Tag Archives: Government

SRO against Pine Tree subdivision @ GLPC 2014-08-25

Stuck in the foyer six deep because SRO in the Planning Commission tonight, mostly for the Turner Brooks item, back with another plan after being withdrawn last month. Tom Call, representing some of the owners of the property sellers, said they’d tried to meet with the neighbors, who refused. He didn’t say whether they tried meeting with them one-on-one. GLPC could have put a bunch of conditions on it that would have mostly satisfied the neighbors’ concerns, leaving the developers and sellers to decide whether it was worth it. Instead, they tabled. The Valdosta City Council can still decide if they want to. However, one of the houses they’d have to demolish is potentially on the National Historic Register, and if so, they can’t tear it down.

600x170 Panorama, in Standing Room Only, by Gretchen Quarterman, 25 August 2014

Also, they only submitted one name for the County Commission to consider for appointment to GLPC; attorney Brad Folsom. They didn’t include several potential women applicants, several of them attorneys, and yes, also Gretchen. As an old white man, even I find it impressive how much this area is run by old white men.

The agenda arrived only as images Gretchen took at the meeting. Videos to come. Continue reading →

Three minutes, three items @ LCC 2014-08-25

The contractor hasn’t finished the punchlist for Nottinghill but the County Engineer wants the Commission to accept that infrastucture anyway. The Davidson Road drainage easement quit claim is from the county back to the landowner. The third item must be for tomorrow evening. Three minutes total for only two items from the agenda, but that’s probably a record. Normally we post videos of each item separately, but this time, why bother? They vote Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM.

Here’s the video, followed by the agenda with a few notes, and links to the individual items inside the one video.


Three minutes, three items
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 25 August 2014.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Videos: Construction appointed, Family Dollar bermed @ LCC 2014-08-12

They appointed the Chairman’s personal pick to the Construction Board of Appeals. The Nelson Hill unknown tinkerings to the code were finally withdrawn. In the unedited video you can see the few speakers the Chairman allowed to speak about the Roger Budd and Leninco Francis Lake rezoning for Family Dollar, and that there was actually some rationale for why the approved the rezoning.

Thanks to Toma Hawk for this video of both the Work Session and the Regular Session.

Here’s the agenda with a few notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 12, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Videos: developer property rights and effects on neighbors, Leninco, Roger Budd, Lake Park @ LCC 2014-08-12

There was at least some reason for the Commission’s approval of the Family Dollar and other use rezoning for Roger Budd Jr. and Leninco out of the Francis Lake golf course in Lake Park: because it would include a condition of a berm that would continue with the property regardless of who owned it. The applicant’s attorney had made it clear that applicant considered the berm too expensive and it, along with other conditions, might make the project unfeasible. Perhaps the Commission should apply the same technique to stop the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline. This was in the 23 August 2014 Regular Session of the Lowndes County Commission; thanks to Toma Hawk for the video.

6.b. REZ-2014-14 Roger Budd Jr, Lakes Blvd (SR 376), R-10 to C-G, Water/Sewer, ~4.2 acres

[Work Session Start 1 minute 48 seconds.] County Planner Jason Davenport said this was a repeat of a request from 2009 “that Continue reading →

Emergency, Nottinghill, Drainage @ LCC 2014-08-25

Last December Chairman Slaughter wanted relatives of those selling land for Nottinghill to come forward and state their names the day after he didn’t ask Spectra Energy reps to do that during their sales pitch for the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline? Well, the county is now pondering accepting infrastructure for that subdivision. Maybe the won’t accept that pipeline, which they could prevent by passing or enforcing local land use zoning ordinances. There’s also a Quit Claim Deed for Drainage Easement on Davidson Road and an Emergency Management Certificate Presentation, and that’s it, on the lightest agenda in recent memory.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 2014, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2014, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor
Continue reading →

Francis Lake opposition and 3:2 vote for anyway @ LCC 2014-08-12

Update 2014-08-25: There was some rationale for why the Commission voted to approve. See Videos: developer property rights and effects on neighbors, Leninco, Roger Budd, Lake Park @ LCC 2014-08-12.

With little notice local citizens didn’t have time to organize opposition to a rezoning for three companies domiciled outside Lowndes County on behalf of a developer who doesn’t even own the property next to them. Yet again no agenda was posted for the Planning Commission last month so few people showed up. More spoke at the Lowndes County Commission this month. But with so little time, only 38 people signed a petition, and there were no citizen-organized meetings, unlike for the Brookhaven rezoning back in March and April. Unlike the Lake Park City Council, which held a special public hearing, the Lowndes County Commission plowed ahead on its usual schedule and voted on a bare majority to approve anyway for a developer on which they are on a first-name basis, while local neighbors went un-named and unheeded. Does this seem right to you?

Toma Hawk videoed and edited together the Work Session of 11 August 2014 and the Regular Session of 12 August 2014 to emphasize this item from the agenda: Continue reading →

Power, Rotary, Tires @ VLCIA 2014-08-19

I’ll give them an A for effort, including branching out: from tires to agribusiness this month, and Valdosta North Rotary today, too. That Community Ecomomic Developmeent Meeting is still on for tomorrow, at the Conference Center.

And they are talking about spec[ulative] building, such as they liked when they saw it in Douglas and Valdosta Mayor Gayle liked in Vidalia.

Here’s the agenda. Continue reading →

Stealth VLCIA real estate meeting last Wednesday @ VLCIA 2014-08-13

Well, the agenda says the Invocation was “For the purpose of discussing real estate”; it doesn’t say what the Executive Session was for.

Maybe they’ve got a customer for one of those empty industrial parks Brad Lofton talked them into building before he left the state.

Maybe they’re going to build some of those spec buildings they and Valdosta Mayor Gayle admire in Vidalia and Douglas.

Maybe they’re still negotiating with Continue reading →

Roger Budd on Francis Lake and Riverview on the Withlacoochee River @ GLPC 2014-07-28

Neverending Nelson Hill was completely withdrawn this time. Opposition showed up against Roger Budd Jr‘s rezoning of 4.28 acres from R-10 to C-G on Francis Lake in Lake Park. Plus recommendations for a county appointee to GLPC. In Valdosta, Turner Brooks was withdrawn although paperwork was in progress for a different submission, and Riverview Development LLC still wanted to rezone 3.59 acres to Community Commercial and to rezone 7 parcels of 3.14 acres total to Multi-Family Residential partly in the floodplain of the Withlacoochee River behind Music Funeral Home.

Here’s the agenda, and the videos are below. Continue reading →

Riverview development next to Withlacoochee River? @ GLPC 2014-07-28

A flood plain rezoning next to the Withlacoochee river came back from 2011, at the 28 July 2014 Planning Commission meeting, which voted unanimously for, as did the Valdosta City Council later.

7. VA-2014-05 Riverview Development LLC

Video. This is parcel 0074 088 on North Valdosta Road behind Music Funeral Home, next to Langdale Park, on the other side of the Withlacoochee River from Foxborough.

City Planner Matt Martin said only a tiny part of the property was in the floodplain of the Withlacoochee River. Continue reading →