The Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission is seeking legal advice concerning a potential moratorium on vape shops.
P&Z Chair Jeane Easom said she’s consulted the other commissioners and they are asking attorney Pope Langstaff to look into whether they can limit the number of smoke shops opening in the community.
Sept. 8, commissioners denied DJ Vape and Smoke’s application for a 1,500-square-foot shop in the new Tipco convenience store building at 6011 Bethel Church Road.
The business partners have another vape shop about five miles away from that location.
During discussion in that meeting, both Easom and Commissioner Kesia Stafford raised health concerns about the products offered for sale at those establishments.
“I’m concerned about our young people today,” Easom said earlier this month.
At Monday’s meeting, commissioners deferred a decision on the proposed R-3 multi-family rezoning of 37.5 acres that are currently zoned agricultural in the 5400 block of Houston Road.
About a dozen neighbors turned out to oppose IronStone Consulting & Design’s plans to build 192 apartments in eight three-story buildings with driveways on Houston Road and Tinker Drive.
Commissioners deferred the matter after nearby residents raised concerns about high-density units, noise, increased crime, clear-cutting trees, potential for flooding and increased traffic on Tinker Drive.
Don Hall of Sam Hall & Sons said his company has been in business for 51 years on Tinker Drive and he does not believe the road is adequate for an influx of vehicles on top of the fire engines and emergency vehicles already headed to public safety training sites on the road.
“Tinker drive is a dead end road. There’s only one way in and out, and that’s right by the choke point where this rear driveway is shown,” Hall said. “And the road is not actually a road. It’s not designed to any standards of a road or a street. It’s only 19 feet wide, and anytime you meet another vehicle, one vehicle has to pull over and wait for the other to pass.”
IronStone’s Martin Kangiser said engineers would be working with the Georgia Department of Transportation and will do whatever is necessary to make the development viable.
While he had a preliminary layout for the complex, commissioners told him the creek on the property will require additional scrutiny from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and stormwater plans must be approved by the Macon Water Authority.
Rodney Hill lives on Tinker Drive right next to the proposed pool, clubhouse and mail kiosk.
“All the backyards of these apartments are coming right up to my fence line, the side of my place, and on the back side of my place,” Hill said. “And my place isn’t going to be desirable, you know, if I decide to sell it, or if my kids decide to sell it”
P&Z’s Executive Director Jeff Ruggieri asked Kangiser to adjust the layout of the buildings to place the amenities on the interior of the site, and while Kangiser said tweaks could be made, commissioners want to see a redesign at the Oct. 27 meeting before voting.
Commissioners Mindy Attaway, Stafford and Easom mentioned the need for more affordable housing in the county.
“We all would love to be living out in the country with plenty of acreage and all the trees and all, but if you’re going to live in Bibb County, we’ve got to dense up and we are low on housing,” Easom told the neighbors.
While most of Monday’s agenda items were on a consent agenda for approval without further debate, P&Z did hear testimony before approving a new digital billboard at 5605 Hawkinsville Road.
Dr. Dawn DeLavallade, an Orlando-based physician, author and champion for female breadwinners, told commissioners her mother’s entrepreneurial spirit fueled her desire to put up a billboard to help small business owners market themselves for greater success.
“If it’s one thing I know, it’s that small businesses need exposure. They need advertising. They need more eyes for their product or service. But unfortunately, billboard advertising is out of reach for the majority of small businesses because it is so expensive,” DeLavallade said.
As an independent billboard owner and operator, DeLavallade said the smaller-sized, 288-square-foot billboard, which is close to P&Z’s minimum requirement of 284 square feet, would allow her to provide cheaper advertising rates than larger companies.
Her billboard also has baffles, directional strips similar to moveable air vents, on the back of the screen that can shift to direct the light-emitting diodes away from homes and airports, she said.
Lamar Advertising’s attorney Warren Tillery was the lone opponent of her billboard, but P&Z determined DeLavallade met all of their requirements.
“Great presentation, very thorough,” Stafford commented. “They did their homework.”
Other agenda items
- 1605 Rembert Ave. — Certificate of appropriateness granted for Katherine Roche to remove diseased maple and oak trees from her yard in the historic district.
- 910 Riverside Drive — Zaxby’s granted a certificate of appropriateness for a new drive-thru lane built before the restaurant filed the necessary application. Zaxby’s also must file separate applications for a commercial accessory building for the cashier and a second menu board.
- 800 Second St. — New signage approved for Bank of America as long as the free-standing sign is not internally illuminated and the drive-thru “do not enter” signs do not cover any of the architectural features on the brick structure
- 162 Corbin Ave. — P&Z denied Brancato Paul’s application to replace one of the side windows with a smaller one for bathroom privacy. The Design Review Board recommended Paul use sheetrock on the inside of the room for screening without altering the overall exterior design of the home in the historic district.
- 354 Pine St. Lane & 754 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. — Based on a recommendation from the Design Review Board, P&Z denied Brad Bryant a certificate of appropriateness for a non-vinyl-coated chain link fence with barbed wire and fabric screening, which are not allowed in the Central Business District.
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities for The Macon Newsroom and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-301-2976.
