Newspaper Page Text
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2010
THE JACKSON HERALD
PAGE 3A
2030 Comp Plan maps available for review
BY KATIE HUSTON
THE FIRST draft of area maps for the Jackson
County 2030 Comprehensive Plan are available
for review and officials are asking for citizen feed
back.
The maps are still in working form, but planners
hope to have a final submission within the next
month.
Most affected by zoning are property values. In
Jackson County, zoning decisions are required to be
consistent with the Comprehensive Plan.
Consultant Jerry Weitz said that he already knows
certain areas will be redrawn and that planners are
looking for feedback. The maps are needed to
show generalized patterns in zoning and a realistic
10-year or 20-year time frame.
The maps displayed at the Tuesday night meeting
were the 2009 Existing Character, 2020 Character,
2020 Future Land Use, 2030 Character and 2030
Future Land Use.
Character maps are required to comply with state
rules and do not show property lines. The categories
displayed on a character map show what areas are
zoned for conservation, agriculture, rural, suburbs
or urban.
Future Land Use maps are not required to com
ply with state laws, but are still needed for zoning.
Individual land use drives design and it covers only
unincorporated areas.
The categories it displays are areas that are zoned
for intensive agriculture, agriculture/forestry, resi
dential, public/institutional or commercial.
“What we're keyed into more is trying to prevent
commercial (zoning) from going to places where
we don't want it and industrial (zoning) and so
forth,” Weitz said. “Most of what we get concerned
about is people wanting to go from agriculture to
residential and residential to commercial.”
Planning Manager Gina Mitsdarffer mentioned
one major change in the Future Land Use maps is
the amount of residential that exists.
“We’ve reduced that because right now in
Jackson County, at this time, we have 6,000 vacant
lots approximately,” she said. “So we’ve got an
absorption rate that we've got to take up.”
Mitsdarffer said that the county must follow
guidelines and have the plan submitted to the
state by October. The planning committee hopes
to have the plan to the Jackson County Board of
Commissioners at its May meeting, where it will
hopefully be approved and then a public hearing
will be held for citizen comment.
After the public hearing, the BOC will transmit
the plan to the state for the state's review. It will then
go back to the BOC for final approval.
Officials are also asking citizens to fill out forms
if a property owner knows a mistake was made
on their property. The forms may be found on the
county's web site, along with the drafts of the maps,
at www.jacksoncountygov.com. Officials said that
a full text draft of the Comprehensive Plan should
also be available on the site in about a week.
INSPECTION HELD AT COUNTY AIRPORT
Mike Provost, owner of Pirate Airlift, and representatives of the United States Forest
Service from Gainesville recently inspected helicopter fire fighting equipment based at
the Jackson County Airport. In preparation for missions to extinguish forest fire in the
region, United States Forest Service personnel inspected and became familiar with the
equipment and capabilities of the Pirate Airlift Helicopter. Having met the requirements
of the forest service for helicopter fire fighting, Pirate Airlift is on stand-by for immediate
notice to deploy to any forest fire site in the region.
Industrial development land use decreases
BY MARK BEARDSLEY
AFTER PLUGGING
in updated projections on
growth, new information on
flood plains and environ
mentally sensitive areas, the
people working on the update
of Jackson County's future
land use map made a startling
discovery.
The number of acres desig
nated for industrial develop
ment is falling dramatically,
according to draft copies of
the future land use maps.
Where the county had 9,314
acres projected for industrial
use on the current map cov
ering up to the year 2020, it
projects just 3,600 acres des
ignated for industry on a new
map it's developing for 2020,
and 5.470 acres for a map
projecting usage in 2030.
So, the Jackson County
Board of Commissioners
dispatched planning direc
tor Gina Mitsdarffer to visit
the Industrial Development
Authority Friday morning to
get its take on the situation.
The numbers represent unin
corporated Jackson County
only.
“That threw up a red flag,”
she told the IDA. “There
is a lot of concern from us
(Jackson County).”
It threw up a red flag for
the IDA as well.
Mitsdarffer pointed out
that some of the decrease
is just the result of better
data — delineation of flood
plains and environmentally
sensitive areas, for example.
Additionally, some farms
with “intensive agricultural
operations” in areas that on
a map appear appropriate for
industrial development were
removed from that category.
According to Misdarffer,
one factor leading to the
decrease was that there are
no plans to run utilities to
many of the projected indus
trial areas, leading planners
to conclude their develop
ment is less likely.
Among the areas affect
ed by that reasoning are
the Ridgeway Church Road
area near Interstate 85 at
Commerce, the Hwy. 98
corridor, also at Commerce,
and the north side of Wayne
Poultry Road.
Scott Martin, the IDA's
chairman, responded.
“Every single develop
ment plan we had, when it
began, had no utility plan,”
said Martin, who argued that
interest in utilities follows
interest in land.
Martin suggested that the
planners should look at the
county’s economic develop
ment road plan, and suggest
ed that it is “not bad to plan
for more industrial land than
you might need.”
Member John Buchanan
agreed with Martin. He also
pointed out that the economic
development road program
is designed to spur develop
ment.
“If you’re not going to use
it (land along the roads) for
industry for 20 to 30 years,
why spend the money to
build the road?” he asked.
“We need to work with the
board of commissioners. If
they are adamant about this
plan, we need to alter the
(road) plan.”
IDA member Jim Dove
reminded the authority that
it is more “cost effective”
to designate land for indus
trial use as the comprehen
sive plan is developed than to
have to change the plan later.
The IDA's attorney weighed
in.
“The change the zoning,
you have to change the land
use plan,” Daniel Haygood
pointed out. “The emphasis
is on following the land use
plan. This could have a per
manent effect on industry.”
Mitsdarffer indicated that
she did not think the county’s
consultant, Jerry Weiss, con
sidered the economic devel
opment road plan.
Interestingly, Mitsdarffer
pointed out that during the
past 12 years, industry has
consumed only 343 acres
in unincorporated Jackson
County.
The IDA will hold a work
session on Tuesday, March
30, with Mitsdarffer and
county GIS director Joel
Logan to go over the maps
parcel by parcel to determine
which tracts should be con
sidered industrial in the future
land use maps. Mitsdarffer
will take the IDA’s comments
and/or recommendations to
the board of commissioners,
which will next discuss the
comprehensive plan at an
April 15 work session.
“We may want to be there
too,” Buchanan said.
In the meantime,
Mitsdarffer promised to get
each IDA member copies of
the current future land use
map and the proposed 2020
and 2030 maps on a comput
er disk so that members can
look them over in advance of
their meeting.
Jefferson Development Authority approves Aldi bond resolution
BYANGELA GARY
THE JEFFERSON Development
Authority approved a $45 million bond
resolution Friday morning for the Aldi
gocery store distribution center planned in
Jefferson.
The site for the 780,849 square foot distri
bution center is on 85 acres off of Hwy. 82
at the Dry Pond exit. The project calls for
482,223 square feet to be initially developed
with a future expansion of an additional
298,626 square feet.
Plans call for 77 employees to be hired
initially.
In other business at the meeting Friday
morning, the authority agreed to allocate
$5,000 for the chamber of commerce’s
“Alliance for Economic Development.”
Maysville council seeks solutions on improving downtown
BYANGELA GARY
MAYSVILLE LEADERS are ready to do
something about the condition of some of the
buildings in the downtown area. Forming a
preservation commission and seeking grants
were among the options discussed at a called
meeting Thursday night.
The Maysville City Council met with Chip
Wright, historic preservation planner for the
Georgia Mountains Regional Development
Center, to discuss possibilities for improving
the appearance of the buildings.
“These buildings are blighted with a capital
B,” Wright said. “They are a hazard.”
Wright said the first step would be to sta
bilize the buildings and remove some of the
brash and thicket. He said the owners could
get tax breaks and grants to assist with the
project.
Wright suggested that a seven-member
historic preservation commission be formed
to oversee projects in the historic district.
The town also needs to enact a preservation
ordinance, Wright said.
“We are all committed to doing some
thing,” council member Lynn Villyard said.
If the buildings are tom down, Wright said
it would “wipe out the character area” of the
town.
The council also needs to meet with the
owner of the buildings.
“They have to be a willing party,” Wright
said.
In Loving Memory of
p Donald Elrod *
March 22, 1972 - April 1, 1988
It has been 22 years since you went to your heavenly
home. And it too was on an Easter weekend. But it still
feels like only yesterday you were bubbling with
excitement in finding the Lord as your Saviour and
getting your driver's license. You were so happy
belonging to the Youth Group Choir at Pond Fork Baptist
Church.
I would like to thank Rev. Johnny Knight, the members
at Pond Fork Baptist Church, and especially the Youth
Group for helping Donald find Jesus. You have all been
very good friends to us and we appreciate all of you.
There are a lot of good people here in Jackson County.
When you need them the most, they are always there to
lend a helping hand and a special prayer.
I would also like to thank John and Gail Cox, of
Commerce, for combining our home movies into a video
cassette. It meant a great deal to us.
Thanks, we love all of you.
Harris Denver and Martha Elrod and all the relatives
Mon-Fri 10-5:30 pm • Sat 10-4:00 pm • Next to Academy Sports* Athens • 706-543-9751
Maysville budget down slightly
A $1.31 MILLION budget was unanimously approved by the
Maysville City Council in a called meeting Thursday afternoon. The
budget is down slightly from the 2009 budget of $1.35 million.
No citizens were present to speak on the budget.
The City of Maysville earlier approved its millage rates with
both the Banks County and Jackson County rates staying the same.
The Banks County rate will remain at .810 mills, while the Jackson
County rate will stay at 1.764 mills. It was incorrectly reported in last
week’s issue that the Jackson County rate was increasing.
Nicholson to consider rezoning
BY SHARON HOGAN
A NICHOLSON Rezoning
request will come before the city
council at its monthly meeting at
7 p.m. Monday, April 5.
Jerry Weitz, planning con
sultant, advised at Thursday’s
work session that FRM Realty is
requesting to have the property
located at 6146 Highway 441
South rezoned from A-2 to C-l
- General Commercial.
OTHER BUSINESS
In other business:
•former council member Faye
Seagraves asked the council to
consider a resolution amend
ment to the city’s charter dealing
with the formation of an ethics
committee. The charter states
one member of the committee
needs to be a lawyer that resides
in the city.
•council member Chuck
Wheeler asked that a meeting
be set to consider the city char
ter, saying now the mayor has
all the hiring and firing power.
Mayor Ronnie Maxwell said the
two most recent firings received
council approval and added:
“The decisions I make are things
such as a clogged septic tank and
a burst pipe under the concrete
slab at the library that needed to
be repaired. We would have been
in a mess if we had had to wait
for a council meeting.” No date
was set for a meeting.
•Maxwell advised the council
will consider in April an inter
governmental agreement with
Jackson County for the East
Jackson Park Walking Trails.
The council previously approved
spending an amount not to
exceed $40,000 to help fund the
walking trails project.
•council member Howard
Wilbanks said property in the
city from Cedar Drive to Berea
Road needs to be classified on
the comprehensive plan map as
residential. The map currently
shows the property as commer
cial property.
•Teresa Kesler, Cabin Creek
Bar-B-Que, questioned the
mayor and council about com
ments made to people wishing to
rent the Nicholson Community
Center for private events. The
mayor and council did not make
any comment. “People have
been told Cabin Creek Bar-B-
Que cannot be served in the
civic center,” Kesler said. “My
attorney says you cannot do this.
I don't want it to happen again. I
will file suit if it happens again.”
Jefferson office to be closed Tues.
THE CITY of Jefferson Billing Department will be closed
all day on Tuesday, March 30, for computer billing software
training. Normal hours will resume on Wednesday, March 31.
County offices to be closed April 2
THE JACKSON County government offices and courthouse
will be closed on Friday, April 2, due to a furlough day.
Friends of Commissioner
BRUCE TATES
cordially invites you to a
reception andfundraiser
supporting
his re-election campaign.
Tuesday, March 30
5:00-7:00 PM
The Braselton-Stover House
Downtown Braselton
Telephone 706.367-2111
Paid for by the candidate.