John Sell White County Community and Economic Development Director explains proposed changes to White County Code
(Cleveland)- The White County Planning Commission heard from citizens Monday night about some changes proposed to the existing Official Code of White County.
A small crowd attended the public hearing that was held at the White County Senior Center, to get feedback from the public. Five people addressed the commission to express their views.
Planning Commission Chairman Charlie Thomas said, “ They had opportunity to voice their opinions tonight, I think I did hear they didn’t feel they had enough time with the document in advance but you heard what Mr. Sell said, it’s been out there for thirty days on the website it’s been on the radio, it’s been in the paper.”
Most of the changes to the code deal with land use specifically short-term rentals. A major proposal is to not allow short-term rentals in a subdivision unless there are covenants that allow it. And if the property is not in a subdivision and the property is classified as A-1, R1-or R3 the approval for short-term rental will be made by administrative staff if they meet the requirements. That means citizens would not be allowed to express their views about the change. 
That caught the attention of Chairman Thomas, “The biggest thing I heard tonight was the one lady that voiced the opposition of not having public hearings for the short-term rentals outside of subdivision you know, it’ll be an administrative process if this passes I mean this hasn’t passed yet,” commented Thomas.
The planning commission will discuss the issue further before making a recommendation to the county commission board, the commissioners have announced they will hold a public hearing about it on December 4 at 4 PM.
Do not be fooled. The proposed amendments to the White County Code in the introduction by Director John Sell did not disclose that there were private and unannounced meeting(s) with commercial interests BEFORE the planning commission hearing on November 20th. None of those who participated in the secretive open discussion meeting with county officials appeared at the November 20th public hearing because they already had unrestricted access and interests that were conveyed in the private meeting. Those interests were intended to influence the new ordinances and the transfer of power to administrative departments and personnel in order to speed up the STR process.
The department heads and personnel take NO OATH OF OFFICE and are not bound thereby. The private backroom meeting invitation was extended by County Manager Billy Pittard. According to the source, new county manager Pittard invited select commercial interests. An email by an attendee further disclosed information about that private backroom meeting.
The subsequent amended ordinance was obviously to preserve and protect the interests of the real estate companies, associations, and agents, short term rental hosts, conditional use property owners, and businesses engaged in interstate and international short term rental listings, bookings and reservations. The proposed amendments include a grandfather clause protection for all prior short term rental permits whether or not they were obtained and issued in compliance with current state and local laws.
In addition, the principal administrative officials involved in the closed and by invitation only meeting(s) and communication(s) are seeking to expand the powers of their administrative offices of the White County Director of Economic Development John Sell and that of Harry Barton, Planning Director. John Sell is also Chairman of the Georgia Mountain Regional Commission. The proposed ordinance streamlines licensing approval while eliminating public hearings for concerned and impacted citizens and property owners. Those interests and concerns include adverse and secondary effects on neighboring property owners from short term rental operations and developments. (White County Code Appendix C Article VII Section 700).
In a nut shell, the proposed conjured ordinance protects certain commercial interests while running over other citizen substantive rights and interests. Under the proposed amendment, the citizens and property owners in White County have no right or interest in the “health, safety, morals and general welfare” as required by current state and local law.
It is reasonably well known that realtors were selling real property in White County well above the asking price for properties that were eligible for short term rentals and tourism enterprises. Could the real estate companies and agents be liable for misrepresentation of real property as being eligible for STR conditional use permitted businesses? There are only two elements that must be looked at in this proposed amendment ordinance matter and those are (1) who gets the power? (2) and who gets the profit? and a cut in the commercial transactions. Upon inquiry, none of the Planning Commission members were invited to the private backroom open discussion where no 3 minute time restrictions were placed upon the participants.
It is disgusting for White County to make commercial decisions about the Community of Sautee Nacoochee that will effect the lively hood of the residents, forest ,nature and wildlife. This is the country that we live and love. Plenty of peace, nature and quiet at people move here for. We don’t need more destruction, crime and noise. My family have owned this property for 41 years. It is my retirement home . Keep it peaceful.
Don’t forget about the litter, traffic, loss of neighborhood watch in rural areas, where police patrols are scant. I am sure you won’t see Community and Development Director John Sell or County Manager Billy Pittard or the county commissioners out picking up garbage or providing alternate security in rural areas of White County. They are too busy raking in the cash to feed their urbanization commercial development plans for White County. Input from the peanut gallery will not be allowed. Only special interest groups will be invited.
The litter along Helen Highway has grown exponentially over the last 4 to 5 years. When they collect the litter, it fills up a trailer until it is also nearly overflowing. It’s becoming embarrassing to see so much litter.
White County residents have a right to decide what our communities look like. While we know that the county loves the tax dollars we receive from tourism, is it worth what we are paying to get them?
There is no reason to hide this approval process from the eyes of the residents. The administrative staff are not elected and the residents will have no way to appeal their decisions, let alone be heard.
It’s really unfortunate that there are no public comments during the approval process at the County Commission meeting. Many other jurisdictions allow this because it gives the residents a chance to directly address the issue with their elected representatives PRIOR to a vote.
If a property is zoned for STR, doesn’t this drastically increases the property value of the property since it generates a revenue stream?
And if so, should it not be taxed at a much higher valuation?
Have either of you ladies ever been to a short term rental property? Do you realize that most of the people who rent these units are professionals that need peace and little noise? My grandparents rented out a room in their home to supplement their income. Of course that was a hundred years ago and back then what a person did on their own property to survive was not the neighbors business unless it was illegal and few people made comments if it was a little shine. I have had the pleasure of being in a short term rental. Loved it. It was clean, beautiful, and had a full kitchen if you had a special diet or special needs. It had a washer and dryer and even an iron. There was no road traffic to speak of and you could get a lot of work done. It had computer access and a a tv. You were not interrupted by noise in a hallway or a neighbor yelling. With our economy if a person has the ability to earn extra money from their property I say more power to them. We have so many negative things piled onto every topic and I choose to say positive things when it applies. I highly recommend short term rentals and appreciate that the extra income is a blessing for those providing this service. There is one on my road and there is no trash, crime or noise. I think they are a blessing for the owners and the people staying in them. No one on our road has had any complaints that I am aware of.
Mary Jo have you need to the planning meetings and BOC meetings and heard all the complaints and seen pictures of the environmental issues that these STR INVESTORS are causing? Or are you just going off of your own selfish opinion? I have stayed in STRs for work when traveling too. Just because you don’t cause a ruckus doesn’t mean the next won’t. And when the STR destroy the adjacent properties and pay off county officials to do what ever they want it also a huge issue. There have been several court cases in this county now about this. But if you just go rent a nice quiet STR and never get involved in what is issues are happening to your neighbors then it all seems just fine cause your head is buried in the sand. Many many of us were for some of these STRs until the lies by the owners and the county happened and now the ones that voted for STRs and back at meetings wanting to know why drunk people are wander around on their porch at 2 AM trying to unlock a door to the house they rented but Dom know where it is. Shining lights in your windows at all hours of the night. Messing with people’s livestock. The blotter report even shows where one STR group was target practicing with the 9mm pistols while shooting at the propane tank for the cabin. Cause they didn’t know what it was. The neighbors called on them cause the bullets bounced off and went in the neighbors cabin. Luckily no one was killed! What’s your address? I will give it to these investors at their next class that the local realtors have in Atlanta for recruiting these investors and they can gobble up the property next to yours since you like them so much and there are clearly no issues. But yeah, STRs look amazing when one is looking at them with their head in the sand!
And what are the adverse secondary effects of STRs that are recognized by the White County Code? Numerous communities around the country including New York City, Bozeman, Montana, Summit County Colorado, and others are having significant problems not only with STR occupancies, but with the interstate and international short term rental listings, bookings and reservation enterprises. As the old saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Rights and liberties have reciprocal obligations and ARE NOT UNLIMITED.
I am the owner of rural agricultural property in the county. That property is located only a short distance from one of the wineries which has multiple short term listings and buildings on it with more in construction. I can hear the partying during the day and until way into the night. The road through the farm has a constant supply of litter that has included liquor bottles, beer cans and even hypodermic needles. The traffic through the farm has increased significantly. Much of that traffic is doing well over the speed limit and has been repeatedly observed passing on double yellow lines, at the top of hills, on blind corners, and even over Town Creek bridge on Adair Mill Road. This activity and abuse is an endangerment to the rural inhabitants on the rural road and to farm equipment and operators.
I also had another short term rental developer attempt to build and operate a short term rental facility on adjoining property located in a subdivision with protective covenants. That developer and White County officials circumvented and evaded numerous existing ordinances and the State law. As a result, it ended up in litigation in Superior Court where a permanent injunction and a contempt order subsequently was issued against the commercial development and developer.
Helen has over 2000 STRs in its tourist and party city limits. As can be readily seen, Helen has lost its rural culture and character and has over-run its natural resource base. Helen also has problems keeping track of rentals and transparency with those enterprises.
Gentrification and urban sprawl include the expansion of short term rentals in numerous areas where tourism is the focus of development and revenue. The cultures, customs and traditions of those areas were SYSTEMATICALLY RUINED AND RUN OUT. I can read the same rhetoric on the United Nations Tourist Organization website. Reality on the ground and as to the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the local people is a ANOTHER STORY. It’s ALL FOR THE MONEY is short sighted and myopic.
I attended a Planning Commission meeting in October for a rezoning hearing. I sat through and listened to the comments made by many people opposing rezoning requests for STRs. There is a significant difference between renting a room out in your house and renting an entire house in a subdivision to a group for a few days or a week. A homeowner renting out a bedroom in their house is present during the guest’s stay. The guest is unlikely to do anything to disturb neighbors. An STR in a subdivision where the entire house is rented is a different story, and those were presented at the hearings I attended. Loud parties were a common problem expressed by the opposition. Increased traffic, parking that blocked access to driveways, and people knocking on doors and windows in the middle of the night because they were lost.
Someone stated here that the county should not have the right to tell property owners what they can and can’t do with their property to make money. I wonder if this person would oppose a large factory being built on the property around them.
The fact is that we all buy property with limited rights.
The county is granting some property owners additional rights to allow short-term rentals. They are effectively changing the laws for some but not all of us.
They are changing the laws for anyone who has property in A-1, R-1, R-2, and R-3 zoning areas. STRs have been removed from conditional use which requires Notices and Public Hearings. Under these amendments, administrative officials no longer have to give notice to the neighborhood community. It is important to remember that these amendments do not limit the number of short-term rentals in RURAL White County. The proposed amendments only limit the number of licensed hosts. A host can have multiple rental units.