Category Archives: Comprehensive Plan

Videos: 2 Lowndes County developments, Comprehensive Plan Update @ GLPC 2016-06-27

The Comprehensive Plan Update was the Other Business. Staff mentioned the many update workshops and said the Planning Commission could put it back on their agenda after the County Commission vote of the next day.

The REZ-2016-12 Bemiss Road Roy Rhodes rezoning is apparently some sort of science center for busing in home schoolers. “Coding? What’s Coding?” said Commissioner Ted Raker.

REZ-2016-13 Evelyn Lund 4701 Knights Ferry Road is a wedding venue.

Here are links to each of the LAKE videos of this June 27th 2016 GLPC meeeting, followed by a video playlist. See also Continue reading →

Videos: Runner Ernie Andrus, Brookwood again, 3 board appointments, 2 road abandoments, Comp Plan Update, Budget Adoption @ LCC 2016-06-28

For an authority that gets 1.25 mil of your property tax dollars, the Commissioners didn’t even know who was wanting to be reappointed, none of them asked what happened during a year when one of them was apparently serving on that board without a formal appointment, not all of the Commissioners were present even voted, and none of the candidates for any of the board appointments even shhowed up, much less spoke. The Lowndes County Commission at its June 28th 2016 Regular Session also unanimously adopted the budget for what the Chairman repeatedly called “the physical year”, despite only perfunctory public hearings in advance, and no draft budget available on their website for the public to see. After they approved the budget to spend the money (and according to County Manager Joe Pritchard after earlier that same morning the Tourism Authority approved their budget), the Lowndes County Commissioners unanimously approved a hotel/motel tax rate increase. Odd order, eh?

About the 1.25 mil property tax Parks and Rec Authority, the Chairman finally got around to saying Continue reading →

Video: Brookwood Place reappears @ LCC 2016-06-27

Not on the agenda for Monday morning’s Work Session, but added back for Tuesday evening’s Regular Session, the Brookwood Place Subdivision tabled two weeks ago popped up in Reports. Where is it? Who owns it? How did they get it? Who’s the developer? No, really, who’s the developer?

8. Reports – County Manager – the reappearance of Brookwood water
8. Reports - County Manager - the reappearance of Brookwood water

Video. County Manager Joe Pritchard said he was bringing back the trust indenture for “the Brookwood Place subdivision off of Mt. Zion.” He can’t have meant Mt. Zion Road, which is in the southwest part of the county, not near the Valdosta City limits, Continue reading →

Videos: Brookwood reappears, 3 board appointments, 2 road abandoments, Comp Plan Update, Budget Adoption @ LCC 2016-06-27

County Planner Jason Davenport said at Monday morning’s Work Session that the Comprehensive Plan Update should be a Public Hearing, so it needs to be listed as such for Tuesday evening’s Regular Session. I guess that is more than 24 hours notice, but did they send a notice to the newspaper? How were people to know, and why was this left to the day before when this schedule has been known for months to all the local planners?

Not on the agenda, the Brookwood Place Subdivision tabled two weeks ago popped up in Reports.

The county has had a board member listed for VLPRA for a year after his term actually expired.

Plus a special Continue reading →

2 Lowndes County developments, Comprehensive Plan Update @ GLPC 2016-06-27

The long-prepared transmittal of the Comprehensive Plan Update is on the Planning Commission agenda tonight at 5:30 PM, along with two Lowndes County land development cases, oddly scheduled for final approval by the Lowndes County Commission at two different dates.

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, June 27, 2016 * 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

3 board appointments, 2 road abandoments, Comp Plan Update, Budget Adoption @ LCC 2016-06-27

Sheriff or VLPRA? Invisible budget, visible Comp Plan Update, 1 road abandonment + apparently another, and sewage not getting sprayed. All Monday morning 8:30 AM at the Lowndes County Commission Work Session.

The LAS Pump Control Panel is for the sewage spray field, aka Land Application Site: cost $18,500. Lowndes County does not have a wastewater treatment plant, just an LAS, east of Moody Air Force Base’s Grassy Pond west of I-75 and Lake Park.

The Update for the 2016 Greater Lowndes Comprehensive Plan has gone through quite a process of community input, thanks to SGRC.

Can’t say the same for the Adoption of Fiscal Year 2017 Budget, for which the county had a budget meeting with less than 24 hours notice, followed by two budget hearings that those who attended say lasted fifteen minutes each with six slides presented. And the most recent budget document on the county’s website is from 2016.

There’s only one road abandonment listed as such on the agenda (a Portion of Beaver Lane), but Continue reading →

Videos: Planning Meeting, Lowndes County Commission @ LCC 2016-02-04

Suing local businesses helps run up fees to the county attorney, says County Manager Joe Pritchard. He didn’t mention that continuing to promote sprawl for example through the county’s thoroughfare plan also runs up fees that property taxes will never meet. Commissioners seemed very concerned about “stakeholders” whom they said were “the development community, the real estate community” and “the construction and homebuilder industries”. Maybe somewhere they mentioned the agricultural and forestry industries, or sales tax payers even if they don’t own real estate; if so I missed it. At least they’re thinking about the Comprehensive Plan and the general direction of the county in a public forum. And the County Planner did talk about quality of life. Plus it seems business prospects bringing that up got the attention of the County Manager. They said they have a responsiblity to set the direction of the county. How about instead of continuing to drive sprawl outwards, which is a fiscally (and environmentally) irresponsible path, turn to directing development to be more dense in already-developed areas? They continue this morning at 8:30 AM, and Gretchen is there again with the LAKE video camera.

Here’s the agenda followed by links to each LAKE video with a few notes. See also two previous pictures.

We are looking forward to the improved communication that was touted in the VDT headline. Jason Stewart, VDT, 4 February 2016, Slaughter wants to strengthen communication, Continue reading →

Public Hearing, 2016 Comprehensive Plan Update @ SGRC 2016-01-19

Received Friday 5 January 2016:

Subject: Lowndes Comprehensive Plan Kickoff Jan. 19th

The kick-off public hearing for the joint Lowndes County and Cities of Dasher, Hahira, Lake Park, Remerton, and Valdosta 2016 Comprehensive Plan Update will be held on:

Tuesday, January 19, 2016, 5:30 p.m.

Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 W. Savannah Avenue
Valdosta, Georgia

The purpose of this public hearing will be Continue reading →

Who are the Lowndes County Tax Assessors?

This should be an easy question, but it isn’t. Why not?

300x353 W.G. Walker, in Rural land re-evaluation, by Tax Assessors, 14 July 2015 300x336 Mike Hill, in Rural land re-evaluation, by Tax Assessors, 14 July 2015

And the answer is a saw sales owner who previously promoted development in an agricultural region of Lowndes County, a realtor whose job is to promote development, and a preacher who previously chaired a board that wanted to take tax money from the county without rural citizens being able to vote on it. None of them appear to have any experience in agriculture. These are the people who oversaw the recent revaluation of rural (and commercial) properties that would drive development into parts of Lowndes County that the Comprehensive Plan says should be agricultural. Now I know all three of them, and they’re fine people. But perhaps some rural people need to ask them some questions.

The list on lowndescounty.com of Lowndes County’s elected Tax Assessors is not remotely correct: Doyle Kelly is no longer serving due to illness, yet he’s still on that list, along with Mike Hill and W.G. Walker.

Mike Hill runs Continue reading →