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Ben Hill County approves nonconforming-lot variance for 1894 Lower Rebecca Road despite neighbors' objections
Summary
Ben Hill County commissioners voted April 5 to approve a nonconforming-lot variance for a 1.12-acre parcel at 1894 Lower Rebecca Road so the owner can sell it; nearby residents opposed the change and raised concerns about property values and potential crime.
Ben Hill County commissioners voted April 5 to approve a nonconforming-lot variance for property at 1894 Lower Rebecca Road, allowing owner Kaylyn Venteicher to sell a 1.12-acre parcel that does not meet current zoning frontage and acreage requirements. The motion passed with the majority of commissioners voting in favor and Commissioner Bennie Calloway recorded as opposed.
Building & Zoning Administrator Lawton Lovett told the board that the lot was surveyed at 1.12 acres and that the parcel’s configuration made it impossible to meet the earlier ordinance’s frontage requirement. He said the county’s zoning ordinance was revised in December 2021: General Farming lots changed from 1 acre with 300 feet of road frontage to 2 acres with 200 feet of frontage, which meant the parcel still required a variance under the new rules. Lovett described the situation as an inherited hardship and said accepting the lot as a legal nonconforming parcel would allow Venteicher to sell it.
During the public hearing, Kaylyn Venteicher asked the commission for a frontage and acreage variance so she could sell the property she inherited from her mother. Neighbor John Griffin said he opposed the variance, questioned historic acreage (saying the property had been part of a larger 4.2-acre parcel) and expressed concern about who might buy the lot and a possible increase in crime near his home. Frances Griffin Wall also said she opposed the variance and expressed worry that it could reduce her property’s value.
The board returned from the public hearing and approved the variance by motion. The minutes record the vote and note one commissioner opposed. The minutes also state Commissioner John Mooney was absent at the start of the meeting but record him participating in votes later in the document; the minutes themselves are inconsistent on his attendance. The commission did not attach additional conditions to the variance in the minutes.
The county clerk will record the approved variance on the parcel so it can be sold under the county’s nonconforming-lot rules.
