On the LAKE Front

Some answers and some remaining questions about the Comprehensive Plan

When I spoke at the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) about the Short Term Work Projects (STWP) document on Monday, November 28th, I had questions about several sections, and many of the deleted or modified items. The next day I met with Lowndes County Planner Jason Davenport to discuss my questions. Some of my questions were answered to my satisfaction, some I still had concerns about, and some are still unanswered because they were not actually in his area of expertise.

The document covers all the cities in Lowndes County as well as the unincorporated area. I did get some questions about Valdosta projects answered by Valdosta City Planner Matt Martin in a telephone conversation.

Questions I had about Conservations of Sensitive Areas were answered in detail. For example:

Video playlist, GLPC 28 November 2011

Here's a video playlist for the entire Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC) Regular Session of 28 November 2011. We've already blogged a couple of them separately:

• Don't we still need farmers to feed us? —Gretchen Quarterman
• We're not done working on this —Jason Davenport

And we'll probably blog more of these videos separately. But you don't have to wait.

Here's the playlist:

Video playlist, GLPC 28 November 2011
Comprehensive Plan,
Regular Session, Greater Lowndes Planning Commission (GLPC),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 28 November 2011.
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

We're not done working on this —Jason Davenport @ GLPC 28 November 2011

Continuing the Comprehensive Plan Short Term Work Program (STWP) updates, the chairman asked if the board was ready

Lowndes County Planner Jason Davenport responded:

We're not done working on this. But if you think it's time to bring it before y'all.

Later, at about 11:40 in, Davenport clarified:

And the only that's different right now is Lowndes County. Because Lowndes County did not hold a public hearing as required, so we're on a different timeline. And if Mrs. Quarterman would have given me about until December 13th she would have seen that.

Because our initial resolution was not the same as the other communities. We're on a little bit of a different timeline because we have to address that issue. That's one thing; the county in this instance will be handled a little different than some of the smaller cities and Valdosta.

That would be the initial resolution the county did not provide in response to an open records request about the draft the county did not publish as required by the state. If the county had answered questions weeks ago, instead of waiting until they had to do makeup homework, nobody would have had to ask about it at that GLPC meeting....

Anyway, the County Planner has said there will be a public hearing. However, remember it was the County Chairman who said that the public hearing item on the agenda was not really a public hearing. It's the Chairman, not the Planner, who sets the agendas for the County Commission. We'll see what's on the 13th December County Commission Agenda, and whether it really is handled as a public hearing in that meeting.

Then GLPC Board Member John Page expressed his concerns:

Don't we still need farmers to feed us? —Gretchen Quarterman @ GLPC 28 November 2011

What was it that the Lowndes County government didn't want its citizens to see in the draft it didn't publish and didn't provide in response to an open records request, and the hearing it didn't hold about its updates to the Comprehensive Plan? Could it be the many items the county is deleting, having to do with feeding seniors, health care, transportation, work ethics and life skills, environmental impacts, agriculture, wells, wetlands, and many other topics, some of which Gretchen Quarterman detailed to the Greater Lowndes Planning Commission yesterday?

After Valdosta and Hahira City Planner Matt Martin explained how all the local city governments had or were going to have hearings about their Comprehensive Plan Short Term Work Program updates, the GLPC Chairman asked if any citizens wanted to speak on that topic. One citizen did, Gretchen Quarterman. She apologized for missing the September GLPC meeting because she would have raised some of these issues then.

I have an appointment with [Lowndes County Planner] Jason [Davenport] tomorrow to address some of my questions.

But I want to let you know that at the County Commission did not hold a public hearing after the changes. I was at the [Valdosta] City Council meeting, and the City Council did hold a public hearing, but the County Commission did not.

And I believe that is in violation of DCA's guidelines. They sent a transmission letter that said they followed DCA's guidelines. DCA's guidelines say hold a public hearing. It was on the agenda, the public hearing, but no public hearing was held. So I didn't have an opportunity to see the document, or to comment, before the county sent it.

She said she would provide written comments to Jason the next morning, and asked if GLPC would like to hear some of them. They said they would, so she read some of them. For example:

In Section 1.3 it was struck from the document:

Ensure supporting senior services such as health care,