\nWe need to have the foresight to try to have some planning in place,\r\nso that if it chooses to go somewhere and in that direction,\r\nwe&#8217;ll be there and basically be ready.\r\nSo that&#8217;s, you know, it&#8217;s a very very tough decision that everybody&#8217;s\r\ngoing to have to make.\r\n<p>\r\nBut again,\r\nI just want everybody to understand, as much as anything,\r\nthat the Comprehensive Plan also is a tool to use.\r\nIt&#8217;s not anything that&#8217;s etched in stone that says\r\nyou do this and you do that and you don&#8217;t do this.\r\nIt&#8217;s a tool for everybody to look at.\r\nIt&#8217;s a tool for the developers to look at:\r\nwhere&#8217;s their potential for growth.\r\nIt&#8217;s also has to do with other investors\r\nwho maybe just want to go out there and make an investment in a piece of property.\r\nAll of those factors play a role.\r\n<p>\r\nAt the end of the day,\r\nas we look at the Comprehensive Plan,\r\nwe&#8217;ve got to be conscientious enough about the fact that currently,\r\nas it sits, Lowndes County unincorporated is growing.\r\nAs we&#8217;ve said, where it&#8217;s growing is in the north and northwest side.\r\n<p>\r\nAnd that has a lot to do with the school.\r\nI&#8217;ve got grandchildren that&#8217;s in that school.\r\nAnd everybody wants to be in that school system.\r\n<p>\r\nNow, the schools themselves are going to have to make some decisions\r\nfrom that standpoint.\r\nBecause again they can&#8217;t tell people not to move into that district.\r\nWhat will they do?\r\nThey&#8217;ll adjust district lines,\r\nmake a decision to add on or build a school.\r\nThey&#8217;ll do\r\nwhat they have to do.\r\nAnd that&#8217;s the message that I&#8217;ve received:\r\ndon&#8217;t worry about the school system;\r\nthe school system will do what they want to do.\r\nBut at the end of the day as [somebody] kind of said,\r\nwe&#8217;re faced with challenges that folks want to live in this area.\r\n<p>\r\nSo I agree, and Scottie, Mr. Orenstein touched on it,\r\nyou know, we don&#8217;t want to see everything annexed.\r\nWe just don&#8217;t.\r\nWe got some of that, and we want to move on away from that.\r\nI agree with a lot of what&#8217;s been said.\r\nBut this is a challenge.\r\n<p>\r\nIt is something that we&#8217;ve got to at least take a look at\r\nthe next five years, minimal, of what we&#8217;re going to do,\r\nof what we&#8217;re going to be looking at.\r\nBecause we&#8217;ve got to give everybody\r\nsome direction; everybody needs to understand where we&#8217;re headed.\r\nThat responsibility does fall on us at the end of the day.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBrad Folsom replied:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nMostly I&#8217;d like to say you keyed in on it just then, is\r\nyou look at this Comprehensive Plan every five years.\r\nAnd quite frankly I understand what you&#8217;re saying about it informs the process\r\nbut necessarily bear on the process.\r\nBut your ULDC reads a little more strongly than that.\r\nAnd since you look at it every five years,\r\nif you&#8217;ll think about, just think about the development pattern\r\nof Nelson Hill.\r\n<p>\r\nNelson Hill began being developed\r\naround 2008, because I foreclosed on it in 2009.\r\nAnd it&#8217;s got roughly 500 lots, if I remember right.\r\nIt&#8217;s taken about ten years for that to be developed.\r\nSo that&#8217;s 500 lots.\r\nWe have 750 now.\r\nYou&#8217;re going to look at this again in five years, right?\r\nSo let&#8217;s leave it the same and see where we are in five years.\r\nBecause you have 750 lots now.\r\nYou have two or three other tracts in this area\r\nthat will be developed.\r\nThere&#8217;s really no reason to move it beyond that.\r\nIf you want to put water and sewer in,\r\nif you have the capability and the money,\r\nput it in.\r\nBut let&#8217;s look at it.\r\nBecause once the character area is changed,\r\nI can tell you, representing people who are against zoning changes,\r\nyour back is against the wall.\r\nYou have virtually no say-so.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nCommissioner Orenstein interjected:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThat&#8217;s not true.\r\nIf that were the case we wouldn&#8217;t even need to be here&#8230;.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBrad Folsom continued:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBut your duty is to follow your zoning ordinaces, your ULDC,\r\nand your character area maps that you&#8217;ve passed.\r\nThat&#8217;s your duty as a Commissioner.\r\nIt&#8217;s the law.\r\nSo once you pass it, you&#8217;re upholding the law,\r\nand it makes it incredibly hard for anybody opposing it to go in any different direction,\r\nif it fits within those character areas, if it fits within the ULDC.\r\nI can tell you, if I challenge zoning, ti makes it really hard.\r\n<p>\r\nSo I think there&#8217;s a good opportunity to leave it as it is for five years.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nCommissioner Demarcus Marshall said he had a general concern:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nIn looking at everything in red, that&#8217;s a lot of money that&#8217;s already been committed.\r\nI stopped at $10 million of roads that we&#8217;re talking about putting in this area.\r\nA long story short, just by putting paved roads\r\nand infrastructure in those areas,\r\nis going to create traffic and what have you.\r\nWe talked about the wastewater and what have you out there.\r\nThis money has already been obligated as part of this process.\r\nAnd the problem I&#8217;ve been finding is,\r\nunder natural or normal considerations for paving a road,\r\nwhen I drove those areas I didn&#8217;t see many houses.\r\nI mean they were separated.\r\nBut this is a $3.7 million road that is going to be paved.\r\nThis is a $2.5 million road that is going to be paved.\r\nIs there any way we can take it off the list?\r\nBy guarantee it&#8217;s already done, right?\r\n<p>\r\n&ldquo;It&#8217;s done,&rdquo; interjected another Commissioner.\r\n<p>\r\nAnd so you&#8217;re talking about the next five years\r\nand this band three, no matter what decision is made,\r\nyou&#8217;re talking about paved roads on Hall Road,\r\nall those major roads, and that&#8217;s going to put traffic through that whole area.\r\nMy concern is about I want to know can we use the money elsewhere.\r\nIf not, what we&#8217;re talking at the endMy concern is about I want to know can we use the money elsewhere.\r\nIf not, there&#8217;s going to be traffic in that area.\r\nThere&#8217;s going to be a lot of growth.\r\nYou&#8217;re talking about already development decisions have been made\r\nsince the water came in.\r\nI don&#8217;t know if you can almost turn this around,\r\nbecause of the amount of money that&#8217;s already been obligated and voted on.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nChairman Slaughter replied:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nWell, I would say, Mr. Marshall, that those roads that are on the T-SPLOST agenda,\r\nthey&#8217;re all primarily running east and west.\r\nThose roads are going to be utilized primarily by the folks that live in that area.\r\nThey start at Val Del and go over to 41, then across to Union Road.\r\nBut that&#8217;s going to be roads that citizens that live in those areas\r\nwill have a better means of moving east and west between those\r\nthose primary corridors in Lowndes County.\r\nRight now, some of the roads we are talking about,\r\nBethany Road is a primary example,\r\nof one of those east-west corridors, where folks that&#8217;s over on Val Del\r\nthat wants to go 41 or in that direction,\r\ncut across to go over to 41, or they take McMillan and go over to Bemiss.\r\nSo that&#8217;s the purpose of those roads, and that&#8217;s really the analogy\r\nbehind those roads being resurfaced&#8230;.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nCommissioner Marshall replied:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nI&#8217;m just saying that&#8217;s calling for development when you\r\npave like Hall Road, and there&#8217;s really not much out there.\r\nYou&#8217;re going to do that road, all the way across, that&#8217;s a lot of money\r\nfor an area that does not want development.\r\nAnd if they don&#8217;t want development, and if we say we&#8217;re not going to do development,\r\nwhy do we spend money on it?\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nChairman Slaughter replied:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nWhat I think what I believe here is that the dilemma here is what I said earlier.\r\nThere&#8217;s folks that live in this area that will never sell their property.\r\nHas no intention whatsoever.\r\nAs was said has been in the family for seven generations.\r\nIt will remain in the family for another seven generations.\r\nBut then there&#8217;s also some property out there that someone\r\nwould prefer to sell that.\r\nThere is some ag lands that fall in that category, where a farmer\r\nis looking for his retirement.\r\nHe&#8217;s worked hard for his entire life on that piece of dirt,\r\ntrying to plow out a living, and he wants to retire, and so\r\nhe makes the decision that he wants to sell some of that property.\r\nWell, again, that&#8217;s a decision that individuals make&#8230;.\r\nAgain, we&#8217;re looking at it from a standpoint of where do the citizens\r\nin this community currently want to live?\r\nAnd I think that evidence is showing every single time you look at it,\r\nagain it&#8217;s in that northwest corner.\r\nWe can&#8217;t put a gate up there and say nobody else in here,\r\nbecause this is where we want to be.\r\nAnd so I do agree that our challenge is, and what we are obligated\r\nto do is to find the very best way to make that work for everybody.\r\nAnd again, what we&#8217;re seeing here is not something that is in concrete.\r\nBut it&#8217;s something that we have to consider as a starting point.\r\nAnd I believe that we can get where we need to be.\r\nThat we can address our concerns and this community&#8217;s issues\r\nfor the next five years.\r\nAnd then in another five years, we&#8217;ll look at it again,\r\nas we&#8217;re required, to see what we need to do.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThe Minutes only say:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nBrad Folsom, 2611 North Patterson Street, addressed the commission in opposition to changing the\r\nexisting character area map. Mr. Folsom stated the current residents in the area want to protect their\r\nlifestyle and maintain the rural character area. Mr. Folsom stated if the commission wants to change\r\nthe character area, to look at development standards. Commissioner Orenstein stated citizens want\r\nto live in this area and it&#8217;s sometimes difficult to find a balance to satisfy everyone. Chairman Slaughter\r\nstated it is the decision of the property owner(s) to sell their property, if they choose, and the\r\nComprehensive Plan is a tool to use with developers and investors. Chairman Slaughter stated this\r\nis a challenge and it does fall on the Commission to make a final decision. Commissioner Marshall\r\nasked if taking some of the roads off of the paving list would possibly be a consideration. Chairman\r\nSlaughter answered that the roads are going to be utilized by the citizens in that area.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"Gretchen-Quarterman\" href=\"#Gretchen-Quarterman\">\r\nGretchen Quarterman &#8211;<\/a>\r\n<br>\r\n<a title=\"video: Gretchen Quarterman -\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/CPv6CuCNI70\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"Gretchen Quarterman -\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/CPv6CuCNI70\/hqdefault.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/CPv6CuCNI70\">Video.<\/a>\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nMy name is Gretchen Quarterman, and\r\nI live at 6565 Quarterman Road, which is up that Bemiss [Road].\r\n<p>\r\nI&#8217;m not a lifelong resident here.\r\nI first stepped my first step into Lowndes County in 1993,\r\nwhen Bemiss Speedway was being built.\r\nWhen the road was all tored up and everything was pointed right at my\r\nfather-in-law&#8217;s place.\r\nYou know, here, come right up Bemiss!\r\n<p>\r\nWhen he was a little boy, they walked when they moved from Valdosta\r\nout to the farm, they walked, and it was a dirt road.\r\nAnd now it&#8217;s a speedway.\r\nAnd soon 41 is going to be five lanes, it&#8217;s going to be speedway\r\nfrom Union Road down.\r\nAnd Val Del has to get fatter, because there&#8217;s all these houses out there.\r\nBecause I live out there,\r\nI can come down Bemiss, or I can come down Staten Road, or I can come down Val Del.\r\nI come down Val Del a lot more because my daughter and son-in-law and grandchildren\r\nhave just moved to Bethany Road. So that&#8217;s pretty handy for us to have\r\nthem over there.\r\n<p>\r\nYears ago. I think Paige was maybe here then.\r\nI don&#8217;t know that any of the rest of you were.\r\nThe commission paid for a study about planning.\r\nIt was called the <a href=\"#dorfmanreport\">Dorfman Report<\/a>.\r\nAnd the Dorfman Report gave great detail about\r\nhow much services houses take, and how important it is\r\nto have development close to existing services.\r\nAnd the farther out you go, the farther the Sheriff has to go,\r\nbecause trees and cotton don&#8217;t call the Sheriff, but neighbors do.\r\nAnd if you don&#8217;t have a lot of school busses running out there.\r\nSo taxes in all of our areas get raised because we have services.\r\nI don&#8217;t mind paying taxes, but I want to know that my tax money is spent wiseley.\r\n<p>\r\nWhen the Commission was still meeting at Savannah Avenue, and water was being run up Bemiss,\r\nin fact all the way up to River Road,\r\na developer came, stood at the podium, and said,\r\n&ldquo;you ran that water for us.&rdquo;\r\nWell I thought that the water was being run for the citizens.\r\nI didn&#8217;t know that it was being run for developers.\r\n<p>\r\nAnd honestly in the deepest part of my heart, that&#8217;s what I feel like you&#8217;re doing,\r\nwhen you run water.\r\nYou just made a ring.\r\nYou ringed the city.\r\nThe city can&#8217;t get out any more.\r\nAnd the people who live outside the ring,\r\nwe&#8217;re happy outside the ring.\r\nWe don&#8217;t want&#8230;\r\nPeople move here for the rural quality\r\nof the community.\r\n<p>\r\nNow Clay said that population grows, grows, grows, and that&#8217;s true.\r\nBut people that want to live in an urban area, they&#8217;re going to move to Augusta,\r\nor Savannah.\r\nPeople that move here want to live in this area.\r\nThey want the slower quality lifestyle.\r\nI know that.\r\nI know people who have moved here for that reason.\r\nSo there&#8217;s some balance between\r\npeople are going to move here, and what do we want our community to be.\r\n<p>\r\nAnd that&#8217;s what I really want to get to.\r\nAre we riding the train?\r\nOr are we driving the train?\r\nAnd this map drives the train.\r\nAnd I think we should be very careful how we drive the train.\r\nBecause we don&#8217;t want to just go, well, we did this thing, and\r\nthat&#8217;s where we had to go, because we did this thing, we ran\r\nthe water up there, and now that&#8217;s where we are.\r\nWe need to think carefully, what do we want our community to be.\r\n<p>\r\nOnly two weeks ago, somebody stood in this chamber and said,\r\ndecisions that were made fifty years ago about parks and recreation\r\nor historic preservation, now they&#8217;re saying, why didn&#8217;t those people\r\nprotect those areas.\r\nAnd in parks and rec I think we&#8217;re doing a pretty good job identifying\r\nplaces we want to preserve.\r\nBut I think in the whole character of our community we want to do that same thing.\r\n<p>\r\nIn fifty years we don&#8217;t want to have people saying, what were those people thinking.\r\nWhy didn&#8217;t they preserve us to be a nice little community.\r\nThank you.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nThe Minutes only say:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nGretchen Quarterman, 6565 Quarterman Road, addressed the commission in opposition to changing\r\nthe existing character area map. Mrs. Quarterman stated 41 North would be a speedway and people\r\nmove here for the rural quality of the community.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<H4><a name=\"dorfmanreport\" href=\"#dorfmanreport\">The Dorfman Report<\/a><\/H4>\r\n<p>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2010\/09\/sprawl-to-ruin-or-dense-with-green-space-for-quality-of-life.html\">\r\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"sprawl\" style=\"float:right;border:none\" src=\"http:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4125\/4947645343_285da08e1e_m.jpg?zoom=1.5&#038;w=625\"><\/a>\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/loco.quarterman.org\/docs\/Lowndes-Report-Final.pdf\">\r\nThe Local Government Fiscal Impacts of Land Use in Lowndes County:\r\nRevenue and Expenditure Streams by Land Use Category<\/a>,\r\nJeffrey H. Dorfman, Ph.D., Dorfman Consulting, December 2007.\r\n<p>\r\nAs Dr. Dorfman summarized in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2010\/09\/sprawl-to-ruin-or-dense-with-green-space-for-quality-of-life.html\">a different presentation<\/a>,\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nLocal governments must ensure balanced growth, as\r\n<br>\r\n<strong>sprawling residential growth is a certain ticket to fiscal ruin*<\/strong>\r\n<br>\r\n* Or at least big tax increases.\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"David-Houtz\" href=\"#David-Houtz\">\r\nDavid Houtz<\/a>\r\n<br>\r\n<a title=\"video: David Houtz\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/yg9hLnHueO4\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"David Houtz\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/yg9hLnHueO4\/hqdefault.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/yg9hLnHueO4\">Video.<\/a>\r\n<p>\r\nThank you for at least entertaining what we have to say here about land use.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nI&#8217;ll be honest, I&#8217;m from North Carolina.\r\nI came here in the military in 2000.\r\nI met my wife here.\r\nWe left in 2008.\r\nWe alway said if we get a chance to come back we will.\r\nThat&#8217;s where we want to retire.\r\nIn 2015 I had an opportunity to come back.\r\nWe looked specifically for a rural area&#8230;.\r\n<p>\r\nThe Minutes only say:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nDavid Houtz, 5767 Thompson Road, addressed the commission in opposition to changing the existing\r\ncharacter area map. Mr. Houtz stated he returned to this area to raise a family and he does not want\r\nto have this rural agricultural area destroyed. Mr. Houtz stated the developers will be gaining if the character area map is changed. Commissioner Griner addressed census numbers that Mr. Houtz\r\nhad questioned.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"Smith-Mehr\" href=\"#Smith-Mehr\">\r\nSmith Mehr<\/a>\r\n<br>\r\n<a title=\"video: Smith Mehr\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1R24zQNP4CU\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"Smith Mehr\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/1R24zQNP4CU\/hqdefault.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1R24zQNP4CU\">Video.<\/a>\r\nThe Minutes only say:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nSamantha Mehr, 5909 Val Del Road, addressed the commission in opposition to changing the existing\r\ncharacter area map. Ms. Mehr stated she&#8217;s lived here since 2005. Ms. Mehr requested a copy of the\r\noath of office that the Commissioners took when entering office. The County Manager, Paige Dukes,\r\nresponded that it is maintained by the state, Ms. Mehr asked if she could receive a copy, Mrs. Dukes\r\nresponded yes. Ms. Mehr stated she enjoys living in a rural area with her livestock.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"Neil-Allen\" href=\"#Neil-Allen\">\r\nNeil Allen<\/a>\r\n<br>\r\n<a title=\"video: Neil Allen\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/himIJGKjdqY\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"Neil Allen\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/himIJGKjdqY\/hqdefault.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/himIJGKjdqY\">Video.<\/a>\r\nThe Minutes only say:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nLee and Linda Scott, 5851 Val Del Road, when Chairman Slaughter called on them to speak, they\r\nhad changed their minds about speaking.\r\n<p>\r\nBill Allen, 5052 Bethany Drive, addressed the commission in opposition to changing the existing\r\ncharacter area map. Mr. Allen stated that with the current amount of traffic, by increasing the number\r\nof homes in the area, the traffic would only increase and be much worse. Mr. Allen mentioned where\r\nhe lives is diverse and he&#8217;d like to keep the same character area.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"George-Fisher\" href=\"#George-Fisher\">\r\nGeorge Fisher<\/a>\r\n<br>\r\n<a title=\"video: George Fisher\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/67yKWcx572I\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"George Fisher\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/67yKWcx572I\/hqdefault.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/67yKWcx572I\">Video.<\/a>\r\nThe Minutes only say:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nGeorge Fisher, 5278 Hall Road, addressed the commission in opposition to changing the existing\r\ncharacter area map. Mr. Fisher stated he doesn&#8217;t want Hall Road paved and he&#8217;s lived in the area for\r\ntwenty years and is against expansion.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<li>\r\n<a name=\"Adjournment\" href=\"#Adjournment\">\r\nMeeting Adjournment<\/a>\r\n<br>\r\n<a title=\"video: Meeting Adjournment\" href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/o9EwbwdrYEc\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none\" alt=\"Meeting Adjournment\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/o9EwbwdrYEc\/hqdefault.jpg\"><\/a>\r\n<p style=\"font-style:normal\">\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/o9EwbwdrYEc\">Video.<\/a>\r\nThe Minutes say:\r\n<blockquote>\r\n<p>\r\nCommissioner Griner made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Vice Chairman Evans second. All voted\r\nin favor, no one opposed. Chairman Slaughter adjourned the meeting at 7:05 p.m.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<p>\r\nHere&#8217;s\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/playlist?list=PLshUv86fYkiG_kSH5HYn5uO8xP_-U2jD9\">\r\na LAKE video playlist:<\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%\">\r\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/videoseries?list=PLshUv86fYkiG_kSH5HYn5uO8xP_-U2jD9\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\r\n<br>\r\nVideos: Many objections at Comprehensive Plan Stakeholder Meeting @ LCC Comp Plan 2021-09-28\r\n<br>\r\nValdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.\r\n<br>\r\nVideos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),\r\n<\/p>\r\n<p>\r\nIf the millions of dollars already allocated for paving county roads is\r\nfor the people who live there, as the Lowndes County Chairman said, why are they being\r\nbuilt to state highway standards and why do they need 80-foot rights of way?\r\nWhy is another <a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2021\/10\/sewer-improvements-water-for-subdivision-sprawl-library-lcc-2021-10-11.html\">million-dollar water main<\/a> needed to &#8220;close the loop&#8221; when the county already did that several years ago?\r\nCould these things be, as one Commissioner suggested, to promote development?\r\nSeems likely, since another Commissioner kept noting he expects the county population to about double in 40 years.\r\n<p>\r\nThe County <a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/what-happened-at-nelson-hill-on-val-del-road-lcc-2013-08-12.html\">started the sprawl up Val Del Road back in 2007<\/a>\r\nwhen it ran county water and sewer up there for the Nelson Hill subdivision.\r\nThen <a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/nelson-hill-waivers-by-staff-2-lcc-2013-08-13.html\">county staff gave waivers<\/a> on lot setbacks and lot sizes\r\nwithout running those through the Planning Commission or holding any public hearings.\r\nAdd all the new roads and the water main and the county is the main force pushing development northwest.\r\n<p>\r\n -jsq\r\n<\/p>\r\n<H4><a href=\"#charmaps\" name=\"charmaps\">Character Area Maps<\/a><\/H4>\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Hahira Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC\" name=\"CharacterAreaMaps:Hahira-Character-Area-Map-courtesy-Elizabeth-Backe-SGRC\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Hahira-Charcter-Area-Map-0001.html\"><img decoding=\"async\" border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Hahira-Charcter-Area-Map-0001.jpg\"  alt=\"[Hahira Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Hahira-Charcter-Area-Map-0001.html\">Hahira Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC<\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Hahira-Charcter-Area-Map-0001.pdf\"><strong>PDF<\/strong><\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Dasher Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC\" name=\"CharacterAreaMaps:Dasher-Character-Area-Map-courtesy-Elizabeth-Backe-SGRC\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Dasher-Character-Area-Map-0001.html\"><img decoding=\"async\"  width=\"600\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Dasher-Character-Area-Map-0001.jpg\"  alt=\"[Dasher Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Dasher-Character-Area-Map-0001.html\">Dasher Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC<\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Dasher-Character-Area-Map-0001.pdf\"><strong>PDF<\/strong><\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Lake Park Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC\" name=\"CharacterAreaMaps:Lake-Park-Character-Area-Map-courtesy-Elizabeth-Backe-SGRC\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Lake-Park-Charcter-Area-Map-0001.html\"><img decoding=\"async\"  width=\"600\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Lake-Park-Charcter-Area-Map-0001.jpg\"  alt=\"[Lake Park Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Lake-Park-Charcter-Area-Map-0001.html\">Lake Park Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC<\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Lake-Park-Charcter-Area-Map-0001.pdf\"><strong>PDF<\/strong><\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Remerton Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC\" name=\"CharacterAreaMaps:Remerton-Character-Area-Map-courtesy-Elizabeth-Backe-SGRC\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Final-Remerton-Character-Areas-85x11-0001.html\"><img decoding=\"async\"  width=\"600\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Final-Remerton-Character-Areas-85x11-0001.jpg\"  alt=\"[Remerton Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Final-Remerton-Character-Areas-85x11-0001.html\">Remerton Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC<\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Final-Remerton-Character-Areas-85x11-0001.pdf\"><strong>PDF<\/strong><\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Valdosta Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC\" name=\"CharacterAreaMaps:Valdosta-Character-Area-Map-courtesy-Elizabeth-Backe-SGRC\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Valdosta-Character-Area-Map-Roads-Off-0001.html\"><img decoding=\"async\"  width=\"600\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Valdosta-Character-Area-Map-Roads-Off-0001.jpg\"  alt=\"[Valdosta Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Valdosta-Character-Area-Map-Roads-Off-0001.html\">Valdosta Character Area Map, courtesy Elizabeth Backe, SGRC<\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Valdosta-Character-Area-Map-Roads-Off-0001.pdf\"><strong>PDF<\/strong><\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-size:80%;font-style:italic\">\r\n<a title=\"Unfinished Lowndes County Character Area Map, courtesy Lowndes County Planner JD Dillard\" name=\"CharacterAreaMaps:Unfinished-Lowndes-County-Character-Area-Map-courtesy-Lowndes-County-Planner-JD-Dillard\" href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Lowndes-County-wValdosta-map-9-0001.html\"><img decoding=\"async\"  width=\"600\"  border=0 src=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Lowndes-County-wValdosta-map-9-0001.jpg\"  alt=\"[Unfinished Lowndes County Character Area Map, courtesy Lowndes County Planner JD Dillard]\"><\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Lowndes-County-wValdosta-map-9-0001.html\">Unfinished Lowndes County Character Area Map, courtesy Lowndes County Planner JD Dillard<\/a>\r\n<br><a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/govt\/loco\/2021-09-28--lcc-comp-plan-videos\/Lowndes-County-wValdosta-map-9-0001.pdf\"><strong>PDF<\/strong><\/a>\r\n<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align:center;font-style:italic\">Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research.  You can <a href=\"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/donate\">donate to LAKE today<\/a>!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Update 2021-11-08: Videos: Comprehensive Plan Update Public Hearing 2 @ LCC 2021-10-26. All of the speakers at the Comprehensive Plan Stakeholder Meeting were opposed to moving the Suburban Area line farther north on the Character Area Map. They presented cogent reasons, such as they live up there and aren&#8217;t going to sell, there are already [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[552,88,449,55],"tags":[258,7849,11449,7509,8777,11448,8790,622,11241,11451,11450,8701,10,8791,4895,11452,8702,8792,5520,12,7,8734,3289,8793,1033,949,8644,8778,2342,1167,6,8726,11453],"class_list":["post-22400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comprehensive-plan","category-lowndes-county-commission","category-transportation","category-water","tag-bill-slaughter","tag-brad-folsom","tag-character-area-maps","tag-clay-griner","tag-comprehensive-plan","tag-comprehensive-plan-update-meeting","tag-dasher","tag-demarcus-marshall","tag-elizabeth-backe","tag-expenditure","tag-fiscal-impacts","tag-georgia","tag-gretchen-quarterman","tag-hahira","tag-jeffrey-h-dorfman","tag-kathy-mcmillan-adkins","tag-lake","tag-lake-park","tag-land-use","tag-lowndes-area-knowledge-exchange","tag-lowndes-county","tag-lowndes-county-commission","tag-matt-martin","tag-remerton","tag-revenue","tag-roads","tag-scottie-orenstein","tag-sgrc","tag-southern-georgia-regional-commission","tag-sprawl","tag-valdosta","tag-valdosta-city-council","tag-water-main"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p585fK-5Pi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22400"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22400\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22488,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22400\/revisions\/22488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}