Neighbors Say “NO!” To Rezoning
Commission Sends Request BackTo P&Z, But Applicant Withdraws
By Abigail Adams
The Georgia Post
In a tense meeting of the
Crawford County Commis
sioners March 19th neigh
bors of Charlie Frank Willis
voiced their opinion of him
having his property rezoned
to commercial, and the
amount of County coroner
Allen O’Neal’s budget came
under question after he has
asked for more money to be
added to his budget.
The county commission
ers called their meeting to
order and faced the first item
of the night, Charlie Frank
Willis’ application to rezone
his property to commer
cial, and a room full of his
disgruntled neighbors. Willis
had applied to have a piece
of property he owns rezoned
to commercial so he may sell
it to a potential buyer. After
hearing rumor of what the
potential buyer was going to
put on the property, Willis’s
neighbors were not happy.
The neighbors had caught
wind that the potential buyer
would like to put in a deer
processing plant on the prop
erty and after catching wind
(a very foul wind) already
of nearby chicken houses
the neighbors feared the air
quality in their neighborhood
would further hurt the lungs
of their children and the el
derly who live there already
suffering from lung diseases.
“Please have mercy on our
community,” said long-time
neighborhood resident Grace
Perkins.
“We have put up with
shooting from residents
nearby, we have put up with
all the stray animals in our
neighborhood, we have put
up with the smell coming
from the chicken truck that
comes by, but we do not
want commercial in our
neighborhood,” declared
another neighbor.
County attorney David
Mincey, III stated that the
commissioners had two
options since planning and
zoning had approved his
rezoning request at their
meeting; to either approve
the request or to send it back
to planning and zoning to
be reconsidered. The board
decided after hearing all
the opposition at the meet
ing to send the request back
to planning and zoning for
reconsideration. Willis on
the other hand decided to
go ahead and withdraw his
application and leave his
property as residential to
please his neighbors.
Next on the agenda Cham
ber of Commerce president,
Charles Cook came before
the board with concerns
about the transit system and
its allowed uses by county
citizens. At the last meeting
County Manager Pat Kelly
had informed the board of
the uses of the three transit
buses for county citizens.
For an extra fee citizens
could catch a ride on one of
the buses to Kroger or Wal-
mart to shop.
Cook stated that this did
not seem right as there are
businesses here in the county
which offer the same items
that can be bought at Kroger
and Walmart, shouldn’t the
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The Crawford County Farm Bureau’s Annual Steak
Dinner to recognize participants in the annual Live
stock Show was held last week. Above, Tom Morgan
was the Grand Champion and Reserve winner in
the Heifer division. He is presented with the tro
phies by Harvey Pool. More photos on Page 10.
county be encouraging local
shopping and not transport
ing citizens out of county to
shop. The board asked Kelly
to look at the policies on
the transit use and provide
more information at the next
meeting.
At the last meeting of
the commissioners, County
Coroner Allien O’Neal
approached the board
about adding an additional
$4,250.00 to his budget to
pay for local funeral homes
to remove, refrigerate and
transport bodies to the crime
lab in Atlanta after suspi
cious death circumstances.
The request prompted the
board to ask Kelly to re
search what other counties
budgeted for their coroners.
Kelly presented his
findings to the board at
the meeting last week and
stated that O’Neal’s budget
was the highest in all the
counties he had researched.
O’Neal stated that this was
because most of the coun
ties Kelly had researched
had coroners who were also
funeral directors and their
costs were lower. When
asked why he needed the
extra money in his budget
for transport O’Neal said
that he had heard minor
that another coroner, who
used his personal vehicle,
as O’Neal does, had an ac
cident and because he had
been on county business his
insurance would not cover
the damages.
After a tense discussion
between the board, Kelly
and O’Neal, Commissioner
John Thomas made the mo
tion to approve the amend
ment of the coroner’s budget
in the amount requested
by O’Neal. Kelly stated to
the board that the amount
of O’Neal’s current salary
and the addition of second
deputy coroner had never
been approved and was cur
rently being paid out of the
2013 budget. He asked that
the board officially approve
these changes. The board
decided to table the matter to
allow for further research.
Vice Chairman Paul Chap
man brought up the issue of
the possibility of a new in
dustrial park and stated that
the Development Authority
may be able to pay for the
park using their revenue
streams. He then stated
though that if changes in the
future changed those rev
enues streams the authority
may not be able to guarantee
that the payments are made.
Chairman Dean Fripp stated
that he was against the risk
of adding more debt to the
county and the possibility of
higher taxes on the citizens.
Chapman suggested to have
a second appraisal done
on the piece of property in
question and the board ap
proved unanimously.
Though the weather does not feel like spring, the
first day of spring has passed and the local peach
trees are now in full bloom. Hopefully, the cold
weather this week will not dampen the prospects of
a great peach season. If you are out and about be
sure and drive by a peach orchard to admire the
beautiful blossoms.
Former Commissioner Still Concerned Those
Living In Storage Shed Not Paying Any Taxes
By Abigail Adams
The Georgia Post
Eddie Still, a former
county commissioner is
concerned that some people
may be living in the county
without paying their fair
share of taxes. Still came
before the Crawford County
Board of Commissioners at
their March 19th meeting
to present them with photo
graphic evidence of storage
buildings being used for
residential purposes. Most of
the buildings had upgrades
with kitchens, air condition
ing, satellite dishes, and
even wind chimes hanging
on added on porches.
“The county has enough
financial problems and
some of the highest taxes in
the state. We cannot afford
to have people living free
here,” Still stated
The problem Still had
with these storage build
ing residences is that the
people living in them are
not paying the amount of
taxes that other residents are
paying. Due to the fact that
the buildings are valued at
less than what residences are
they are not taxed as a resi
dential structure. Also Still
stated that the burden of this
as a legal matter could fall
back on the county and have
costly repercussions.
County Manager Pat Kelly
says that it will be more
costly to try to prove that
these people are living in
the sheds full-time than the
taxes that could be received
from them. If the county
did go through the costly
process of investigating the
supposed shed “homes”
and proved they were truly
being used as residences the
net gain would be less than
$200.
Though having the shed
hooked up to electricity and
plumbing might point to the
owner using the building as
a residence it is not a viola
tion of the permits required
by the county to place these
on the property. Michael
Sama chairman of the board
of tax assessors is unsure
of how the tax board would
address this issue as the
buildings are currently being
taxed as a cabana or guest
house without the proof that
they are primary residences.
Still suggested to the com
missioners that, to help be
sure that this kind of living
does not keep going on and
that all residents pay their
fair share of the taxes, the
county look into hiring a
county marshal. The Mar
shal would help Planning
and Zoning officer Frank
Miller keep an eye on issues
in the county like this. The
board thanked Still for his
comments and concerns and
asked that Kelly look into
the issue to see if any laws
were being violated and if
so what the county could do
about it.
