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PAGE 10A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. APRIL 1.2021
Continued From 1A
Zoning
is Liman Properties and the
applicant is the non-profit
Beverly J. Searles Founda
tion.
IRS information about the
Searles Foundation states,
“the organization sponsors
the development and opera
tions of affordable housing
communities for low income
elderly and handicapped per
sons primarily under the sec
tion 42 low-income housing
tax credit program.” They
have 13 years experience in
building 821 multi-family
housing units. The developer
has made no indication in the
public hearings that the Geor-
gianna units would primarily
be for the elderly or special
needs persons.
The Georgianna Street
project is the first rezoning
application used since the
city’s zoning laws were up
dated at their February coun
cil meeting. City Manager
Brandon Douglas said, “The
new policy was to have the
city of Jasper be in compli
ance with Georgia’s Zoning
Procedures Law.” He added,
“The mayor and council
worked with a consulting
firm to develop the updated
zoning process.”
The city’s zoning ordi
nances have 10 articles and
contain 98 pages of require
ments to be answered by the
applicant, which is no slam
dunk. Some of those article
titles are building regulations,
uses, lot and site develop
ment, review and approval
process.
The Georgianna project
received an “approval with
conditions” recommendation
from the city staff. Follow
ing the updated procedures, a
15-day notice was published
as a legal announcement,
signs were posted at the pro
posed property and area
neighbors were notified of
the meeting as part of the
process of notifying the pub
lic of proposed actions. “We
want the community to know
of proposed changes and
seek their input,” Douglas
said.
It seemed that most citi
zens attending the zoning
committee came expecting or
believing that a final decision
would be made on the apart
ments at the Tuesday evening
meeting instead of under
standing a three-step process
is now in place for city zon
ing.
Traffic was a popular
topic with Nicole Dixon ad
dressing a possible need for a
traffic light on East Church
Street due to increased vehi
cles and was concerned
where Jasper would park 200
more cars in town. Also, pri
vacy and buffer fencing were
addressed by residents on the
backside of the property.
Vice-chair of the zoning
committee John Sneve
thanked all of the participants
for “acting neighborly” dur
ing their comments. At Tues
day’s conclusion following
community input, the zoning
committee said they would
not recommend rezoning.
Sneve and Tom Kleinberg
were the only two members
of the planning commission
in attendance. Joanna Kearns,
David Keller, and William
Tate are also on the commit
tee.
The next step in the
process was for the city coun
cil to hold a public hearing so
they could get comment from
the community on Thursday
evening.
The rezoning process con
tinued Thursday evening
with City Manager Douglas
summarizing Tuesday’s input
to the council. Fire safety,
storm water and traffic were
some issues raised directly to
the council.
The developer, Philip
Searles, responding to com
ments from Tuesday, offered
to pay for a traffic light, do a
water study and install or foot
the bill for a fence around the
property. He said, “We want
to be a good neighbor and we
want to be in Jasper because
it is a great place to live.”
The third step of the zon
ing process takes place when
the council meets on April 5
to make a decision on the re
zoning following public
comments and staff review.
A major issue came to light
during the two public hear
ings dealing with ingress and
egress. Zoning calls for two
ways in and out for com
plexes between 41-150 units
and the proposed ingress and
egress on East Sellers Street
will not be workable. A vi
able solution between city
staff, the developer and
owner is under discussion
and will be presented at the
regular April council meet
ing.
Mayor Lawrence said “the
updated zoning process lets
us hear from the people and
research a change so that we
get it right for everyone.” In
his opening statement he
said, “Anyone or everyone in
the room will have opportu
nity to voice what they want
to voice to the city council.”
Continued From 1A
Wildcat Community President Clayton Preble welcomes
attendees to Station 10 on Monument Road Saturday for a
discussion of wildfire threats in the Burnt Mountain area.
Heavy Fog reduced visibility outside the volunteer fire station. A Forest official inside the
building said it’s easy to forget about the dangers offorest fires when the weather is wet,
but it seems the southeast’s weather is getting drier every year in terms of air humidity.
Fi rewise
fears.
As Mike Davis, Forest
Fire Management officer, US
Forest Service, told the Fire-
wise leaders from the differ
ent mountain communities
here, “With weather like this,
you may be like ehhh. Not
gonna worry about it. But it
might be dry on Monday and
burning on Tuesday. It
changes quickly.”
Davis, one of the speakers
addressing the small crowd
from the mountain communi
ties in Pickens and Dawson
counties, said he has seen the
weather change during his
career in fire protection and
it’s “crazy” how many more
days of very low air humidity
are recorded in the southeast.
He said it used to be that a 20
percent air humidity would
be considered a dry day in
this region, but now they see
6-8 percent air humidity on
some days - a level more like
what you see in a desert re
gion.
“You go 10 to 15 days
without rainfall and already
have fuel that is dry on the
ground and [it can get dan
gerous] very quickly,” he
said.
Davis, who works han
dling woodland/urban inter
face fires around north
Georgia, felt the area had al
ready dodged several budgets
- cases where there had been
high winds and drought con
ditions but fires never got out
of control, like they did in
Gatlinburg.
March/April and Novem
ber are the periods when they
see the most wildfires. For
this year, they are expecting
a normal fire season.
He said the communities
in the Burnt Mountain area
face a “pretty high” risk of a
wildfire. He listed several
factors in this, including: re
mote, far from firefighting
resources; access - only one
way in or out; slope of the
terrain; and fuels and leaf de
bris.
Frank Riley, the state Fire-
wise Liaison, emphasized
there is a lot communities
and homeowners can do to
cut down on the risks from a
wildfire and minimize dam
age to properties should one
break out. There are excellent
resources and videos online
to help homeowners get
started and Firewise offers
printed material and personal
assistance at their Georgia
headquarters.
Most of the tips shown in
the videos Saturday related
to securing a perimeter
around your home to protect
against spreading blazes and
how your home can with
stand an ember shower car
ried from burning forestland.
Something as simple as
cleaning leafs out of gutters
or putting in a mesh screen in
attic vents could be the dif
ference in a destroyed home
or no damage at all.
He said in the western
states you’ll hear about fires
destroying hundreds of
homes, but in Georgia, Fire-
wise works to not lose even a
single home. He added there
are 113 Firewise groups in
the state, all working to pro
tect communities and provide
information.
Also addressing the local
Firewise board members and
supporters was Anthony Eng
lish, a Ranger/Specialist
Georgia Forestry Commis
sion.
English detailed a wealth
of instructional videos at both
firewise.com and the Ga.
Forestry website gatrees.org.
He said the information at
the sites is useful to both
Pickens and Gilmer counties,
as almost all of it is a wild-
land/urban interface where
houses are mixed among
woodland settings. He en
couraged everyone to watch
both the videos on the com
munity preparedness as well
as those for individual home-
owners.
English added that the
gatrees.org website is also the
one for issuing burning per
mits. He said the free permits
help them keep check on
bums and allows them a
chance to educate homeown
ers about burning safety.
They also offer some release
from liability in the event that
a bum-pile gets out of hand.
As English explained, if you
have a permit and your fires
get out of control, you won’t
be charged for Ga. Forestry
containment efforts, but you
will, if you didn’t get the per
mit. However, the permit
won’t offer much protection
if your backyard bum causes
your neighbor’s house to go
up in flames. “That’s a civil
issue,” he said.
Several of the attendees
had permit-specific ques
tions. There are two condi
tions where permits may not
be issued. First, is in a
drought and second, is with
very hazy conditions where
the smoke from the bum may
add to poor air quality con
cerns.
Permits are not required
for any cooking or warming
fires, such as a backyard fire
pit.
Permits would not over
ride any subdivision or com
munity rules regarding
burning.
Clayton Preble, the presi
dent of the Wildcat Commu
nity, thanked all who
attended and noted that water
is the biggest challenge here.
He acknowledged Pickens
Commission Chair Kris Stan-
cil by adding “we would wel
come the opportunity to help
you stir the pot [on water]
when ready.”
Stancil during opening re
marks commended the local
communities involved the
Firewise program as prime
examples of volunteers tak
ing care of their community.
Locally, the Wildcat com
munity was formed in 2006
and includes the following
areas Bent Tree, Big Canoe,
Burnt Mountain Estates,
Monument Falls, Sassafras
Mountain, Tate Mountain
and Tomahawk Mountain.
They are supported by both
Pickens and Dawson coun
ties.
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