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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 9,2023
Homer, Banks County, GA 30547 • A Publication of MainStreet Newspapers, Inc. • 12 Pages, 1 Section Plus Supplements
Vol. 57 No. 34
American
Legion to
hold open
house Sat.
American Legion Post
215 will hold an open house
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on
Saturday, Aug. 12.
“Come see all of the ren
ovations that have been
done,” leaders state.
There will be BBQ sand
wiches, hot dogs, desserts
and drinks.
The American Legion is
located at 1350 Historic Ho
mer Highway, Homer.
The American Legion
building was built in 1947.
Chipotle
opens at
Banks
Crossing
Chipotle Mexican Grill
has opened at Banks Cross
ing. The restaurant opened
to the public on Wednesday,
Aug. 2.
The restaurant will fea
ture the brand’s signature
Chipotlane, a drive-thru
pickup lane that allows
guests to pick up digital or
ders without leaving their
cars.
Chipotle is located at
30881 Hwy. 441, Com
merce.
Hours are 10:45 a.m. to
10 p.m. daily.
Homer
Holiday
Festival set
The Homer Holiday Fes
tival will be held Sept. 1-3.
Friday night will be a pep
rally for all Banks County
athletes. The rally will be
called “One Leopard Na
tion.” The grand marshal
will be Ann Hopkins, Banks
County School System su
perintendent.
Planners table request for railway
storage yard after hitting stalemate
To be on agenda again Aug 15
By ANGELA GARY
After one hour of dis
cussion, the Banks County
Planning Commission ta
bled a request at its meeting
last week from Towonna
Wood to rezone a 15.35-
acre lot located at the in
tersection of Hwy. 441 and
McCoy Bridge Road.
Wood asked to change the
zoning from ARR to C2 for
the property to be used for
a wholesale establishment
with a special use for a stor
age yard for railway compo
nents.
Planning commission
member Taylor Griffin said
that the comprehensive
plan does call for commer
cial at these intersections.
However, he added that the
plan also says development
should serve the local resi
dents.
This was the issue that the
planners could not agree on
at the meeting.
Chairman Jay O’Kelley
first made a motion to ap
prove the request. No one
seconded his motion.
Planning commission
member Jason Hensley then
made a motion to deny the
request. No one seconded
his motion.
O’Kelly then made the
motion to table the request
until the Aug. 15 planning
commission meeting. This
motion passed unanimously.
Hensley said, “We have
to make the right decision
for all parties and for all of
Banks County. That is hard
to do sometimes.”
The site plan is available
for review in the planning
and zoning office for inter
ested citizens, who can also
drop off their comments on
the request.
A.J. Purcell spoke in sup
port of the request and said
the location is appropriate
for a small business.
“It is a great business—
small family-owned busi
ness,” Purcell said. “That
is what Banks County has
always been about.”
Eight people spoke in op
position to the request.
“To add another junk
yard to Banks County is a
shame,” one woman said.
Marsha Harris said, “I am
pro small business, for sure.
I’m just not sure this is right
for our community.”
Wayne Day said, “This is
very heavy industrial. It will
make a lot of noise. It will
be a mess. I oppose this be
cause of all the noise it will
be making for our neighbor
hood.”
Jeremy Harris added, “It
may not be in conflict with
the plan but it is in conflict
with everyone in that neigh
borhood. Nobody wants
it.... They should never got
this far without a site plan.”
Wood spoke after the
comments, stating that there
would be no fabrication on
the property.
POLICY
DISCUSSION
Also at the meeting, the
planning commission dis
cussed several policy issues,
including the following:
•O’Kelly questioned
whether the format of the
planning commission meet
ing be consistent with the
planning requests held by
the board of commissioners.
The difference is that the
BOC opens and closes each
public hearing request indi
vidually. The planning com
mission agreed to change
the format to mirror the
BOC hearings.
•Griffin brought up the
issue of the platting author
ity of Banks County, which
officials said is the planning
commission. He said plat
requests should come before
the planning commission as
a group and this needs to be
followed. He said minor di
visions could be approved
by the planning official.
•Griffin spoke on proce
dures for meetings. He said
recent amendments made
concerning this issue should
be consolidated into one
document provided to all
planning commission mem
bers.
•Meeting schedule, with
O’Kelly stating that there
may be two meetings per
month instead of one. One
reason is the platting re
quests which could arise
after the first meeting of
the month has already been
held. It was also pointed out
that progress could also be
halted on projects if they are
held for one month until the
next meeting.
FOCUS ON PUBLIC SAFETY
Public Safety was the topic of the recent Baldwin National Night Out. Displays from area
law enforcement agencies, including the Baldwin Police Department, Banks County Sheriff’s
Office and Georgia State Patrol, as well as activities for children.
MOLLY WILLARD
Molly’s Helping Hands
Food Pantry serves
county six months
Molly’s Helping Hands Food Pantry has now served the
citizens of Banks County for six months.
The pantry is located at the Banks County Recreation
Center and is always accessible for any who are in need,
or want to donate food.
Molly Willard and her mother work diligently to stock
the pantry every week, oftentimes spending their own
money to do so.
For those who want to get involved, donations can be
placed directly in the Molly’s Helping Hands Food Pan
try, or entrusted to @Banks County Parks and Recreation
staff. Both are located at 607 Thompson St, Homer.
Popular items include pop-top canned food, peanut but
ter & jelly, travel shampoos and soaps, diapers, and other
toiletries.
Monetary donations can also be made via Venmo to Pa-
melaWillardl23.
MAILING LABEL
HOUSE FIRE CAUSED BY LIGHTNING
The Banks County Fire & Emergency Services and the Jack-
son County Correctional Institute Fire Department respond
ed to 428 Otis Brown Road Aug. 7 on a reported structure
fire. Firefighters found a single-family residence with heavy
smoke and fire showing. Fire chief Steve Nichols states, “An
initial aggressive fire attack allowed for a quick containment
of the fire and the structure sustained moderate damage
throughout. No one was home at the time of the fire and no
injuries were reported. The cause of the fire was listed as ac
cident/weather related from a lightning strike to a tree in the
backyard.
FIREFIGHTERS RESPOND TO CAR FIRE
The Banks County Fire Department responded to a car fire at 2586 Hwy. 441 North, Homer,
Monday afternoon. The fire was due to a mechanical condition and was accidental. No inju
ries were reported.
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