County holds public hearing concerning amendments to various ordinances
The Gordon County Board of Commissioners heard from several residents concerning amendments for the ordinances of backyard chickens, grass and weeks and indoor shooting ranges at the most recent commission meeting held Tuesday, Aug. 2.
Some discussion has been held concerning updating the ordinances, with suggestions of yard grass being kept at 12 inches or lower in height, a change in the acreage to keep backyard chickens from five acres to two acres and noise reduction and other safety concerns of indoor shooting ranges.
Diane Lanier, of 347 South Sequoyah Circle, told the Board that she had read the ordinance amendments online and that the Board had “done a wonderful job.“
“I was ecstatic,” said Lanier. “Finally, we have some clarity here and some hope for improvements.”
Lanier felt the Board should add more to the ordinance amendments. For the grass ordinance, Lanier felt that limbs should be added to the ordinance because her neighborhood has many downed limbs. In regards to trash and garbage in the yards, she questioned if the Board should add open carports to the language as well. “We have a lot of open carports and people that use their carports for nothing but garbage and trash, and it’s just so cluttered up.”
Lanier also felt that instead of having two acres for backyard chickens, the acreage needed to be increased to three acres and that all coups be located in the backyard of residences, not the sides or front yards. “I’m looking to downsize the number of coups we have in the county,” said Lanier. “You can’t expect these people who have chickens to have these clean, proper coups because it’s not going to happen, I’m afraid.”
Scott Workman of 147 Cindy Lane, addressed the Board concerning the indoor shooting range ordinance and whether the current indoor range at Tactical Guns and Ammo, located on Lovers Lane near his home, would be grandfathered into any amendment to the ordinance.. “This has basically been an underground shooting range,” Workman said. “The feds, the state have no acknowledgement of this, really, as a shooting range; as a gun store, yes, but not as a shooting range. You can reasonably argue there was deception in the business licensethe nature of business, retail sales; what type of work, retail sales. This whole big draw is the gun range to draw people in to buy the ammo and buy the guns.”
“We support the indoor shooting range amendment that you have, but what grounds do you have if ( the gun range) is not grandfathered in,” said Workman. “I ask for your consideration to have it grandfathered in.”
Commissioner Norris Sexton was the only Board member who spoke concerning the ordinances, to let his fellow Commissioners know where he stands on the subject.
“I hope we can come together expeditiously and have a vote on these amendments,” said Sexton. Concerning the backyard chicken ordinance, Sexton told the Board he was “OK with the two acre deal or to leave it like it is now. I would like to change one word in the ordinance- contained ( instead of fenced). ( For the chickens ) to be contained. If they want to be loose, that is fine with me as long as there are stipulations they have to be contained and not just in a fence.
“The second one is on this grass height,” said Sexton. “We have some of the most lax ordinances of any county. Also, as I read about those that sell and buy property; just this week, I read that one of the greatest things that will hold property value is curb appeal. A nice yard will bring more dividends to the value of the property than doing an upgrade on the inside in most cases. My concern is, it’s not only one house, but it’s the whole area that it affects and takes away from the sale value if you need to sell your property. It will certainly cut down on the value you can get for it if it was kept up. My deal is not to take somebody’s free- dom away concerning their property, my situation is I want to protect them and make sure they get the right value for their property if they were to want to sell it. I recommend going with the 12 inch height. I’ve got confidence in our ordinance person and I assure you that he’s not going to be walking around in yards with a 12- inch tape.”
C o u n t y Administrator John King reported that sales tax revenue was down slightly in July compared to July 2015. Gordon County received $ 468,438 in Local Option Sales Tax revenue and $ 671,612 in Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax revenue. This was a decrease of 4.58 percent in LOST funds and a 4.56 percent decrease in SPLOST funds compared to July 2015.
King also addressed the Commissioners concerning the Gordon County Government Plaza, formerly the BB& T Building in downtown. The building access ramp concrete has been poured and handrails are pending installation. Interior framing is underway and under- ground sewer lines are being replaced.
An agreement to purchase three new fire trucks with 2012 voter approved SPLOST funds was presented to the Board and approved. The new fire trucks are expected to be delivers within 12 months.
The new phone system is now in place at E911. According to King, the County continues to work with AT& T to make final adjustments to voice quality and volume on the center’s administrative and trunk lines.
King told the Board that the initial design documents for the renovation of the Ranger Fire Station are being coordinated between the Fire Department and the Building Inspector. Four firefighter candidates have been tentatively selected pending initial employee screening.
The next meeting of the Gordon County Board of Commissioners will be held on Tuesday, Aug.. 16 at 6 p. m. at the County Administration Building located at 201 North Wall Street in Calhoun.