Newspaper Page Text
April 25, 2018
Page 7A
ZONING
Continued from Front
units, 40 two-bedroom units
and 20 three-bedroom units.
Following an hour-long
hearing during which some
opponents were forced to
stand outside in the hallway
because they could not all fit
in the meeting room, the P &
Z board rejected Whitesides
request.
However, Monroe County
Commissioners will have
the final say on the matter at
their next scheduled meet
ing at 6 p.m. on Tuesday,
May 1 in a meeting that’s
been moved to the Monroe
County Convention Center
at 475 Holiday Circle due
to expected crowds. Whi
teside told the P & Z board
that Vantage Development
could still build duplexes at
the commercially-zoned site
even if commissioners also
reject the apartment complex
because duplexes are permit
ted under commercial.
As Whiteside approached
the podium, she joked of the
large assembled crowd: “I ap
preciate such a big welcom
ing party’
Whiteside proposed a
multi-family, breezeway-style
building complex with an
on-site manager and an on
site maintenance staff. She
said Vantage intends to clear
cut six acres while leaving a
“good buffer between our
property and those sur
rounding us.” Whiteside said
the total development cost
of the project is $12 million
in addition to a construc
tion cost of $7 million. She
estimated the complex could
result in $70,000 to $80,000
in annual property tax rev
enue for Monroe County not
counting water tap-on fees
and building permit fees.
Whiteside said Vantage
received through the Georgia
Department of Community
Affairs (DCA) a tax credit
helping fund the apartment
project.
“It’s a nice area,” Whiteside
said of South Monroe. “So
one thing the state tries to do
is not put tax-credit develop
ments where they normally
go. We try to put them in
higher-end areas.”
She said Vantage could
build duplexes at the site
without commissioners’ ap
proval but said the duplexes
would be built even closer to
nearby residences than the
proposed apartments would.
More than a dozen South
Monroe citizens then voiced
their concerns about the
project, including diminished
property values, a potential
influx in crime, the addition
of students to the Monroe
County school system, the
unresolved status of the
Bibb-Monroe line dispute,
increased traffic and the poor
fit of low-income housing
in the county’s wealthiest
district.
Martha Linkous of Planta
tion Drive said apartment
complexes don’t belong next
to subdivisions like Cross
Creek. She said apartment
renters lack the “incentive”
that homeowners have to
maintain their homes. She
instead suggested Vantage
consider building homes at
the site that match the size
and value of the surrounding
neighborhoods.
John Ricketson of Carriage
Drive said Vantage special
izes in low-income housing
even accepting renters with
15 percent of the household
income of the surrounding
area. He said low-income
housing fosters drug activ
ity and cited past criminal
behavior at Riverwalk Apart
ments, a similar multi-family
complex just inside Bibb
County on Hwy. 87. Ricket
son also said development
should be stopped along the
Bibb-Monroe border until
the true line can be identified.
He compared Terry Scarbor
ough’s governor-authorized
survey of the line with that
presented by Macon-based
Stantec Consulting, Inc.
(which employed former
Bibb County commissioner
Elmo Richardson at the
time), saying of the Stantec
line that “it has no more
validity than if somebody put
a monkey in a room with a
crayon drawing on a map.”
Ricketson then said the pro
posed apartment complex
was a misuse of the tract.
He said, “This is not the
type of project that needs to
go in this area.”
Sleepy Creek Road resident
Eva Bilderback, who repre
sents the proposed apart
ment location on the Mon
roe County school board,
said traffic is already a major
issue on New Forsyth Road.
She also said she fears crime
could increase as a result of
the complex and added, “We
need to protect our way of
life because it’s everything
that we have worked fori’
Bilderback then jabbed
at Monroe County man
ager/zoning officer Anita
Buice, saying she, rather
than commissioners, would
ultimately be the final arbiter
in the matter. When Buice
replied that commissioners
would vote on it without
her say, Bilderback, whose
husband Mike served as
county commission chair
man from 2013-16, made a
pithy comment about Buice’s
last name, which changed
from Cauthen last year after
a divorce.
When Buice took offense
to Bilderback’s jabs, assistant
zoning officer Kelsey Fortner
loudly defended her boss,
shouting at Bilderback: “Did
you make the decision to
hire the child molester?”
in reference to last month’s
Reporter revelation that
Monroe County Schools was
employing someone with
a child-molestation-related
conviction as a substitute
teacher.
“No ma’am I did not,”
Bilderback replied forcefully.
When the assembled
crowd booed and jeered
loudly at Fortner’s remark,
Fortner exited the room
and did not return for the
remainder of the meeting.
Dr. Rana Munna, whose
Preston Court medical prac
tice neighbors the proposed
apartments, said the complex
would bring even more traf
fic than is already present due
to Bibb County’s Academy
of Classical Education (ACE)
charter school. Munna said
her patients already have a
hard time getting in and out
of her practice during school
hours and labeled the traffic
situation “untenable” should
the apartments be approved.
Heritage Drive resident
Tim Self asked how many
children would the complex
bring to the county, saying
that just the cost of hiring
two additional teachers for
Monroe County Schools
would negate any property
taxes brought in as a result of
the complex.
Cross Creek Circle resident
Miller Owen said the apart
ments would be built almost
directly behind his property
and worried that they would
devalue his home.
Stuart Hammock of
Hunters Court estimated
the number of additional
children in the school system
as a result of the apartments
could create as much as a
$500,000 additional cost to
Monroe County Schools.
Hammock, who noted that
apartment dwellers wouldn’t
be responsible for paying the
increased school taxes that
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landowners would, recom
mended Vantage instead
look for a spot in Bibb
County to build.
“Bibb County, they love
to do low-income housing,”
Hammock said. And that’s
why people are leaving Bibb
County. I left Bibb County
nine years ago, and I’m not
going back.”
Cross Creek Circle resident
Alan Little argued that
there was not a need for the
low-income housing project,
saying residents in District
3 have a median household
income of over $62,000,
much greater than the
median household income
of about $48,000 for the
entirety of Monroe County
and about $41,000 for Bibb
County. Little said The Over
look apartment complex
just inside Bibb County on
New Forsyth Road rents for
$900 for a one-bedroom
unit, much more in line
with South Monroe County
incomes.
Little said he was also
concerned about the avail
ability of emergency services
in the area, including fire and
law enforcement presence,
quoting statistics that indicate
apartments like these often
result in more 9-1-1 calls.
He questioned whether
Bolingbroke’s volunteer fire
department had a ladder
truck sufficient for a fire at a
multi-story apartment build
ing or whether the Monroe
County Sheriff’s Office had
enough deputies to patrol
adequately in the area. Little
also calculated that the 72-
unit complex would have
a total of 152 bedrooms,
saying there was no telling
how many children could be
added to the school system at
the estimated cost of $7,000
per student.
Little, who noted that
renters there would likely
pay the majority of their sales
tax in Bibb County, then
closed by citing a Stanford
University study that showed
new building projects in
poor neighborhoods actually
reduce crime and increase
surrounding home prices
while new building projects
in higher-income neighbor
hoods drive down home
prices and even decrease
racial diversity.
Real estate appraiser James
Douthit of Plantation Drive
added that in every instance
he has evaluated, property
values have diminished as a
result of low-income apart
ments being built.
Carriage Drive resident
Jerry Adams said he moved
to Monroe County from
Bibb County nearly a quarter
century ago and predicted
the day would come when
residents would have to fend
off a proposed development
like this.
Adams said of his South
Monroe neighbors: “We’ve
got some good, outstanding
citizens in this room tonight.”
Heritage Circle resident
Mary Scroggs said her family
put most of its life savings
into its home, and she doesn’t
want to see its efforts to live
in a rural area go to waste.
Cross Creek Circle resident
Steve Hill said he’s concerned
about runoff into a small
creek that runs through his
subdivision if Vantage clear
cuts six acres on a hilly tract.
Cross Creek Circle resident
Kitty Clark then asked Van
tage how it finances its proj
ects at which point Whiteside
returned to the podium to
answer some of the concerns
that had been brought up.
In response to Clark’s
question, Whiteside said
Vantage uses proceeds from
state tax credits for equity in
its developments, selling the
tax credits to major inves
tors. Whiteside also said
a study indicates the need
for low-income housing in
Monroe County is real, say
ing she spoke Monday with
a Monroe County resident
who plans to move into the
apartment complex if it is
built. She also noted that
citizens would have no re
course if Vantage elects to put
duplexes in since the tract is
already zoned commercial.
“We are by far not the worst
thing that could happen to you
guys if you look at the zoning
ordinance,” Whiteside told her
detractors.
After nearly an hour of com
ments, the P & Z boards newest
member, Red Ezelle of District
3, motioned to deny, which was
seconded by District 4 member
Michael Brewster. Acting
chairman Chuck Benson then
called for a vote, and all three
P & Z members voted to deny
Vantages request, much to the
delight of the assembled crowd.
P & Z members Connie
Gantt and Doris Ogletree were
absent from Mondays meeting.
TODD
TOLBERT
State Representative
I’m running to represent you as
your State Representative!
I’m a lifelong Republican with a record of stand
ing up for our conservative values in our local
community.
• We need leaders who will put our interests
first rather than grow government.
• We need small business owners, not politicians,
to use common sense to get government out of the
way and let Georgians’ businesses grow.
• It’s time we shrink government, lower taxes,
improve our public schools, make high speed
internet available and protect our conservative values.
On MAY 22 nd VOTE
TODD TOLBERT
Distict 141
State Representative
Early Voting April 30 - May 18
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Forsyth-Monroe
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MEN'S ASSOCIATION
FORSYTH
AMBER
DR. BENNY
BAKER BALLTZGLIER PITMAN TATE
MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC SPEAKER
MONROE COUNTY FINE ARTS CENTER
27 BROOKLYN AVENUE, FORSYTH, GA 31029
Thankful for Humble Beginnings
My first home was a single wide trailer. I grew up on
a farm. By the grace of God and hard work, I was
able to go to college, marry, raise a family and have
a successful business.
I have lived the American dream. Now I want to
give back to my community. I am financing most of
my campaign and am not beholding to special interest.
As your next representative for Monroe and Bibb
Counties, my only objective is to serve all the people
of this district with honesty and integrity.
Your concerns are my concerns. I will listen to you
and do all I can to make this a great place to live,
learn, work and do business. I am blessed in so
many ways and humbly ask for your vote on May 22.
Proven Success.
Proven Leadership.
Sincerely,
Experience Matters.
SHANE MOBLEY
State House - District 141
www.MobleyForGA.com Q