Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 140
No. 27
24 Pages
2 Sections
rpl WEDi
1/16 AUGUS1
Commerce News
Wednesday
AUGUST 24,2016
www.CommerceNewsTODAY.com
50 Cents COVERING THE COMMERCE AREA SINCE 1875
Downtown
pep rally
is Thursday
The Commerce Down
town Development Authori-
ty/Main Street program will
hold its 39th annual Tigers
on the Town Pep Rally on
Thursday, Aug. 25, at 7 p.m.
in Spencer Park.
The event kicks off the
2016-17 high school athletic
season and will take place
the day before the Com
merce Tigers open their
2016 football season at home
against Banks County.
The event will recognize
the Commerce High School
and Commerce Middle
School cheerleaders and
football teams, the CHS
cross country teams, softball
team and band.
Rob Jordan, manager of
WJJC Radio, will emcee the
event.
Several Tiger seniors will
address the gathering —
which usually fills Spencer
Park — and the football play
ers will help the cheerleaders
lead a cheer. The Commerce
High School Marching Tiger
Band will provide the music
for the occasion. In addition,
twirlers from CHS and the
Tigertown Twirlers will per
form for the crowd.
Parts of Little, Oak and
Pine streets will be closed
to vehicular traffic during the
pep rally.
The Commerce Booster
Club will give away two sea
son passes to all home reg
ular-season athletic events
during the pep rally and
the DDA will raffle off a
Commerce Tiger cornhole
game. Tickets are $5 apiece
and are available in local
businesses.
Trademark Medical Trans
port will give out ice cream
sandwiches and stickers.
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INDEX
Church News ....10A
Classified Ads 6-7B
Crime News 6-8A
Obituaries 11A
Opinion 4A
School 9A
Sports 1-4B
Social News. 10-12B
MAILING LABEL BELOW
Game On:
Tigers to host
Leopards Fri.
— Page IB
An uptick in
Commerce
housing starts
— Page 2A
First sidewalk section poured
Workers last Thursday poured the first section of the new sidewalk along
Jefferson Road going from Commerce Middle School to Lakeview Drive.
The $720,000 project is scheduled for completion by the end of the year
and will link all of the Commerce schools by sidewalks. It includes curb
and gutter installation along the road as well as landscaping. The heavy
rain late last week overwhelmed a silt fence along part of the route and the
contractor replaced it.
City keeping an eye on
crack in Oxford facade
Public safety issue?
Commerce officials are keeping an eye on a
crack in the brick facade of the former Oxford
building that could become a public safety issue.
Submitted photo
Commerce is keeping an
eye on a widening crack in
the front of the former Oxford
building on State Street that
suggests the brick facade
could tumble onto the side
walk.
“We are keeping an eye
on it,” advised city manager
James Wascher.
The city council authorized
Wascher to have an architec
tural evaluation done on the
building, but that is on hold
for the moment. A potential
developer is looking at the
site, and Wascher said the city
will hold off on funding an
architectural evaluation until it
knows whether the developer
is serious.
“It’s hard to say if he’s seri
ous,” he said. “We’ve had two
or three people come by and
look at it. It could be tire kick
ing, it could be a serious look.
A lot of people like to come
by and look, then they’ll fol
low up.”
“We are still negotiating,”
said Downtown Develop
ment Authority executive
director Natalie Thomas.
“Things are looking up.”
Thomas said she is also
monitoring the crack.
“It’s not growing too fast,”
she assured. “This morning
it looked the same as it did a
couple of weeks ago.”
The DDA made redevelop
ment of the site its top priority
for 2016, based on a concep
tual drawing depicting the
building transformed into a
“boutique” hotel, with condo
miniums. The DDA has indi
cated it would virtually give
the building to a developer
committed to following the
concept created by two Uni
versity of Georgia graduate
students.
The DDA also reported
enthusiasm for the site by offi
cials from the Northeast Geor
gia Regional Commission,
who raised the possibility of
tapping grant sources to help
develop the project.
Anyone considering devel
oping the site would likely
have an architectural evalua
tion done before committing
to the project, but Wascher
indicated that the city will
have one done “in the very
near future” if the prospect
decides not to take on the
project.
Should the city conclude
that the building must come
down, there is a longstand
ing plan to convert the site
to additional parking for the
Commerce Civic Center.
Planners OK
'clarification'
of zoning regs
New wording affects (but
does not change) rules for 10
'nonconforming' mobile homes
The Commerce Planning Commission took action Mon
day night to clarify how mobile homes in areas not zoned
for mobile homes will be treated and to update its zoning
map for the first time since 2009.
By a unanimous vote, the planners agreed to language
proposed by city attorney John Stell in regard to 10 mobile
homes currently occupied that are in areas not zoned for
mobile homes.
The language does not change how the mobile homes
are treated. As “nonconforming uses” in areas not zoned
for mobile homes, they continue to be accepted in those
zones as long as they remain occupied with utility service.
However, should they be vacant for more than six months
or have their utility service shut off, they will no longer be
permitted and must be removed.
“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” said chairman Joe
Leffew of the wording. “We’re just clarifying what we cur
rently have. We’re not changing anything.”
The wording affects mobile homes currently permitted as
nonconforming uses. It does not suggest that similar uses
will be approved in the future.
“They are legal to live in, but once they’re vacant for
six months or their utilities are cut off, they are no longer
allowed,” explained planning director David Zellner.
Map Update
Also by a unanimous vote, the planning commission
accepted amendments to its zoning map to reflect zoning
changes and annexations that have occurred since 2009 —
the last time the map was zoned.
See “Zoning” on Page 3A
Conference center
being considered
at Banks Crossing
BY ANGELA GARY
Banks County economic
director Brad Day reported
at the development author
ity meeting last week that
results are expected soon
on a feasibility study on
locating a conference cen
ter at Banks Crossing.
Day reported at the meet
ing that the last study was
done in 2006 and the deci
sion was made at that time
not to develop a conference
center. He added that there
are “hundreds more hotel
rooms” at Banks Crossing
now and that the hotel/
motel taxes collected have
doubled.
The conference center
study will determine the
market demand that exists
for such a conference cen
ter, as well as the number of
new jobs, new payroll and
local and state taxes gen
erated by such an invest
ment. The study will also
include a look at possibly
increasing the taxes paid
by visitors to local hotels.
These taxes could be used
for the development of a
conference center.
Development authority
chairman Scott Ledford
said that the board will also
consider the community
need for a conference cen
ter. Day added that some
events can’t be held in the
area because there isn’t a
suitable venue available.
Dr. Steve Morse, director
and economist of the hospi
tality and tourism program
for the College of Business
at Western Carolina Univer
sity is doing the research
study at a cost of $7,500.
In particular the study will
examine:
• current hotel and lodg
ing taxes in Banks County
and the impact of chang
ing these hotel taxes to
increasing marginal levels
from five percent to six per
cent, seven percent and
eight percent will have on
hotel demand for rooms
and tourism spending in
the county.
• examination of demand
for a conference center in
the area including compet
itive factors of area confer
ence centers, including a
demand analysis for hotel
room nights resulting from
the conference center.
•projections of the eco
nomic impact of a new
conference center in Banks
County in terms of employ
ees generated, employee
paychecks generated and
local and state taxes gen
erated.