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Front Jan 23 1/21/03 4:09 PM Page 2 Continued from page 1A Rezoning Request they move very slowly,” he said. David Holden spoke at the meet ing saying Pickens County does not have the resources to support this kind of rental property. Others supported the project. Smith read a letter from Earl Whiteley, Mountainside Medical’s CEO, saying the hospital had no objection to the apartment com plex. Albert Grinner, who owns prop erty adjacent to Copeland’s, said he would hate to see the city shut its doors on development. “You can’t buy a pair of shoes in this community except hunting boots at the Bargain Barn,” he said. “We don’t have any retail. We take our money out of this county all the time. There is probably no residen tial (place) in this area that pays for the services they require but we need places like this.” The city council is expected to make the final decision on the rezoning request at its regular meeting in February. If approved, re-zoning the prop erty would be in conflict with what Mayor John Weaver and council members have said they wanted for Hwy. 515 as they began annexing portions of the road into the city limits two years ago. In the April 20, 2000 edition of the Progress, a front page article reported that the council turned down a proposal to annex 80 acres along Hwy. 515 north of Hwy. 53. In that case. Weaver and council members were quoted as saying they did not want to annex the property unless it would come in as commercial. At the time, property owners requested that half of the 80 acres come into the city as commercial and half for residential. During the April 2000 council meeting, city administrators voiced concern over having a residential area adjacent to a commercial dis trict in the Hwy. 515 corridor which, they said, should be used for commercial development only. Jim Smith was quoted as saying: “The city of Jasper would like the whole area to come in as commer cial. During the running of sewer lines a few years ago we looked at the area on both sides of 515 as commercial. We can’t force that but we can determine whether or not to annex it in the first place.” According to Smith, in 1995 the Appalachian Regional Commission granted the city funds to run sewer lines along the highway with the idea that it would promote econom ic development - not housing, he said. At the earlier meeting he said, “We were granted the money because it provided jobs - commer cially not residentially.” The article also quoted council members as agreeing that 515 should remain a commercial dis trict. Councilman Jackie Gise ques tioned the impact of numerous houses versus one large retail store. Another concern, she said was infrastructure, having “83 houses hooked up to a water line would be different that a Home Depot with three toilets,” she said. Mayor Weaver agreed, saying in 2000, “mistakes made today will influence tomorrow. This property was doomed for commercial when the road went through. We bor rowed money to run this line up there because we need the sales tax which commercial development would bring.” Speaking after last week’s meet ing, Planning Commission Member Sarah Fowler said she felt her board’s goal was to bring every thing into the city along 515 as commercial but that goals can change. “I felt that our (planning com mission’s) plan was to bring every thing in that corridor in as commer cial but you have to take your plan and revisit it and make sure that what you do makes sense,” Fowler said. “I don’t think any plan should ever be set in stone because if you do that then I think it can really hurt you.” When asked if the “public out cry” from citizens about the origi nal placement of the apartments had any impact on her decision last week, Fowler said, “I don’t know that I even thought about that. If you think about it, it’s almost two different scenarios there. I think it’s comparing apples to oranges.” Fowler said the issue had not been discussed with any other members of the planning commis sion prior to Wednesday night’s meeting. GRIZZLE INSURANCE AGENCY • Medicare Supplement • Cancer • Level Term for 10 & 20 Years • Individual Major Medical & Life 692-5885 Joseph L. Bauer 706-253-3776 Reward $ 1000°° for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or per sons who damaged vehicles and stole items from vehicles at Off Road Inc, 483 N. Main St. Jasper Monday night, Jan. 20th 2003. roa^c Fax 706-253-5337 USED TIRES THOUSANDS IN STOCK Passenger & Lite Truck $ 10 00 EACH Discount Tire 3900 Cam p Road Jasper GA 706/ 253/ 2339 THURSDAY. JANUARY 23. 2003 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 5A This Main Street building is the subject of an ongoing feud between the owner and city hall admin istration. Continued from page 1A The Battle over Bill’s sibly used items as well as an antique clock or two, the owner said. “Main Street is a quality street and I would only put a quality business there,” he said. The city administrator said he had no information on the building and hadn’t been able to conduct an inspection of the renovated electri cal work, which is required. Both city inspectors and Smith acknowl edge that he had the electrical sys tem renovated including new meter boxes installed, but Georgia Power has not turned them on, pending an inspection, which R. Smith has refused to comply with. J. Smith then told Lowe, “I rec ommend you not give Mr. Smith a business license as there is no Cer tificate of Occupancy for that building and we haven’t been able to inspect to insure its safety.” R. Smith said he didn’t believe the city had the authority to inspect his building as it is an existing structure and Certificate of Occu pancies and inspections are only conducted on new buildings, not renovations. “The building has only been empty for two of the past 101 years,” he said. “I want you to pro vide me a written code showing your authority to inspect the build ing.” J. Smith said he would do it within a few days. The city did not provide the code as of Monday, but had returned the owner’s check for the business license and the applica tion with “Denied” printed in large letters across it. It said “Disapproved 15-Jan-03. Was not approved based on verbal information received from Jim Smith, City Building Inspector, regarding the lack of inspection of the street level first floor.” This marks the latest in a long line of skirmishes between R. Smith and the city, dating back at least until 2000 when the city removed two drink machines locat ed on the sidewalk in front of the store following an ordinance ban ning vending machines on Main Street and several warnings to R. Smith. Since then R. Smith has filed two lawsuits against the city chal lenging their authority to complete the sidewalk renovation in front of his building. When asked how the suits will be affected by the fact the sidewalk work has been completed for at least two years, R. Smith said he would have to make some changes. He also charges that the city’s enforcement of a sidewalk ordi nance preventing daily sidewalk sales drove the building’s last first floor tenants, Bill’s Dollar Store, out of business. Now R. Smith said he believes the city is “nitpicking” and would like to seize his property through condemnation. He points out that the city eventually purchased the Roper Hospital building, further south on Main Street, after first condemning it or threatening to condemn it. R. Smith said he believes the city will use the electrical inspec tion as a reason to condemn the building. “The lawsuits made them angry and now they are nitpicking,” he said. “I’ll let it sit empty before I let them in there.” In a previous article about the failure of another business to rent the first floor because of the same inspection issue, R. Smith had not been willing to speak to the press. At that time, J. Smith said an employee with Georgia Power had called city hall requesting an inspector before they turned on the power to the building. J. Smith said usually the electrician calls for the inspection, but it’s not unheard of for the power company to call. J. Smith at that time said he went to the building to see if he could work something out with R. Smith, who he had known for sev eral years. R. Smith now says that the city administrator was “trespassing” and entered only because he had left a door unlocked for a painter. J. Smith has said repeatedly that the ongoing feud between the city and the building owner have no bearing on the inspections, which are required under city and state codes. He said in the earlier interview that the building’s owner may have an independent inspection by a qualified inspector. At that time, J. Smith said due to the proximity of other older buildings along Main Street and the number of people in down town Jasper, the city gives no leniency for code and inspection requirements in that area. However, the city will never force any building owner submit to an inspection. The city inspections all cite standard state code for any viola tions, J. Smith said. He said no politics or outside influences play a part on the inspectors who do the work. “You don’t just walk in and say you pass or you fail,” he said. “It just doesn’t work that way.” Tom Cagle Celebrates 99th birthday The Pickens County Senior Citi zen Center has been the center of many special occasions, but to the Cagle Family there was a very spe cial occasion hosted there on Jan. 11, 2003. It was Mr. Tom Cagle’s 99th birthday and his daughters surprised him with a party with approximately 200 family and friends attending. His birthday was Jan. 17. All of his children, grandchil dren and great-grandchildren were in attendance. Mr. Cagle has truly been blessed. He and his wife Lillie Mae Cagle celebrated their 75th Wedding Anniversary prior to her death. There was a birthday cake and food everywhere. A good time was had by all. They would like to thank all who helped to make this special milestone so great for him. Children Lois & Vaughan Gilleland Betty & Winston Bruce Peggie Hulsey Grandchildren Jan & David Bruce Rosemary Gilleland Kim & Ben Gilleland Tom Hulsey Great-Grandchildren Emily Jones Hanna Gilleland YOUNG'S MUFFLER SERVICE 118 Pioneer Industrial Boulevard Suite B Jasper, GA 30143 706-253-9505 Office or 770-893-7452 Cell Open 8:00 to 5:00 Monday through Friday MARDI GRAS PARTY 2003 AT THE BLUE RODEO J SATURDAY FEBRUARY 8TH RESERVATIONS ACCEPTED BUT NOT REQUIRED ? 9 * FREE: - ALL YOU CAN EAT ♦ CAJUN STYLE CRAWFISH BOII^ 1 * ( WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS ! ^ 6PM TIL 9PM ^ J (£>ME DRESSED FOR THE OCCASION!! ^ CONTEST AND PRIZES FUN FOR EVERYONE!!! BAND: LADY LUCK • 9PM TIL 1AM j MUST BE 21 WITH PHOTO ID 1140 E. CHURCH STREET JAPSER GEORGIA 30143 706-253-2136