VALDOSTA — An applicant’s request for a special exception for a small horse boarding facility met with unanimous approval from the Lowndes County Board of Commissioners during their Tuesday meeting.

The vote to grant Amanda Leverett Adamski’s request will allow her to operate a business boarding horses and offering riding lessons.

However, Adamski must submit to another hearing to deal with the issue of her barn’s proximity to a bordering residence. Requirements dictate 100 feet must separate the two entities. Commissioners informed Adamski before approving her request that she must seek a variance in connection with the barn, which is 86 feet from a neighboring residence.

The vote to approve came after an hour and a half public hearing in which opponents of the riding facility and supporters weighed in.

Opponents voiced concerns about flies and the potential for horse manure contaminating neighboring wells. Brown Road can’t handle the heavier volume of traffic that a business in the residential area would bring, said one neighbor.

Addressing Commissioners, Adamski countered that flies are not a problem on her property because of the special care she takes with her horses. Veterinarian Billy Blair from Jennings, Fla., confirmed that Adamski is conscientious about keeping her animals vaccinated and dewormed.

Adamski intends to house less than 10 horses with the boarding facility, and wanted to make a profit from her hobby. Because of concerns raised from some Brown Road residents about Eastern Equine Encephalitis, Commissioners had invited entomologist Dr. Mark Blackmore to speak as a neutral party on the issue.

Infected mosquitoes spread EEE to birds. Humans and horses are incidental infections, and horses are not part of the propagation cycle. “Horses are a dead end for EEE,” Blackmore said, explaining that horses don’t spread the disease to people.

Lucious Moore, one of the Brown Road residents opposed to the business, said the matter didn’t revolve around the EEE question. Allowing a business in a residential area goes against Lowndes County’s zoning regulations, Moore argued.

In other business, Commissioners unanimously approved allowing the construction of Georgia Military College at the northwest corner of Forrest Street and Mount Zion Church Road.