Category Archives: Planning

Videos: Quarterman Road rezoning recommended against, Mt. Zion Church Road for @ GLPC 2023-08-28

Update 2023-09-05: Please reject REZ-2023-04 2.5-acre rezoning on Quarterman Road –Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE 2023-08-28.

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) voted 7:1 to recommend denial of the proposed E-A 2.5-acre-lot rezoning on Quarterman Road, in an agricultural and forestry area.

[Collage @ LCC 28 August 2023]
Collage @ LCC 28 August 2023

They unanimously voted to recommend approval of the R-21 half-acre-lot rezoning on Mt. Zion Church Road that is among numerous existing small lots.

In the first rezoning item, REZ-2023-04 on Quarterman Road, the County Planner mentioned that county staff had been unable to find any record of the previous (1980s) rezoning of the existing subdivision on Emily Lane west of Quarterman Road. Continue reading →

Packet: Two county rezonings, one plainly inappropriate @ GLPC 2023-08-28

Update 2023-08-29: Videos: Quarterman Road rezoning recommended against, Mt. Zion Church Road for @ GLPC 2023-08-28.

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) has only two cases for Monday, both Lowndes County Cases.

[Two Lowndes County cases @ GLPC 2023-08-28]
Two Lowndes County cases @ GLPC 2023-08-28

County staff recommend approval of both rezonings, one in the middle of subdivisions on Mt. Zion Church Road, and the other in the middle of agriculture and forestry land on Quarterman Road.

For REZ-2023-04 on Quarterman Road, county staff strain really hard to dilute agriculture and forestry by including a nearby subdivision in their first calculation. Quarterman Road is almost all Continue reading →

Draft Proposed Lowndes County Land Development Code changes 2023-06-13

Here are the draft changes to the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) that Jason Davenport presented to the Lowndes County Commission in its Work Session of Monday, June 12, 2023.

[Ten amendments, timeline, and primary staff]
Ten amendments, timeline, and primary staff

The new rebuttal part of the Public Hearings, Continue reading →

Agenda: Lowndes County Commissioners Planning Meeting 2023-04-12

In Lowndes County’s annual Planning Retreat, these items seem especially interesting, for today and Friday:

Wednesday- 2:00 p.m. Unified Land Development Code Ordinance Update

Friday- 8:30 a.m. Ordinance Update Discussion

It’s hard to tell what will be discussed in the other agenda items, since they have labels like “Finance” or “Departmental Updates”.

[Agenda]
Agenda
PDF

Not sure when this was posted, but it is under Lowndes County News: 2023 ANNUAL PLANNING MEETING AGENDA. Continue reading →

Code Enforcement Appreciation and new Tourism Authority Director @ LCC Regular Session 2021-09-14

At the recent Lowndes County Commission Regular Session, County Manager Paige Dukes in her Reports mentioned many then-upcoming events, two of which are still coming, and may be of public interest:

  • 2021-09-21, 4:30 PM, at Georgia Beer Co.: Meet and greet for new Executive Director, David DiSalvo, of Valdosta-Lowndes Conference Center and Tourism Authority. https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-j-disalvo-9048b24
  • 2021-09-28, 6PM, in Commission Chambers: Comp Plan stakeholder meeting just after next LCC meeting, Most recent draft of Comprehensive Plan was on Commissioners’ desks; is available electronically (where?).

None of these events are on the lowndescounty.com online calendar.

[Code Enforcement, RV Sales, Reports, End time]
Code Enforcement, RV Sales, Reports, End time

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item with a few notes, followed by a LAKE video playlist. See also Continue reading →

Videos: Oak St. Pregnancy Clinic, Val Del Wetherington, Baytree Nijem @ GLPC 2020-02-24

The longest time, almost 16 minutes, was for Pregnancy Support Clinic of Valdosta at 2203 N. Oak St., followed at 14 minutes by REZ-2020-03 Wetherington Property, Val Del Road RA to PD, with 12 minutes for the Jon Nijem rezoning and Planned Development at 406 & 410 Baytree Road, in a relatively short February meeting of the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission.

VA-2020-05 Pregnancy Support Clinic

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes. See also Continue reading →

Videos: Hamm Estates roads, Deannexation, Rezonings, Right of Way, Software, Health Insurance, Repairs, KLVB @ LCC 2020-02-25

The longest regular item at 4 minutes on this voting Regular Session agenda was 6.b. Accept Hamm Estates Dr. into the County Road Inventory. Longer were two Citizens who spoke at the end about Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful (KLVB).

Hamm Estates

Here again are the costs found in the agenda sheets for the items, from most expensive down, with links back into the agenda.

CostWhat
$290,000.00 2020 Administrative Services Agreement with Allied Benefit Systems, Inc.
$50,433.00 Bid for Repairs to Knights Academy Road; emergency repairs for Culvert Aprons
$43,245.50 Approval of Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. ROW Purchases
$24,613.44 Microsoft Server 2019 Data Center License
$11,535.00 Approval of Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. ROW Acquisition
$419,826.94Total

The actual cost for the Clyattstone Road-Simpson Lane project is larger; more like $77,696.50 so far, before grading, base, and paving; see the LAKE notes on the preceding morning’s Work Session.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes. See also Continue reading →

Videos: Deannexation, Rezonings, Right of Way, Software, Health Insurance, Road Repairs @ LCC 2020-02-24

The longest item of those I videoed (yes, I was late to this Work Session) was 6.f. Deannexation of Ganas Property by Lake Park, which apparently doesn’t cost the county anything. Directly, at least. Maybe even net positive, due to property taxes.

Deannexation

Here are the costs found in the agenda sheets for the items, from most expensive down, with links back into the agenda.

CostWhat
$290,000.00 2020 Administrative Services Agreement with Allied Benefit Systems, Inc.
$50,433.00 Bid for Repairs to Knights Academy Road; emergency repairs for Culvert Aprons
$43,245.50 Approval of Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. ROW Purchases
$24,613.44 Microsoft Server 2019 Data Center License
$11,535.00 Approval of Clyattstone Rd.-Simpson Ln. ROW Acquisition
$419,826.94Total

The actual cost for one item is larger; see below for Clyattstone Road and Simpson Lane ROW Purchases.

Below are links to each LAKE video of each agenda item, with a few notes. See also Continue reading →

Val Del Wetherington, Baytree Nijem, Pregnancy Clinic @ GLPC 2020-02-24

Neither of the two Valdosta cases at Monday evening’s Planning Commission Regular Session looks controversial, although you never know. Jon Nijem wants to rezone and then get approval for a Planned Development at 406 & 410 Baytree Road. And Pregnancy Support Clinic of Valdosta wants to rezone for office space at 2203 N. Oak St.

In Lowndes County, yet another Val Del Road subdivision, REZ-2020-03 Wetherington Property, is proposed diagonally northeast across the road from Nelson Hill, which makes even clearer why the county wants to pave Clyattstone Road, going from Val Del Road between those two west to Old US 41 North (see below).

[Wetherington property]
Lowndes County Property Appraiser, Wetherington property, WETHERINGTON FRANK L LIVING TRUST, parcels 0071 055, 056, 056A (not 55A), at 4154 and 4424 Val Del Road.

The subject property is in the watershed of Bay Branch, but apparently Continue reading →

Rezonings, Right of Way, Software, Health Insurance, Deannexation, and Road Repairs @ LCC 2020-02-24

The two rezonings on the Lowndes County Commission agenda for this week seem to cancel each other out, since one wants to go “back” to Estate Agriculture (E-A), while the other wants to rezone from E-A to R-A, both on about ten acres.

[Future Development Map]
Future Development Map

Because by an open records request we got the agenda packet, we know how much the agenda items costs, even though dollar amounts are not listed in the agenda.

The Request to Accept Hamm Estates Dr. into the County Road Inventory for Maintenance is listed as “BUDGET IMPACT: N/A”. What if those subdivision roads need repairs, like Knights Academy Road?

The unusual Deannexation of Ganas Property by Lake Park apparently costs the county nothing. Not even legal fees?

[Survey]
Survey

The high-dollar item is $290,000.00 for health insurance administration. Employees pay their Continue reading →