City Officer Honored by County Commission

Floyd County Commission Meeting September 25,2007.

PFC Matt Fowler of the Rome City Police Department was recognized at the Floyd County Commission Meeting this evening for his response to a County 911 call, even though it was out side of the City Limits. Pfc. Fowler was able to apprehend the murder suspect, disarm him, and prevent further tragedy.

Also attending tonight’s Floyd County Commission Meeting was Boy Scout Preston Luk, from Troop 4, a Freshman at Rome High School. Preston is working towards his Citizenship Merit Badge, on his quest to become an Eagle Scout.

On Second Readings:

1. A Special Use Permit was requested to construct single family, attached dwellings in an S-R, (Suburban Residential) zoning district off of Old Summerville Road. This request was considered earlier, but sent back to Planning Commission, since approval had earlier been based on a changed site plan. Mr. Jay Lumpkin addressed each of the concerns raised by neighbors during the last public meeting. Additionally, Mr. Lumpkin had compromised and had his site plan redrawn to include 18 buildings, with two units per building, down from 23 buildings, two units per building. The Special use Permit was approved with a conditional 10-foot hard wood buffer.

2. A request to change zoning from Suburban Residential to Multi-family Residential to construct duplexes on Todd Street was considered, and passed.

3. A Special Use Permit to allow placement of a new Manufactured Housing unit, and transform the old home in to storage at 209 Burr Road was approved, conditional on plumbing disconnection and front porch removal from the old unit, or complete removal of the old unit.

4. A rezoning request from H-TR,(High Density Traditional) to S-R, with Special Use Permit for a manufactured home on subdivision lot, located at 110 Chambers Mill Road was passed.

5. A request to rezone form S-R to D-R , (Duplex Residential), to construct duplex dwellings on property located at 156, 158,160 and 162 Shropshire Road was considered. Members of the Shropshire family, which has owned the property since 1929, spoke about how the family had improved the property for three quarters of a century, building a lake, and bringing in city water, and cable to the area, at their own expense.

Mr. Weed appeared to speak against the project, providing a petition with 116 signatures of persons he claims are neighbors in and around the Wilkerson Road area.

The County Commission denied the request, because, as Commissioner Whitefield stated, “I am a huge property rights advocate, but I am disinclined to utilized spot zoning for duplexes in what is primarily a Single Family dwelling area”.

6. A rezoning request on a site where construction of a convenience store had already been started at the corner of Fire Tower Road and East Heritage Road, because of a misunderstanding of the new agricultural building law, was considered. The request was approved, after the fact, with conditions which include filing a plat, getting building inspection approval for the site plan, install septic, and follow set back guidelines.

7. A Special Use Permit for in-door mini warehouses in a CC, (Community Commercial), zone of 3347-365 Martha Berry Highway. The Commission approved

The Special use Permit.

Also on Second Readings were two changes to the ULDC language were discussed, which would revise the lot dimensions and building height requirements for C-B-C, (Central Business Commercial), and U-M-U, (Urban Mixed Use) zoning districts.

During discussions, Planning Director Sue Hiller explained that originally building heights were set at a maximum of sixty feet, because fire truck ladders could only reach a 60 feet. However, fire ladders can now reach in excess of 80 feet, and so raising the height to 75 foot is feasible.

Both changes were approved.

In other business, the Fiscal Year 2007 Revised Budget was also approved.

A budget request was approved to purchase software which will combine the court and the jail computer systems.

A proposal by Mauldin & Jenkins for audit services for fiscal years 2007, 2008 and 2009 was approved.

An Authorization for the execution of an Agreement between Floyd County and the GaDOT to widen and reconstruct the Southwest Rome Bypass from the West Rome Bypass at CR 268 to SR 1 was approved.

Several work orders and contracts related to both the CVTC Avionics School construction, equipment for Emergency Management, as well as a decision to rescind the rezoning of the Berry Hill Landfill property were all passed.

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