Videos: ULDC chicken changes deferred, Biomass site to boat storage, Lake Park mini-storage, 2 Valdosta subdivisions and a church @ GLPC 2023-06-26

Update 2023-07-17: Added the Valdosta cases and Other Businesses that had inadvertently been left out of the playlist.

Update 2023-07-10: Packet: Complicated Library Board, ULDC amendments, Boat and RV Storage, Alapaha Plantation Water, Purchases houses by Griner Park, Insurance, LMIG @ LCC 2023-07-10.

Why does Lowndes County want the Planning Commission (GLPC) and County Commission to vote on changes to the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) before the general public has a chance to review and comment on them?

[Collage @ LCC 26 June 2023]
Collage @ LCC 26 June 2023

When even the number of ULDC items changed from 10 to 7 in the week before the GLPC meeting? When somebody asked for more time for citizens to review and comment on these changes, why did the County Planning consultant toss out four straw men? Why shouldn’t the general public have such opportunity when the Homebuilders were shown draft changes weeks ago?

Lowndes County Planning consultant Jason Davenport attempted to explain the ULDC amendments and why the county had not shown them to the general county citizenry, at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC). He said they had a plan for six public meetings and two social media posts. However, none of that had happened before this meeting.

[Only minor amendments to the ULDC --Jason Davenport]
Only minor amendments to the ULDC –Jason Davenport

One citizen did want to comment. “Please state your name and address for the record, Gretchen,” said Chairman Ed Hightower.

[The people should have an opportunity to have their say. --Gretchen Quarterman]
The people should have an opportunity to have their say. –Gretchen Quarterman

Gretchen Quarterman objected that “the public has not been informed about this satisfactorily.” They had shown up before the GLPC in Other Business back in April, not as an agenda item, so the public had no way to know to show up for that. She noted these changes had not been on the website nor on social media. The Homebuilders and salespeople had had a chance to review. But regular people had not.

County Commissioner Joyce Evans arrived while Gretchen was speaking.

[County Commissioner Joyce Evans arrives]
County Commissioner Joyce Evans arrives

“The people should have an opportunity to have their say,” said Gretchen Quarterman. She asked for a recommendation to table.

Jason Davenport said it had been on the website for a week (which later in the same meeting we discovered actually meant since the same day as this meeting). He reiterated what he planned to do (not what they had done) for public meetings and social media.

Then he tossed out straw man #1, “I welcome constructive criticism about how to reach the general public without sending 50,000 people a notice in the mail, but at this point with our resources and our staff, I think you can clearly see that we have tried to put these things out there for review.” Straw man because nobody had asked for sending out notices (although that’s not a bad idea), and no, we can not see that the county has tried to put these things out for review.

Then straw man #2, “And, honestly, the Planning Commission Public Hearing tonight is an opportunity to get additional press, more coverage, to get the word out there, because these amendments will go to the County Commission on July 11th, so there is a break between now and then for additional public notice.” Straw man because the agenda lists it as TXT-2023-01 ULDC Update, not as a Public Hearing. Calling it an “Update” does not even indicate that any action was requested from the GLPC. The GLPC Chairman called for public comment anyway, but he did not say he opened a Public Hearing, and he did not ask first for speakers in favor of the item, followed by speakers against the item. It was not a Public Hearing.

There was a post on the Lowndes County government’s facebook page on June 21st that called it a Public Hearing.

[Lowndes County ULDC facebook post 2023-06-21]
Lowndes County ULDC facebook post 2023-06-21

But in the GLPC agenda it was scheduled as an “Update”, not a Public Hearing.

Jason Davenport concluded by asking the GLPC for a recommendation to approve.

The solar item #5 was removed from this draft for more time to review decommissioning. It was removed at the request of the County Manager, or the County Attorney, or Moody Air Force Base, or maybe all three. Apparently it was removed after the copy LAKE got last week as part of the board packet in response to an open records request. Apparently two others were also removed, because Jason Davenport said he was offering three seven amendments in this meeting. So the public does not know what he was actually proposed to GLPC. And what was in the GLPC board packet was not what the GLPC was asked to approve. Seems to me that alone would be enough reason to table.

It also seems to me that the ULDC should also promote solar parking lots and rooftop solar. Which is something the public could suggest, given an opportunity.

The Planning Commissioners had questions, including, “Is it possible the reason you haven’t gotten comments is because you just posted it today?” Jason Davenport said that there was notice as of the 18th. Which is straw man #3, because the county showed the draft amendments to the Homebuilders Association. We know this because the County Manager said so two weeks previously, in a County Commission meeting, 2023-06-12: “In addition to the Planning Commission, the amendments have also been shared with the Homebuilders Association, as our largest group of stakeholders, we’d like for them to be able to give us some feedback.”

In that same County Commission meeting, the County Chairman added, “I’ve had several comments from other stakeholders, about the process, about when we started, July 1. Is there any way we can look at some form of notification, whether we put it in the newspaper, whatever we might do, just kind of broadly put it out there, get a broader audience, for a lot of subcontractors and folks that aren’t associated with the Homebuilders Association. General contractors and stuff like that.”

So apparently the Homebuilders Association, subcontractors, and general contractors are stakeholders.

Yet the county didn’t put anything before the general public until the day of this GLPC meeting. Are the taxpayers who pay for the county government not stakeholders? Are the voters who elect the County Commissioners not stakeholders?

I don’t know where they posted it on the county’s website; I just looked and I can’t find it. Yet when they want to they can post something like COMMISSION CHAIRMAN WINS NATIONAL AWARD FOR PARKS & RECREATION ADVOCACY and share it all over social media. The Lowndes County government facebook post for that award item got 112 likes, 43 comments, and 5 shares.

That contrasts with the above-mentioned facebook post about the ULDC, which got 2 likes, no comments, and no shares. County staff didn’t even like or share the ULDC post.

Jason Davenport fell back on a legal limit of 45 days. And on sending paper notices to citizens, which he did not want to do.

And he said straw man #4, “We put documentation and minutes out last week.” But they did not put the draft amendments where the public could see them. He said people could have seen the notice and asked for a meeting. Yet the “the amendments have also been shared with the Homebuilders Association, as our largest group of stakeholders,” said the County Manager two weeks before.

The Planning Commissioners were not having it.

[Motion to recommend approval of the ULDC changes]
Motion to recommend approval of the ULDC changes

A motion to recommend approval got a second, but only three votes for, with four against.

[Three votes for the motion to recommend approval of the ULDC changes]
Three votes for the motion to recommend approval of the ULDC changes

A motion to recommend tabling for 30 days for the public to review got a second.

[Motion to recommend tabling for 30 days the ULDC changes]
Motion to recommend tabling for 30 days the ULDC changes

And five votes for, with two votes against.

[Five votes for the motion to recommend tabling for 30 days the ULDC changes]
Five votes for the motion to recommend tabling for 30 days the ULDC changes

A Commissioner asked for clarification if that meant GLPC would hear the amendments again next month. Answer: depends on what the County Commission does. The Lowndes County Commission can of course choose to approve on July 11th anyway.

The rezoning and variance requests got actual Public Hearings, although nobody spoke against them. All of them got unanimous recommendations of approval.

GLPC is not (yet?) doing the Rebuttal part of Public Hearings.

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

See also the board packet and the agenda.

Here’s a LAKE video playlist:


Videos: ULDC chicken changes deferred, Biomass site to boat storage, Lake Park mini-storage, 2 Valdosta subdivisions and a church @ GLPC 2023-06-26
Greater Lowndes Planning Commission, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, Monday, June 26, 2023.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

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One thought on “Videos: ULDC chicken changes deferred, Biomass site to boat storage, Lake Park mini-storage, 2 Valdosta subdivisions and a church @ GLPC 2023-06-26”

  1. Pingback: Packet: Complicated Library Board, ULDC amendments, Boat and RV Storage, Alapaha Plantation Water, Purchases houses by Griner Park, Insurance, LMIG @ LCC 2023-07-10 | On the LAKE front

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