The Fayette County Board of Commissioners approved two rezonings during an otherwise light agenda at its Mar. 24 regular meeting.
Property owners Gary and Kaora Sloan requested rezoning from A-R to O-I for 1.50 acres fronting on Hwy 74 to construct an office building. Their agent, Mark Whitley, addressed the board and stated that the Sloans’ complete tract is nearly eight acres and they wished to use this front portion for a building for their own home inspection business, with plans to eventually build a home on the remaining land.
The request, which was in compliance with the county’s land use plan, had previously been approved by county staff as well as the Planning Commission with no recommended conditions. There was no public comment either for or against it.
Commissioner David Barlow recused himself from the vote, saying that he is a “pretty good acquaintance” of Sloan. The motion to approve the request included an amendment mandating the continuation of sidewalks in development on both parcels, and the property owners agreed to this. The motion was approved 4-0.
Morris E. Lewis Jr. requested rezoning from A-R to R-70 for 2.15 acres on Wagon Wheel Trail to develop a single-family residential subdivision. Staff and the Planning Commission recommended a single condition involving a quit claim deed for 30 feet of right-of-way but otherwise recommended approval.
Lewis told the board he simply wants to sell a portion of his property and that will allow him to build his wife’s dream house. There was no public comment for or against, and the request was approved 5-0.
The meeting’s other public hearing involved the transfer of an existing 2016 Retail Alcohol, Beer and Wine License from Nouman Chaudhry to Sajan Paul Chirauil and Abraham M. Kalathil, doing business as St. Mary’s BP, LLC, which is located at 1866 Hwy. 85 North in Fayetteville. It was approved 5-0 without comment from the board or the public.
There was no old business or new business on the agenda for the meeting, so the only other matter to be voted on was the consent agenda. One item was removed and discussed individually: approval of staff’s recommendation to enter into an independent contractor agreement with Pete Nelms to provide grant management services. That was approved with some minor administrative changes.
The consent agenda included approval to continue the agreement between Fayette County and Georgia Emergency Management-Homeland Security as outlined in the Statewide Mutual Aid and Assistance Agreement, as well as approval of the Water Committee’s recommendation to reimburse Liston Garland $1,076 for landscaping on his property due to damage from a water main break and delegate the authority for the Water System Director to settle damage related claims against the Water System up to $2,000 with the Water Committee’s approval.
One local resident speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting pointed out a major issue in her neighborhood. Shirley Kilgore, on behalf of the Country Lake homeowners association, said a giant sinkhole has formed on Morning Springs Walk in the Fayetteville community and needs county attention.
“It was small, maybe a few feet across, when it first formed last year,” she said. “Now you can fit a bus into it.”
The culprit is a storm drain pipe at the street, Kilgore said, and the problem will continue to grow especially during times of heavy rain. Some residents are afraid to even drive around the hole, she added.
“The cost to repair it is exorbitant,” she said. “We are looking at bids but we are also appealing to the county for any kind of assistance and to find out if this is a county matter.”
Commissioner Charles Rousseau stated during the commissioners’ comment period that he had been to the site and is looking into what the possibilities are regarding county assistance.
In other business, Chairman Charles Oddo said that there are two open positions to be filled on the Fayette County Development Authority. He also took pleasure in announcing that the dredging of Lake Peachtree had concluded earlier that day, and his words were met with some applause by those attending the meeting.
“As we speak, the lake is filling up,” he said. “There is some work left to do outside the lake, but not inside the lake.”
