Public hearing opened for hunting-camp conditional-use permit at 468 Manta Rd

The Commission of the Unified Government of Cusseta-Chattahoochee County opened a public hearing March 3 on a conditional-use permit (CUP) application from Jose Perez to establish a hunting camp at 468 Manta Rd, a roughly 534.70-acre parcel in an A1 zoning district.

Jose Perez (the applicant) told the commission he "has been at this location for 14 years, he was not aware they needed a cup and now that he knows, he is getting one. Thanked the Commission, he told Mr. Robertson he went and got the stands off his property he told him about." Resident Al Robertson opposed the permit, saying hunters had trespassed and that the camp could reduce the marketability of his nearby 20-acre tract: "they have trespassed on his property and he isn't sure if they know where they are even shooting at. He wants to be able to develop his land and put housing on it, and he isn't sure if it will sale with the hunting camp behind it."

County Manager Thomas Weaver confirmed county staff had worked with a timber company and the property representative to address sanitation and site conditions; "Previously there was sewage on the ground, and Mr. Perez cleaned it up in a timely manner." Commissioners and the county attorney discussed whether a hunting camp is properly regulated by the CUP ordinance or would be better covered under a separate permitting process. Planning & Zoning had postponed its recommendation until April; Chairman Charles Coffey said health, noise and waste-disposal requirements must be met before the commission acts.

Because Planning & Zoning had not issued a recommendation, the commission did not decide the CUP at the March 3 meeting and instead deferred further action pending the April Planning & Zoning report and any required health-department clearances.