VALDOSTA – More than 120 Lowndes County residents have signed a petition to keep Dollar General away from their rural community.

Residents voiced their opposition to the proposed development of a new Dollar General on Highway 122 at Skipper Bridge Road at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission meeting last month.

Teramore Development, the retail real estate company behind the project, has requested to rezone three acres of the 35-acre subject property from Estate Agricultural to Crossroads Commercial.

J.D. Dillard, director of planning, noted in his write up that the TRC made no objectionable comments about the request and planning staff found it consistent with the county comprehensive plan and recommended approval.

Bill Nijem, attorney at Langdale Vallotton, spoke in favor of the request and told commissioners that the developer is “sensitive” to the rural area and plans on accommodating that as much as possible, and the current site plans are not set in stone.

Peter Schoenauer, president of Tidewater Engineering, also spoke in favor of the request, saying the company will address the access point and do its best to minimize negative impact on the environment.

Gretchen Quarterman was the first resident to speak against the request, stating she didn’t need a Dollar General within 2.5 miles from her home when there are several Dollar Generals within a five- to seven-mile radius.

Becky Rowntree Harris said the community has no interest in trading “convenience” for “peace.”

“We appreciate the trees, the wildlife and the privacy, and I don’t think you all would find anybody out here that wants this,” she said.

Six other Skipper Bridge residents followed them, all expressing similar concerns of what the commercial development would do to the surrounding wetlands, with the planned site being a short distance uphill from the Withlacoochee River.

After hearing all sides, the GLPC voted to recommend denial 7-1.

In an interview with The Valdosta Daily Times, John Quarterman, Suwannee Riverkeeper of the WWALS Watershed Coalition, said while the vote is a step in the right direction, the community still has to keep fighting the development until the Lowndes County Commission makes a final decision during the Dec. 13 meeting.

He encourages residents to write and call their district’s commissioner. He added the river already has problems with contamination after big rains, resulting in an ongoing WWALS upstream river and creek testing program.

“Adding a fast-food business there would add more contamination from construction, cars, and of course trash. We spend enough time already cleaning beer cans, plastic water bottles and styrofoam cups out of the Withlacoochee River. We don’t need more trash and other contamination upstream,” he said.

“Look, if we wanted to live in Atlanta, we’d move there. That Dollar General gets built, what’s the next step? Then the other 112 acres on that property? They’ll want to develop that. and also other properties nearby will want to put in subdivisions or more stores, and what if that thing gets in there? It’s a foothold to develop in that whole area. and that has adverse effects on everything.

“I just mentioned the forest through the agriculture and watersheds and of course, the peaceful way of life here. We don’t need more of that by the Withlacoochee River.”

Quarterman said the area from Skipper Bridge to Cat Creek Road is supposed to be for forestry and agriculture, per the Lowndes County Comprehensive Plan, and the plan protects agriculture, forestry, wildlife, hunting, fishing and drinking water.

“In economic terms, sprawl far from existing services causes more school bus runs, deputy sheriff calls and fire department visits, which can never be paid for by property taxes. Trees don’t go to school and don’t call the sheriff or the fire department,” he said.

“People in subdivisions do. Unless you’re building million dollar houses in each lot in the subdivision, which they’re not, they will not recover that kind of cost from property taxes. So the farther out you sprawl, the more it’s a net loss for the tax digest at the county, which is subsidized by everybody else,” he said.