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AUGUST 23,2006 • FLAGPOLE.COM 7
from the county's stream buffer ordinance. That
ordinance, adopted in 2000, extends the state's
required 25-foot buffers to 75 feet for streams
in Clarke County. Building or paving is got al
lowed in buffer areas, to allow natural vegetation
to filter rainwater before it runs into streams
and rivers. That makes river water cleaner, and
cheaper to treat for drinking
downstream.
But owners of the over
grown lot adjacent to the
church's brand-new parking
lot said they have already
gotten the state's permis
sion to pipe and grade over
one of the streams—which is
already piped for part of its
length—partly by purchasing
“buffer credits" sold by the
Georgia Land Trust, which
uses the money to create
artificial wetlands elsewhere.
A representative of the land-
owner—known as the "Old
Mill Stream" corporation-
told the ACC Hearings Board
Aug. 9 that the property is "a
blighted eyesore right now"
and he "couldn't imagine a
way" the proposed Fata Cafe
would have enough parking
spaces if it didn't encroach
on the stream buffers. The
buffer requirements make the
property undevelopable, he said—even though
the plan submitted doesn't take up the entire
lot, but instead leaves a large corner unbuilt for
a future development.
ACC Planning Department staffers disagreed
with the developer, saying the project could be
redesigned "with little or no encroachment" to
the other, un-piped, stream. Their recommen
dation to the Hearings Board was to deny the
variance request for that stream. Representatives
of Upper Oconee Watershed Network and Athens
Grow Green Coalition argued to the board that
small, wet-weather streams like the two on the
property are critical to water quality. "Small
headwater streams comprise 80 percent of our
total stream network," said Elizabeth little.
"Most of our county streams are already impaired
from pollutants" resulting from widespread pav
ing and inadequate past protections, she said.
"We are now required by [Federal regulations! to
clean up our streams."
Citizens on the seven-member Hearings Board
quickly approved a variance to pipe the remain
der of the first stream underground, and then
discussed whether to allow a parking lot to be
built in the second stream's buffer area. Some
thought the owners had an inherent right to de
velop their land, and said the county's buffer or
dinance was passed with the promise that excep
tions would be made when warranted. Others said
the owners could desig.i around the limitations
if they chose to, and said the buffer was needed
to separate the business from an adjoining resi
dential neighborhood. In the end, the Hearings
Is this a stream or a ditch? Does it get a buffer? The law says it's a stream, and the local buffer ordinance pro
tects it. but the Hearings Board can still grant a developer a variance to pipe it. and did so earlier this month.
Board voted to reduce the second stream's buffer
from 75 to 50 feet to allow more parking.
John Huie iphuie@speedfactory.net
Capitol Impact
Fighting Mad
As he sat in the federal courtroom in
Gainesville presiding over a congressional hear
ing, Rep. Charlie Norwood was so mad that he
was almost yelling. The object of the congress
man's anger was a surprising one to those who
are familiar with his political career: he was
ticked off at George W. Bush.
Norwood is a big admirer of Bush and has
always been eager to do whatever the president
asked of him. This was most famously illustrated
in 2001 when Norwood, who had fought for six
years to pass legislation that would allow pa
tients to sue HMOs that had maltreated them,
was called to Bush's office for a private chat.
After that meeting, Norwood announced he had
switched to the president's position on protect-
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ing HMOs from litigation—effectively selling
out not only the people who had suffered at the
hands of HMOs, but his buddies in Congress who
thought Charlie was going to vote with them on
a strong patients' bill of rights.
You have to figure that if Norwood would
flip so quickly on an issue he thought was so
important, then he must re
ally like this Bush guy. And
you'd be right. It was Bush,
however, who had Norwood
fussing and fuming during
that hearing in Gainesville.
The reason? Illegal immigra
tion. Norwood and his House
colleagues have passed tough
anti-immigrant legislation
that would make it a felony
* offense for an immigrant
to reside illegally in this
country. The U.S. Senate has
taken Bush's position on the
issue and passed a more le
nient bill that would provide
a path to citizenship for un
documented aliens.
Norwood acted as if Bush
had personally dumped a
large bag of manure in his
lap by supporting that Senate
bill. "It is the worst piece of
legislation I've seen in 12
years in the United States
House of Representatives,"
Norwood seethed. "You can rest assured it is not
going to become law. We need to secure the bor
ders—I mean, shut her down, folxs."
"I love my president, but he's wrong about
this," Norwood said, making the ultimate break
with Bush. Norwood's angry outburst shows how
explosive the immigration issue has become in
Georgia, almost to the exclusion of everything
else. Voters in the rest of the country seem to
be most alarmed about the progress of the war
in Iraq and the need to start thinking about a
withdrawal of the troops. Connecticut Sen. Joe
tieberman learned firsthand just how volatile
this issue can be when he lost his Democratic
primary. In Georgia, the war seems almost an
afterthought. If you want to get a politician's
blood boiling in this state, just mention the word
"immigration" and get out of the way.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, who used to be one of
the most mild-mannered, moderate Republicans
you would ever meet, has also become a raging
bull on the immigration issue. Isakson fought
against passage of the Senate bill and, like
Norwood, insists there can be no discussion of
any amnesty or guest worker program until the
border is first locked down.
In their anger, of course, these congressmen
still are not dealing with the paradox at the
heart of the immigration issue: although they
want to send illegal immigrants back across the
border, Georgia's economy depends on the con
tinuing influx of these workers. In Gainesville,
for instance, where Norwood was holding his
hearing, the poultry industry would collapse if
not for the supply of cheap Mexican labor.
One of the witnesses invited to Norwood's
hearing was Gary Black, the Republican nominee
for agriculture commissionei. Black was very
careful to say that he opposed illegal immigra
tion and amnesty for undocumented aliens
now working in this country, but he noted that
farmers, who comprise a vital part of the state's
economy, need to be able to hire immigrant
workers to get their crops harvested.
"A properly documented workforce is critical
to the success of Georgia's agricultural com
munity," Black said. "When the supply of labor
is exhausted, as it is in many agricultural areas,
someone must step forward and do these jobs."
Black's testimony was quickly passed over
so that everyone could get back to complaining
about unsecured borders, but his point remains
unchallenged. You can't boot out all the immi
grants and have a healthy economy at the same
time. Someday, if everybody can just calm down,
maybe we can find a way to work out a solution
to that.
Tom Crawlord !aawtord@capilolimpact net
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