Zoning ordinance killed

A proposed zoning ordinance, which has been the hot topic at nine public hearings, appears to be dead, at least for now.
After scheduling a tenth and eleven hearing in Districts 4 and 5 at the request of Commissioners Al Ball and T.D. David, the Grady County Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to kill the proposed ordinance, which had been drafted by the Southwest Georgia Regional Commission and Grady County Planning Commission with revisions made by Grady County commissioners and County Attorney Kevin S. Cauley.
“We’ve had nine meetings in the county on this proposed zoning ordinance and at each one anyone interested, whether they live in the city or the county, could have attended. According to what I’ve seen, 90 percent are opposed to zoning. I thought we were holding these meetings to listen to the people. I’ve listened and I move not to implement zoning in the county,” Grady County Commissioner Charles Norton said.
Vice Chairman Billy Poitevint seconded the motion.
Commissioners David and Ball then made their case for holding the two additional hearings on the proposed ordinance, which commissioners had agreed to hold at their Feb. 21 meeting.
Ball said the board had decided to hold a series of public hearings to give “all” residents the opportunity to learn and comment on the ordinance. He insisted on reviewing the history of the ordinance and pointed out that the original proposal was to hold one meeting in each district, but that was later expanded to one at every fire station.
“We should be concerned with getting input from all county residents, whether they live in the city (of Cairo) or not. People in the city pay county taxes. City residents pay taxes which pays for the Volunteer Fire Department, which pays for Emergency Medical Service, which pays for the sheriff’s office and jail, which pays for roads and culverts and bridges to be replaced. I’m a county commissioner, not a city commissioner. I always try hard to represent the county, not just my district but all of the other districts as well,” Ball said.
The District 4 commissioner said he did not care whether the zoning ordinance passed or not, but he is strongly in favor of getting the input of “all citizens” of the county. “That is only fair and square,” he said.
Vice Chairman Poitevint said residents of Cairo 4 and Cairo 5 could have attended any of the nine scheduled hearings and he claimed he had to drive farther to attend than anyone in the city would have had to drive.
Commissioner David reflected on the Boston Tea Party prior to the American Revolution and said it was conducted because England was taxing the American colonies, who had no representation in the decision making on taxation.
“I’m the elected representative of my district, which is primarily the eastern half of Cairo. These people pay county taxes too,” David said.
David added, “I’m a Grady countian. Geographically, I live inside the city of Cairo, but it makes no difference to me. People need to have their say.”
The District 5 commissioner took issue with the timing of Commissioner Norton’s push to end the debate before the hearings in Districts 4 and 5 could be held.
“Charlie, you could have brought this up after any meeting. You had five meetings in your district and all we want is one,” David said then added, “the timing of it smells bad. We’d like for our people to have a chance to comment.”
Commissioner David also described the proposed ordinance as “flawed at best” and he said he would likely vote against it in a couple of weeks, but only after allowing the residents of his district to have the opportunity to give input.
“Zoning was originally brought up to protect agricultural land and secondarily, and harder to prove, to give a foundation here to attract new employers. To have a good, sound legal basis for them to come in and put their plant or business. That is the protection and advantage of zoning. I blame the five of us for not doing more work on this,” David said.
He recommended the commission rally together and examine existing regulations and work to better control industry and development and where it locates in the county.
“We need to have something, maybe not this ordinance. However, I do not want to abandon the opportunity to better ourselves and improve what people think about Grady County,” David said.
Norton responded to David’s comments by saying he offered his motion only after hearing from all residents of the unincorporated areas of the county. The District 2 commissioner said who paid what taxes and how much had nothing to do with the zoning issue.
Norton agreed with David the commission should review its existing special land use ordinance and strengthen it if necessary, but he was not interested in paying Southwest Georgia Regional Commission officials any more money to conduct public hearings on the matter.
“I’m ready to bury the hatchet on it right now,” Norton said.
With an apparent deadlock between the other four commissioners, Chairman Elwyn Childs presented his case for siding with Poitevint and Norton.
“When you run for office you tell the people that you will listen to them and represent them. I have been elected as the representative of District 1 and, except for Whigham, it is totally rural. I’ve got friends in Cairo and I hope I’ve got friends in the rural area, but I’m obligated as the commissioner for District 1 to communicate with the people of our district and I think I do so fairly well. I wanted the people to tell me what they thought about zoning. It’s not what Elwyn wants, it is what my district wants. Ninety-five percent, and I haven’t seen everybody, but of the ones who had the opportunity to attend these meetings, see me at the funeral home, at church or in restaurants or to call me at home have said no to zoning. Now, I understand why Commissioner David and Commissioner Ball wanted to have their own meetings, but to start with it was to have them in the rural areas most affected,” Chairman Childs said.
He added, “I’ve got to live with Elwyn and be able to sleep at night. The people in our district don’t want it. They’ve told me over and over and most say cut it off right now. I think a lot of the residents of the Cairo 4 and 5 districts, but our district has said no solidly and my vote has to be stop it right now.”
Commissioner Ball replied, “It’s obvious the votes are lined up to end it and I’m not voting yes because it would be unethical to do so without allowing my district to have a meeting. Even if I voted against the ordinance in the end, I could not ethically do so now.”
Commissioner David expressed his appreciation for the “heartfelt, well thought out” approach of the chairman, but he remind all of the board members of the oaths they took upon being sworn in as county commissioners. He said their allegiance was to every county resident and not just the residents of their district. “I admit I listen to the residents of my district first, but that document I swore to was for the good of ‘all people,’ it doesn’t say district 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. Let’s protect ourselves from what comes in here and I hope we will reread and reread provisions we already have and make sure they are enforced,” David said.
Chairman Childs thanked each of the commissioners and Grady County Clerk Carrie Kines for investing the time necessary to attend the nine public hearings. “They’ve taken a lot of abuse, but kind of like the lamb, they kept their mouths shut and just listened.”
Grady County Administrator Rusty Moye insisted the citizens of Grady County who attended the public hearings owe Grady County Code Enforcement Officer Larry Ivy an apology.
“He didn’t deserve the abuse he got,” Moye said and Childs agreed saying, “Larry was accused of a lot of things. Larry is not perfect, nobody is, but he does what this board asks him to. Larry doesn’t make regulations, he enforces the regulations this board makes.”
Following Tuesday’s action, the public hearings scheduled to be held on Thursday, March 22, at the Agri-Center and on Tuesday, March 27, at the Washington Middle School gym have been canceled.