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County meeting packed as citizens voice zoning concerns

Bulloch Commissioners meeting packed down the hall for neighborhood zoning changes
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The Bulloch County Commissioners regular meeting had a packed house Tuesday, August 2, 2022 evening for their packed zoning agenda.

A majority of the crowd stayed for zoning changes that were happening around their neighborhoods.

Public hearing for Zoning and Road Closure

Denied: Eagle Creek Construction submitted an application to rezone 42.5 acres from AG-5 (Agricultural 5 acres) to R-25 (Residential 25,000 sq. ft.) for the development of a single-family subdivision. The property is located at 6417 Arcola Road.

  • Six citizens signed up to speak on this item, many citing their concerns in increased traffic, lack of existing infrastructure, ambulance response times or problems with the area being a farming community.

"If you look at the map my farm is right across the fence," said farmer Dennis Akins. "I am concerned what kind of complaints I'm going to have from these 44 houses when I start farming and dust flies... or I spread my chicken manure."

Six women line up to speak out against a proposed 44-person neighborhood near their homes on Arcola Rd.
  • Bubba Hunt, owner of Eagle Creek Realty put in the application, saying new real estate would be good for the county to bring in people from out of state that are looking for a low cost of living.

Approved: Christopher F. Akins has submitted an application to rezone 172.29 acres from Highway Commercial to Light Industrial for the purpose of constructing two warehouses/logistics facilities with associated trailer parking. Property is located on Neville Dairy Road.

Approved: James H. & Jerry Rushing have submitted an application to rezone 19 acres from HC (Highway Commercial) to LI (Light Industrial ) for the purpose of constructing two warehouses/logistics facilities with associated trailer parking. The property is located at 135 Neville Dairy Rd.

  • The Neville family which has lived right next to the proposed site for generations spoke out against the construction with concerns about the building devaluing their property and the estimated 2,000 trucks per day washing out their roads. They were also concerned about sound and light pollution.
A satellite image shows the proposed structures along I-16.
  • The company will be paving the 700 ft patch of road that the trucks will use to get into the facility as part of some of the conditions.

Approved: Burktown LLC. developer of the Burktown Crossing subdivision is requesting a county streetlight tax district. Burktown LLC. proposes 81 lots at or near Hwy 80 and Burkhalter Road.

Approved: Caitlynn Hill has submitted an application for a conditional use to allow a manufactured home to be located on a HC (Highway Commercial) parcel. The property is located at 14839 Old River Rd.

Application withdrawn: Greg T. Sikes has submitted an application to rezone 75.7 acres from AG-5 (Agricultural 5 acres) to R-25 (Residential 25,000 sq. ft.) for the development of a single-family subdivision. The property is located on Slater Hagan Road.

Approved: Judy Williams and Lloyd & Lavinia Holllingsworth have submitted an application for a conditional use to allow an event venue. The properties are located at 1883 and 2503 Mill Creek Rd.

Deferred: Georgia Transmission Corporation has submitted an application for a conditional use to allow a commercial cryptocurrency mining operation. The property is located at 5634 Hwy. 119 North.

Approved: The Bulloch County Planning and Development Department proposes to amend Appendix C, Article 8, Section 802 of the Bulloch County zoning Code of Ordinances to allow Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment (except Automotive and Electronic) Sales, Repair and Maintenance use to be allowed in the Light Industrial (LI) zoning district and conditionally allowed in the Highway Commercial (HC) zoning district.

Application withdrawn:  Elizabeth C. Williamson has submitted an application for a conditional use to allow more than one principal building on a single lot. The property is located on GA Hwy 67 at I-16.

Approved: JCT Investments, LLC has submitted an application to rezone 10.62 acres from HC & R-40 to R-3 (15,000 sq. ft.) to allow multi-family residential development. The property is located at 6110 Burkhalter Road and 7360 Harville Rd.

Approved: Public Hearing and Resolution to abandon a portion of Randy Lowery Road.

  • A petition was submitted requesting that the Commissioners consider abandoning the road because the section of road didn’t get any traffic and became a spot for troublemakers

Items included in consent agenda

Approved: Accept a proposal to enter into Professional Services Agreement with BH3

  • BH3 will work with Hofstadter and Associates of Macon (water-sewer engineers) by providing a land use study to determine ideal location of wet utility infrastructure. BH3 will also provide additional services indicated in the proposal. The cost will not exceed $41,000. An opinion of probable cost is approximately $30,000 if virtual meeting options occur. To be paid for with ARPA revenue loss/water and sewer categories.

Approved: Accept a proposal to enter into Professional Services Agreement with Troutman Pepper Strategies.

  • Troutman will assist the county in state and federal appropriations advocacy, and for any state and federal executive or legislative interests. The proposed services are estimated to cost $10,000 per month to be paid for with ARPA revenue loss/water and sewer categories.

Approved:  Enter into a Joint Development Authority Intergovernmental Agreement

  • This agreement will reimburse infrastructure contribution costs from Bulloch County to the JDA for Hyundai economic development agreement incentive.

New business

Approved: Purchase of and repair of an ambulance

  • Custom Truck and Body Works can disassemble the wrecked ambulance chassis, purchase a new chassis, repair and reassemble the module for the ambulance that was involved in the motor vehicle collision on May 27, 2022.  It was found the chassis was a complete loss but the module was in relatively good shape.  A quote was obtained from Custom Truck and Body Works for the cost to place that unit back in service.  The quote was for $130,683.

Watch the meeting below: