Newspaper Page Text
Page 4D
April 12, 2023
iReporfcer
Should Forsyth's boards have any authority?
By Diane Glidewell
news@mymcr.net
City manager Janice Hall asked
council on April 3 to approve
the resignation of Planning &
Zoning Commission member
Jenny Caldwell and to come up
with someone to replace her for
the rest of her term, which runs
through December 2024. Cald
well submitted her resignation
from Planning & Zoning because
she moved out of the city limits
and also no longer works in the
city limits.
Council member Chris Hewett
said the Design & Review au
thority of the Planning & Zoning
Commission should be under
city council. Decisions made by
Planning & Zoning regarding
zoning changes, variances and
conditional uses are handled as
recommendations, with coun
cil holding public hearings and
making final decisions. However,
decisions made by P&Z in its De
sign & Review capacity are final.
Hall said that the Design &
Review responsibility of P&Z is to
look at the architectural integrity
of planned buildings or building
changes and the aesthetic guide
lines within the city’s ordinances.
“We desperately need to fix our
ordinances,” said council member
Julius Stroud. “We were blindsid
ed tonight and by bitcoin.”
Stroud was referring to the
room full of citizens who attend
ed the council meeting to voice
opposition to a planned Dollar
General store on Martin Luther
King Jr. Drive at Kynette Street
and to the large group of citizens
who came to council meetings in
early 2022 to oppose the approval
of a bitcoin mining operation in
the city.
Hewett said that elected officials
should have the authority to
make decisions about what kind
of buildings are allowed in the
city and not “citizens” who are
just appointed to boards.
“Do you know what kind of
minutia we have to get into?”
asked Mayor Eric Wilson, refer
ring to the many technicalities in
ordinances regulating zoning and
design.
“We need to increase lines of
communication,” said council
member John Howard. “Why put
us on here if you don’t trust what
we’re saying?”
“We need to respect their ex
pertise and integrity’ said council
member Greg Goolsby.
Hewett protested that the
council is considered responsible
if someone puts up something
“awful” in the city. But Howard
said if someone builds some
thing “awful” it probably wasn’t
required to go before Design &
Review. Goolsby recalled when
the whole Historical Preservation
Board dissolved and no on was
willing to serve on it because of
controversy at city council.
“We don’t want to go there
again,” said Goolsby.
County to mull big overhaul to zoning ordinance
Monroe County residents
will have a final chance to
protest sweeping changes
to the county’s develop
ment rules at a zoning
board meeting at 5:30 p.m.
on Monday, April 24.
Zoning board members
are expected to give final
approval to a 311-page or
dinance that would replace
the county’s existing zoning
ordinance on April 24. It
would then go to commis
sioners for final approve
at their 6 p.m. meeting
on Tuesday, May 2. The
zoning board had been
slated to consider the huge
new ordinance on March
their 27 meeting but it was
postponed due to flooding.
Commissioners and the
planning board had both
debated the new proposal
in the fall, and sent changes
back to county develop
ment office Kelsey Fortner.
The new ordinance
would expand the number
of zoning classifications
in Monroe County from
four to 11. Currently the
county has just four zoning
classifications, residential,
commercial, industrial
and agriculture. Under the
new ordinance it would
have 11: A-R (Agricultur
al-residential), R-l (Single
family residential - low
density), R-2 (Single-fam
ily residential - medium
density), R-3 (Single-family
residential - high density),
R-4 (Residential - manufac
tured home communities),
O-1 (Office - residential),
C-l (Commercial - light/
neighborhood), C-2 (Com
mercial - general/highway),
M-l (Manufacturing -
light), M-2 (Manufacturing
- general) and M-3 (Manu
facturing - heavy).
The original plan called
for requiring new homes to
be at least 1,500 square feet.
But commissioners agreed
in October to reduce that
to 300 square feet.
Commissioners had hired
attorney Brandon Bowen
of Cartersville for $20,000
to create the ordinance.
Also in October, com
missioners removed a
restriction on the location
of driveway curb cuts along
a road frontage, specify
ing only the total number
of curb cuts and amount
of road frontage but not
where a driveway can be
located. Commissioners
extended the length of time
for an applicant to begin
work on a project after
the issuance of a variance
or a conditional use from
six months to two years
before the variance/condi
tional use becomes void.
Commissioners agreed to
continue to allow 15 total
minutes per side in all
zoning hearings with the
discretion of the Board to
extend the hearings beyond
the 15-minute limit should
it be necessary.
Commissioners decided
Car wash 1,
Camper top O
A camper cover was knocked off the back of a white
Dodge Dakota after it went into the Big Peach Car Wash
on March 27. According to the incident report, deputy
Cody Maples was behind the pickup, a RoofCore Inter
national company truck and driven by local businessman
Lee Hamlin. Maples noticed the camper covering wasn’t
secure and despite signage stating that truck beds need to
be clear, and items had to be secured, Hamlin continued
through the carwash.
At about 10 feet in, a brush arm descended, and the
camper cover was knocked off the pickup. The covering
fell onto the track and wedged between the car wash
equipment and the truck. Trash was scattered through
out the car wash. Hamlin got out of his truck and began
recording the action and demanded that employees go for
Maples so that he could create an accident report.
It took several employees to lift the truck’s shell and
move it out as well as clean up the trash. After the area was
cleared, Hamlin pulled out of the wash and parked in the
vacuuming area.
Once Maples’ patrol unit went through the cleaning
cycle, employees approached him and said that Hamlin
was demanding that they put the camper shell back on
his vehicle. Hamlin was still recording video when Maples
told him he was responsible for the covering and that
he needed to remove his vehicle from the area. Hamlin
responded that he was supposed to be on a job making
$400 an hour and that he had a tow truck on the way.
The truck’s camper shell was damaged and there were no
clamps securing it to the truck bed.
An incident report filed by Big Peach employees stated
that Hamlin “Doesn’t understand why we would let it
through. Camper damage, truck damage, truck contents
damaged, back rear fender, side of the truck, and taillight,
all sticky stuff is gone between camper and truck. The
customer claims to be dyslexic.”
A copy of that report was scanned into Maples’ incident
report.
two years ago to impose
new zoning laws for de
velopment as the county
underwent a surge in res- when the county built 309 2021.
idential growth. However new homes, down from a
that growth slowed in 2022, record 344 new homes in
1 packet wholegrain muffins, split in half
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 brown onion
1 zucchini
1 red capsicum
200 g bacon
1 1/2 cups grated tasty cheese
1 can creamed corn
Salt and pepper to taste
Sprinkle of paprika (optional)
Ou^cL/GoJL&n.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Spray baking
dish (at least 10x8 inches).
Saute bacon and onion about 5 mins. Set aside.
Lightly beat eggs and milk.
Grate zucchini, capsicum and cheese. Mix
together with cream corn. Add salt and pepper
and mix. The mixture should be thick enough to
spread.
Carefully spread muffins with mixture and
arrange in baking dish. Any leftover mixture can
be spread over top.
Pour egg mix over, then spread remaining 1/2
cup cheese. Lightly sprinkle with paprika. Bake
45-50 mins.
Serve with salad or fries.
NOTES:
• You can use a Thermomix to grate vegetables.
• If you are vegan just omit the bacon.
• You can add or use any vegetables you like.
• The use of wholegrain muffins makes this just a
little healthier.
HOSTED BY:
FORSYTH
MAIN STREET
Let’s Talk About What
You Want To See In
Downtown Forsyth
Community
Visioning
Meeting
YOU'RE INVITED TO SHARE
YOUR IDEAS & PRIORTIES FOR
DOWNTOWN FORSYTH
A 2 Hour
Discussion
Free &
Open to
the Public
Tuesday
April 18
6:00 pm - 8:00pm
Wednesday
April 19
Forsyth City Hall
Council Chambers
23 East Main Street
Forsyth, Go 31029
12:00 pm - 2:00pm
For More Information: mainstreetforsyth@gmail.com