News Briefs

Fayetteville's

government has started the process of rezoning a

small parcel of land to a residential category, which

would reverse an earlier decision to change its

zoning to office-institutional.

Council

rezoned a small portion of the Landrum property on Ga.

Highway 54 east of town to O-I after an agent for the

owners said the plan was to operate an accounting office

in a small house on the land.

But city

manager Mike Bryant said the city has cited the owners

twice since the rezoning because they are parking dump

trucks and other vehicles on the site, and that's not

allowed under the new zoning.

The owners

have gotten a restraining order to stop the city from

issuing any more citations until the older ones are dealt

with in court.

City

Council Monday voted unanimously to start the process of

reversing their earlier decision and rezoning the

property for residential use.

It takes $293.80 a year

for every man, woman and child in Fayette County to operate

the county government . And that's about 30 percent

less than in most counties.

Statewide,

the average is $398.96 per capita, according to a recent

report from the state Department of Community Affairs.

The report

also reveals that Fayette is spending only $21.25 per

capita for capital expenditures, compared with $379.88

statewide.

The numbers

are great news for Fayette officials, though County

Commission Chairman Harold Bost pointed out that once the

county's jail and courthouse projects get cranked up, the

capital projects costs will rise a bit.