Category Archives: GLPC

Hahira twins and three each Lake Park and Lowndes County @ GLPC 2014-03-31

The twin Hahira cases are to rezone and then annex a lot on the east edge of town. No city of Valdosta cases this time, but three each for Lowndes County and Lake Park. One of the Lake Park cases is a Zoning Ordinance change.

Here’s the agenda, which arrived as a PDF of an image, which I have OCRed into HTML.

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, March 31, 2014* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

Six small rezonings and a planned development @ GLPC 2014-02-24

Mostly single-family rezonings this time, plus one 15 acre planned development request.

Here’s the agenda, supplied by an informant. This one came as a real PDF, permitted extracting the text, so that’s an improvement over last month. Too bad about that “the expense” for the county to put it on the web in the first place.

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, February 24, 2014* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

Dollar General and a historical overlay @ GLPC 2014-01-27

Yet another Dollar General, two small rezonings in Lowndes County, a business office in Valdosta, and a proposed Historical Overlay District.

Here’s the agenda, supplied by an informant. It came as PDF of an image, so I OCRed it to get this text. But why should any citizen have to do that? Oh, right, “the expense”.

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, January 27, 2014* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →

the expense of agendas @ GLPC 2014-01-27

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission meets tonight at 5:30PM, but there’s no agenda posted anywhere online. At the same meeting at which he asserted “we have broadband”, and “transparency is not a problem” County Chairman Bill Slaughter said the county doesn’t publish agendas or minutes for the Planning Commission because of “the expense”.

“the expense”
v.
“When officials act like
they have something to hide,
they often do”

I suppose I don’t know much about this Internet stuff, so maybe somebody can explain it to me: what’s the big expense in publishing the GLPC agendas and minutes the same way the county publishes its own agendas and minutes? Yet if you search for the Planning Commission on the county’s website, all you find is its name in a list of Boards, Agencies & Commissions; tonight’s meeting is not even listed in the county’s online calendar.

For that matter, what would be the big expense in posting the entire agenda packets, like for example Continue reading →

Nottinghill resolved, Spectra profit sharing? Planning Commission transparency? @ LCC 2013-12-10

The Commission’s designated first speaker confused order with good. Chairman Bill Slaughter required a sitting judge to go to the podium to speak, even though he had not required that for multiple Spectra pipeline reps the previous morning. Nottinghill is finally resolved, after yet more probing questions by Commissioners; more than they asked the Spectra reps. A VSU professor and a landowner asked very good questions about the pipeline, a KLVB board member gave a report, and Gretchen asked the Commission to post Planning Commission minutes online.

Two people were appointed; one spoke. The two beer licenses, a liquor license, the decorative special tax lighting district for Windstone, the contracts, the resolution to ask the legislature for an additional judge, and the bids were all approved with little discussion. The settlement for back pay it turns out didn’t actually involve employees having to sue to get paid.

Here’s the amended agenda with the two added items, plus links to the videos and a few notes. See also the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
AMENDED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Put Planning Commission agendas and minutes on web like for ZBOA? –Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 2013-12-10

It’s curious how the City of Valdosta manages to put agendas and minutes for the Zoning Board of Appeals online, but Lowndes County doesn’t put agendas and minutes for the Planning Commission online. Gretchen Quarterman asked the County Commission to fix that, at the 10 December 2013 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission.

She noted that to get the minutes of the Planning Commission she had to file an open records request, and what she got was paper.

And I’ll show you one here. I’m relatively certain this wasn’t typed on a typewriter. It was typed on a computer. And I’d really like to get a computer copy of it; an electronic copy. I always just get a paper copy. So, my request would be: could I please get open records requests in electronic form when they’re available? And, even better, could the county put these minutes on the website somewhere?

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

Agenda! yes Nottinghill and new chair and vice-chair, 1 Hahira, 4 Valdosta @ GLPC 2013-11-25

Agenda page 2 @ GLPC 2013-11-25 How would you as a citizen have known Nottinghill is on the real agenda they’re using right now in the Planning Commission meeting? What if you wanted to speak for or against in that public hearing? The one in the last post wasn’t the real agenda, and even some people who work for local governments didn’t know that.

Here is the real agenda, photographed by Gretchen just now, followed by text version. It also contains an additional item about election of a new Chair and Vice Chair.

Agenda page 1 @ GLPC 2013-11-25

Update: I had the date of this meeting wrong in the transcription; fixed now to November 25, 2013. If the county published the agendas and minutes of the Planning Commission, nobody would have to be transcribing by hand….

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, November 25, 2013* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

CALL TO ORDER, INVOCATION, PLEDGE

  1. Approval of the Minutes: October 28, 2013

CITY OF HAHIRA CASE:

FINAL ACTION by the City of Hahira Mayor-Council
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Hahira City Hall, 102 S. Church Street, Hahira, Georgia
7:30 p.m.
  1. HA-2013-05 Wendy Black
    Property Location: 7495 Union Road
    Request for Variance from Section 10-6 of the Hahira Zoning Ordinance pertaining to size requirements for signs

CITY OF VALDOSTA CASES:

FINAL ACTION by the City of Valdosta Mayor-Council
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Valdosta City Hall, 216 E. Central Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia
Council Chambers, 2nd Floor
5:30 p.m.
  1. CU-2013-04 Cynthia McDougle
    Property Location: 808 Bethune Street
    Request for a Conditional Use Permit to establish a personal care home for 4-6 residents in a Single-Family Residential (R10) zoning district
  2. CU-2013-05 Jessie Marshall, III
    Property Location: 625 East Gordon Street
    Request for a Conditional Use Permit to establish a church in a Single-Family Residential (R-6) zoning district
  3. CU-2013-06 Theresa Patterson
    Property Location: 108 East Adair Street
    Request for a Conditional Use Permit to establish a personal care home for 4-6 residents in a Residential Professional (R-P) zoning district
  4. VA-2013-16 Mac Mackey
    Property Location: 103 B Avenue
    Request to rezone 2.2 acres from Manufacturing/Distribution (M-2) to Wholesale Light Industrial (M-1)

Agenda page 2 @ GLPC 2013-11-25

LOWNDES COUNTY CASES:

FINAL ACTION by the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Lowndes County Judicial and Administrative Complex
Commission Chambers, 2nd Floor
327 North Ashley Strcet, Valdosta, Georgia
5:30 p.m.
  1. REZ-2013-11 Nottinghill
    Location: Orr Road, Valdosta, Georgia
    Request to rezone 14.99 acres from R-A (Residential Agricultural) to R-21 (Medium Density Residential)
    *Note: This case was tabled from the GLPC’s September 29th and October 28th, 2013, regular mtg.

    REZ-2013-11 Nottinghill was tabled by GLPC 30 September 2013 and again 28 October 2013. REZ-2013-11 was also tabled by the Lowndes County Commission 8 October 2013 and 12 November 2013, specifically until the County Commission’s 10 December 2013 meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS

  1. Attendance policy for appointed Boards
  2. Election of 2014 GLPC Chair and Vice Chair
  3. GLPC 2014 Meeting Schedule

ADJOURNMENT

-jsq

Agenda: No Nottinghill and no county cases, 1 Hahira, 4 Valdosta @ GLPC 2013-11-25

I guessed wrong: Nottinghill is not on the agenda. Yet the County Commission decided at its November meeting to hear Nottinghill at its 10 December 2013 meeting, which will be without the Planning Commission ever having discussed this item. How is that right? If Planning Commission agendas were made public some days before the meetings, the public could point out things like this in time for them to be fixed.

REZ-2013-11 Nottinghill was tabled by GLPC 30 September 2013 and again 28 October 2013. REZ-2013-11 was also tabled by the Lowndes County Commission 8 October 2013 and 12 November 2013, specifically until the County Commission’s 10 December 2013 meeting. So if the Planning Commission doesn’t discuss Nottinghill tonight, the County Commission can vote on it in December without the Planning Commission ever having discussed it.

Here’s the agenda for tonight, supplied by an informant about an hour ago. Will anyone from the county even show up, since without Nottinghill there are no county cases on the agenda? Continue reading →

No public agenda for Planning Commission today @ GLPC 2013-11-25

Why so secretive, planning board that recommends on issues that affect citizens all over Lowndes County? Where is your agenda for your meeting at 5:30 PM today? Sure, Gretchen only asked for it today, but why does LAKE have to wheedle it out of somebody? Why don’t you or the county publish it so the public can see? Do you, the affected public, agree with Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter that transparency is not a problem?

We can guess the proposed Nottinghill subdivision will be back, since it got tabled (again) at GLPC’s October meeting. Also probably the attendance policy, since last time the GLPC Chairman wasn’t there and only 6 of 11 Commissioners showed up. But what else? And why should have to guess what public business a public board is taking up tonight? Why do we have this Planning Commission if it doesn’t take its responsibilities to the citizens of this county seriously enough to show up or to tell us what it’s doing?

Lowndes County doesn’t even have today’s meeting on its public calendar. The City of Valdosta does; here’s Valdosta’s GLPC listing for today: Continue reading →

Videos: Steward, Chancy, VLCIA, Nottinghill, and Teramore @ GLPC 2013-10-28

Prequel of the bogus VLMPO maps! Maybe the Valdosta City Council tonight will clarify why the Industrial Authority is asking it to annex and rezone a parcel it apparently does not own. Here’s what the Planning Commission said about that, plus rezonings in Dasher (no speakers and approved unanimously) and Hahira (tabled at request of applicant; see separate post for more on that one), plus two in Lowndes County: Teramore (yes, it’s Dollar General again, and they unanimously recommended it), and Nottinghill is back and got tabled again.

Here’s the agenda with links to the videos and a few notes.

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, October 28, 2013* 5:30 P.M. * Public Hearing

Continue reading →