VALDOSTA – The voices of Valdosta residents reached the ears of Valdosta City Council earlier this month, as it denied two zoning requests. 

City Council denied the consideration of an ordinance rezoning 1.81 acres from single-family residential (R-6) and planned residential development (PRD-6) to multi-family residential (R-M).

The acres are located at 2584-2587 Marathon Drive and immediately south of Northside Drive. It was requested by Four Bee Development, LLC.

The Greater Lowndes Planning Commission recommended this be approved but it was denied by a 4-2 vote with Mayor Pro-Tem Tim Carroll and District 6 Councilman Andy Gibbs voting in favor.

District 1 Councilwoman Vivian Miller-Cody led the motion denying the zoning, saying that having apartments on top of apartments in that area could lead to higher crime.

The motion was also in response to the 11 community members opposed the zoning request during the council meeting.

James Miller, one of the community members, said there are issues in having another multi-family residential apartment complex in that area, which include:

– More oncoming traffic in an area with little to no sidewalks, thus creating a dangerous environment for people walking.

– Flooding from the nearby creek that’s less than 100 feet from the proposed area.

– The headwalls of the creek’s culvert is too close to the proposed property line.

– Irrigation of stormwater may cause issues to the foundation should there not be enough dirt to absorb water on the property.

“We’re asking you to vote no on this zoning request for this community based on the structural data that shows the danger of a multi-family development at this site,” Miller said.

Miller-Cody agreed with Miller on the traffic increase and the dangers that may stem from it. Most people in that area use a ditch to get to the local stores. There’s no sidewalk or anything for safer travel, she said.

City Council also denied an ordinance rezoning 2.69 acres from Office-Professional (O-P) to Community-Commercial (C-C), a request made by John Sineath for an apartment complex with spaces for commercial use (i.e. stores, restaurants, etc.).

The property is located at 3350 Country Club Road at the northeast corner of the intersection of Country Club Road and Noble Way.

Eighteen people came in opposition to this rezoning request. The biggest denominator in their disapproval of the request was the amount of traffic it may cause in the area.

Between the morning crowd of customers that go to Daylight Donuts and the continuous line of customers at Chick-Fil-A throughout the day, there could be traffic jams causing trouble for the many residents of the subdivisions along Country Club Road.

Gibbs motioned to approve the zoning request with no one seconding it, which led to the rezoning being automatically denied.

All other items on the agenda were approved including two other zoning requests.

One rezoned 8.76 acres from single-family residential (R-15), residential-professional (R-P) and highway-commercial (C-H) to C-C.

Morningside Baptist Church wants to consolidate its church properties into one zoned area similar to other churches in the city. It is located on 2604 Bemiss Road along the road’s west side between Northside Drive and Connell Road.

The other requested the rezoning of 0.34 acres from single-family residential (R-10) to office-professional (O-P), a request by Ron Borders.

Borders acquired the property, located at 1807 Green Circle, in January and is converting it to a professional office much like the adjacent properties, according to information provided by the city.

City Council approved the request for a letter of support and resolution to submit a low income housing tax credit application to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for an Affordable Housing Development Project.

The letter of support is being sent to Affordable Equity Partners which provides investment banking services for financing, building, purchasing or rehabilitating multi-family housing.

AEP is proposing a 60-unit senior community at 1600 Norman Drive called Perry Ridge to result from this approval.

The Community Development Block Grant Annual Action Plan for Fiscal Year 2021 was approved. The total projected allocation is $683,604.

This funding can be used for home rehabilitation and “ground up replacement of a substandard structure” but the largest allocation is for single unit residential rehabilitation, according to the request’s administrative comments.

The action plan must be submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development by May 15.

CIty Council made multiple appointments to the Public Art Advisory Committee, Valdosta Housing Authority, Valdosta-Lowndes County Airport Authority, Valdosta-Lowndes County Construction Board of Adjustments and Appeals, Valdosta-Lowndes County Parks and Recreation Authority and Valdosta-Lowndes County Zoning Board of Appeals.

These appointments include respectively:

– Adonna Smith, Bruce Smith, Al Turner

– DeShonda Jenkins

– Ronnie Pierce

– Dennis Carlton

– Dr. Alvin Payton Jr.

– Samuel Clemons.