White County Planning Commission Board
(Cleveland)- The residents of Ed Lewis Road in White County prevailed in their efforts to oppose having a Dollar General Store built in their neighborhood at the intersection of Highway 115 West and Ed Lewis Road.
Several of the same citizens who attended last week’s White County Planning Commission public hearing on this issue attended Monday night’s meeting where the commission voted 5-1 to deny a zoning change that would have allowed for the store to be built.
Charlie Stewart, a representative with the company that planned to build the store was also present as the board voted on the measure.
Board member Brad Ash made the motion to send a recommendation to the White County Commission Board to deny the change. The motion was seconded by Donna K. Burke.
Ash said he made the motion in order to preserve the integrity of the residential neighborhood, Burke commented “ I think the location of it and the neighborhood is not a good fit.”
R.K. Ackerman voted no for the motion.
Following the vote six area residents addressed the board and thanked them for their action.
The White County Board of Commissioners will have the final say on this issue. The commissioners are expected to have the item on their April 29th meeting agenda which begins at 4:30 PM.
Some citizens, including adjacent property owners, were not given the opportunity to speak or express their views and concerns at the Planning Commission Hearing on March 25th. Those wishing to make their concerns known to the Board of Commissioners can contact the county manager (through the county clerk, Shanda Murphy) by email, a minimum of 3 business days before the work session / meeting scheduled for the 29th. Request to be placed on the agenda pursuant to White County Code, Sec.2-43 Public Participation
(1) “Requests for agenda items. Members of the public may request that a particular subject be placed on the agenda for a meeting. To be considered, this request shall be submitted in writing to the county administrator and received at least three business days before the agenda work session.”
Ms. Stansel,
Can you explain why these citizens were not given an opportunity to speak? Including in the BOC Agenda is the following statement:
NOTE: In reference to land use agenda item (# here)– Georgia Zoning Procedures Law (O.C.G.A. 36-66-
1, et seq.) requires a public hearing be advertised and held prior to any proposed zoning decision with a
minimum of 10 minutes (per side) for both proponents and opponents to present data, evidence, and
opinion. This requirement was met for the following item at the public hearing held at the Planning
Commission Meeting. All information presented was then forwarded to the Board of Commissioners.
Each side is to get a MINIMUM of ten minutes. There is no maximum number of minutes stated. Exactly who is denying these residents any opportunity to speak out for or against a zoning case? While each side is guaranteed a minimum of 10 minutes and the amount of time given to one side must be given to the other side, more time can be allocated to both sides as long as both sides are offered the same amount of time.
Why are we silencing our citizens in so many venues within White County?