Category Archives: Transparency

Please reject REZ-2023-04 2.5-acre rezoning on Quarterman Road –Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE 2023-08-28

Update 2023-09-06: Please keep Quarterman Road in agriculture and forestry –WWALS to Greater Lowndes Planning Commission 2023-08-28.

Here is the letter Gretchen Quarterman sent on behalf of Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE) to the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) before their meeting of Monday, August 28, 2023.

[LAKE letter and map]
LAKE letter and map

As you can see in the LAKE videos of that meeting, GLPC recommended denial by 7:1 of REZ-2023-04 on Quarterman Road.

Thanks to everyone who signed the petition: a table of signatories and images of the petition sheets are included. Thanks to everyone who spoke at the GLPC meeting.

The final decision will be at the Lowndes County Commission Regular Session of Tuesday, September 12, 2023. More petition signatures would help, and more calls and letters to Lowndes County Commissioners, and more speakers in the Public Hearing on September 12th.

The LAKE Letter

In PDF and below in web format. Continue reading →

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 →

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. 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 →

Videos: ULDC Updates, AB Motorsports withdrawn, Wild Adventures glamping @ GLPC 2024-04-24

Update 2023-04-09: Packet: Wild Adventures glamping, AB Motorsports withdrawn, a road abandonment and RoW purchase, Clyattville Community Center, plus alcohol @ LCC 2023-05-08.

Not on the agenda for the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC), and not in the board packet materials Lowndes County sent in response to a LAKE open records request, instead showing up under Other Business, were some updates to the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC).

[Collage @ LCC 24 April 2023]
Collage @ LCC 24 April 2023

Former Lowndes County Planner Jason Davenport, rehired by the county as a consultant, said he gave the Planning Commission a list of a dozen ULDC amendments that would come before them next month for a recommendation. They included: Continue reading →

Packet: AB Motorsports withdrawn, Wild Adventures glamping @ GLPC 2023-04-24

The rezoning request for AB Motorsports has been withdrawn by the applicant, and the rezoning is still live for the Wild Adventures Safari Campground, for RVs, cabins, and glamping, at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) meeting tonight.

We know this because, a day late and a dollar short, Lowndes County late yesterday supplied most of the board packet.

[Maps, rezonings @ GLPC 2023-04-24]
Maps, rezonings @ GLPC 2023-04-24

Just after I posted the agenda and sent them email reminding that it had been four working days sent LAKE sent the open records request and that the Georgia Open Records Act (GORA) requires a response in three days, as their own County Clerk web page says: “Once a request is received, Lowndes County will notify the requesting party within 3 days regarding the availability of the information”; a few minutes later the county sent the agenda packet materials for the two rezonings.

But once again they did not satisfy this part of the request: “Including the minutes of the previous GLPC meeting (those are NOT on the lowndescounty.com website).”

Considering that the planners for Dasher, Lake Park, Hahira, and Valdosta responded the same day as the request (saying they had no items), I really do not see what is so difficult for Lowndes County to respond in a timely manner according to state law. They have to have the same materials already available for GLPC, so all they need to do is email a few PDFs.

Even better, why can’t Lowndes County put board packet materials on their own website, as many counties smaller and larger in Georgia and Florida have been doing for years? Why do you, the taxpayers and voters and other interested parties, have to depend on a third party to find out what an elected government is doing?

The materials thus far received from Lowndes County for tonight are on the LAKE website.

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/donate

Agenda: Rezonings for AB Motorsports and Wild Adventures @ GLPC 2023-04-24

Update 2023-04-24: Packet: AB Motorsports withdrawn, Wild Adventures glamping @ GLPC 2023-04-24.

Two sports-related rezonings will be considered by the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) Monday evening, for a recommendation by GLPC and a later decision by the Lowndes County Commission (LCC).

[Agenda and rezonings @ GLPC 2023-04-24]
Agenda and rezonings @ GLPC 2023-04-24

Here is the agenda.

LAKE has no board packet to show, because Lowndes County has not responded to a LAKE open records request of 8:00 AM Tuesday, four working days ago, even though the Georgia Open Records Act (GORA) requires a response within three working days.

As a placeholder, I’ve stuck in a couple of maps of the rezoning areas from the Lowndes County Tax Assessors maps.

Greater Lowndes Planning Commission
~ Lowndes County ~ City of Valdosta ~ City of Dasher ~
~ City of Hahira ~ City of Lake Park ~ City of Remerton ~

Monday, April 17, 2023 5:30 P.M. Work Session
Monday, April 24, 2023 5:30 P.M. Regular Session
Lowndes County South Health District Administrative Office
325 West Savannah Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia

Continue reading →

Videos: One rezoning each, Valdosta and Lowndes County @ GLPC 2023-02-27

It took the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) about an hour to consider the Valdosta and Lowndes County rezonings. Each case had quite a few citizen speakers and much Commissioner discussion.

The one Lowndes County case got a 6:2 recommendation to deny. It will be decided by the Lowndes County Commission tomorrow evening, March 14, 2023.

The one Valdosta case got a unanimous recommendation to approve. It was decided by the Valdosta Mayor and Council on March 9th.

[Collage @ LCC 27 February 2023]
Collage @ LCC 27 February 2023

Below are LAKE videos of each agenda item, followed by a LAKE video playlist.

See also the agenda and the board packet materials for the Valdosta item. And the board packet materials for the Lowndes County rezoning that the county got around to sending the day after the GLPC meeting are linked into the agenda post for the deciding Lowndes County Commission meeting.

Here’s a LAKE video playlist:


Videos: One rezoning each, Valdosta and Lwondes County @ GLPC 2023-02-27
Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC), Regular Session, February 27, 2023, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, .
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

-jsq

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!
http://www.l-a-k-e.org/blog/donate

One case each: Valdosta, Lowndes County @ GLPC 2023-02-27

Update 2023-03-13: Videos: One rezoning each, Valdosta and Lwondes County @ GLPC 2023-02-27.

The one Valdosta case before the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission tomorrow evening is for rezoning 1.76 acres from R-6 to R-M at 915 West Street, “to develop it as an apartment complex with 12 dwelling units.”

The one Lowndes County case is for rezoning about 8 acres from R-1 (Low Density Residential) to P-D (Planned Development) on Janes Road at Smith Street. That’s all I know, because the county has still not sent the relevant board packet materials in response to a LAKE open records request. As a placeholder, I put in a map from the Lowndes County Tax Assessors.

[Valdosta and Lowndes County cases @ GLPC 2023-02-27]
Valdosta and Lowndes County cases @ GLPC 2023-02-27

Here is the agenda. The board packet materials that Matt Martin sent on February 14, 2023, is on the LAKE website, and images from it are below after the agenda. Continue reading →