Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Use topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Valdosta council tables conditional-use request for Bemis Road warehouse after residents oppose
Summary
After a 15-minute public hearing with business supporters and nearby property owners opposing a proposed 4,400-square-foot accessory warehouse, the Valdosta Mayor and Council voted to table the conditional-use permit request for further consideration and to revisit it at the next council meeting.
Valdosta’s Mayor and Council on May 7 tabled a conditional-use permit request for a proposed freestanding warehouse on a small wooded tract near Bemis Road after neighbors and area property owners raised concerns about compatibility with an established medical and professional corridor.
Planning Director Matt Martin told the council the request was for a single accessory storage building, not to exceed 4,400 square feet, to serve a business at 2122 Bemis Road. Staff and the planning commission recommended approval subject to nine conditions, including no outdoor storage, architectural accents on facades, downward-directed lighting and a two-year initial-use expiration if a building permit is not issued.
Project engineer Bill Kent said he was there to answer technical questions about access and the development, and David Frazier, an employee at Powerhouse Outdoor Equipment, said the facility would allow the company to store inventory and protect equipment from weather. “Being able to get these machines out of the weather is a huge deal for us to make sure we can keep our machines in good shape,” Frazier said.
Opponents argued the Coward Avenue corridor is primarily medical and ancillary uses and that a warehouse would introduce an industrial character. “The applicant’s proposed use of an industrial warehouse would expand industrial use into an interior corridor that is neither compatible nor harmonious with [the existing] use,” said Bill Broadfoot, who said nearly every parcel on Coward Avenue submitted letters opposing the permit.
Council members asked staff to clarify the parcel’s distance from the applicant’s main business and the limits of CH (Commercial Highway) zoning. After discussion, a council member moved to table the item for further consideration and to place it on the council agenda for May 21; the motion was seconded and carried by show of hands.
Next steps: the council will revisit the conditional-use permit at the May 21 meeting, where the item may be amended, debated further, or placed for a final vote.
