Two applicants in a row said they didn’t know until recently that their properties had restrictions on them, and even staff seemed confused about at least one of them. Maybe there’s something wrong with how the county makes that information available to purchasers of property? Almost nobody attended the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission meeting of 25 February 2013, as you can see from these videos.

Here’s the agenda. And here’s a summary of the cases.

Lowndes County, Final action, Tuesday 12 March 2013

2. REZ-2013-03 Valler

Knights Academy Road, Valdosta
Request to rezone 10 acres from R-21 (Medium Density Residential) to R-A (Residential Agriculture)

They want two pet thoroughbred horses on the property. Nobody spoke against.

Applicant spoke for, saying the property was purchased by his mother, who is currently in Iraq, and they had been under the impression it was already zoned agricultural. When they discovered it wasn’t, they applied to change it.

In discussion Jody Hall asked for a limitation of 5 or fewer horses. Applicant agreed. Someone else asked a livestock question that I didn’t catch. Hall made a motion to approve with that limitation. Unanimous recommendation for.

3. REZ-2013-04 Thompson

Bemiss Road, Valdosta
Request to rezone [?] acres from C-H/c (Highway Commercial conditional) to C-H (Highway Commercial)

Douglas O. Thompson owns two properties on Bemiss Road, but one of them is in Valdosta taxing district, so presumably it’s the other one, of 1.28 acres at 3432 Bemiss Road. Why is this a secret? By County Planner Jason Davenport’s description of a property immediately to the south being on Oak Street, the Thompson property must be the 1.28 acres at 3432 Bemiss Road.

Applicant wants to remove two restrictions. He first asked to change to general commercial (C-G) at staff recommendation, but found a property nearby at Oak Drive went to Highway Commercial, so staff recommended that instead and applicant agreed. County Planner actually recommended C-G instead, but the rest of the Technical Review Committee (TRC) went for C-H. Much discussion about buffers, which would default to a 15-40 foot requirement.

Applicant spoke for, saying he had owned the property for ten years and only recently rediscovered during financing that there were conditions on it because it had previously been a used car lot. A Commissioner noted applicant seemed interested in resale, and the Commissioner was concerned about what somebody else might put there in a residential neighborhood if it was zoned C-H.

Commissioners discussed further, mostly about how staff also had apparently been confused about what restrictions were in place and what to recommend. Unfortunately, the primary LAKE camera had a malfunction and the secondary camera didn’t get the audio very well.

Eventually they recommended C-G; I believe it was 5-2.

Valdosta, Final Action, Thursday, 7 March 2013

4. VA-2013-01 Turner Brooks LLC

411 West Mary Street, Valdosta
Request to rezone 0.50 acres from R-6 (Single Family Residential) to R-M (Multi-Family Residential)

City Planner Matt Martin said this is phase three of a development.

Applicant spoke for. Nobody spoke against. Recommended unanimously.

Here’s a video playlist:

Videos: 2 Lowndes County rezonings; 1 Valdosta
Regular Session, Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC),
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 25 February 2013.

-jsq

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