NEWTON COUNTY – Commissioners conducted a number of public hearings during the Aug. 6 Newton County Board of Commissioners (BOC) meeting.
The meeting was led by vice-chair and District 1 representative Stan Edwards, who is the current sitting chairman during BOC meetings while chairman Marcello Banes is suspended.
Commissioners approve tiers, but with some confusion
During the zoning hearing portion of the meeting, commissioners approve three overlay tier changes for several parcels on Salem Road.
All parcels were proposed changes from Tier 1 residential to Tier 3 town center.
But the approval for the third parcel did not go without some confusion, as the initial motion to approve the tier change failed 3-2 after the motion to approve was made by District 2 representative Demond Mason. District 3, 4 and 5 commissioners Alana Sanders, J.C. Henderson and Ronnie Cowan voted in opposition.
Cowan was seemingly against the disallowance of gas stations for the property, which was in the list of non-permissible uses.
After planning director Shena Applewhaite told the commissioners that the property could not be used due to the tiers not aligning, Cowan asked if another motion could be made to remove gas stations from the list of non-permissible uses. County attorney Patrick Jaugstetter told the board that a motion can be re-visited during the same meeting.
Mason, however, opted to make the same exact motion as before, which was again seconded by Edwards. This time Cowan flipped his vote in favor of the tier change, allowing the tier change to pass 3-2.
Just before the vote, Henderson questioned the decision to re-vote on the item, stating he felt it should have been placed on the agenda again if the commissioners wanted to vote again.
Jaugstetter clarified the process in how that worked.
“Within the same meeting before you take up the next item, you can revisit a motion,” Jaugstetter said.
Henderson then asked if the board had ever done that before, to which Jaugstetter said he did not think this had ever been done previously.
Townhome project tabled for 60 days
A potential development containing townhomes in District 2 will see yet another delay after commissioners opted to table discussion of the project for 60 days.
The applicant, Reed Parker sought to develop a mixed use development known as the Grand Reserve at Covington. The proposed development is on Brown Bridge Road 15.33 acres spanning 107 lots. It is directly adjacent to the Walmart in that area.
This development was first heard on Jan. 23 where the planning commission denied the preliminary plat request. Commissioners first tabled the appeal by staff’s request for 60 days at the March 23 meeting while a traffic study was conducted. The May 21 and July 2 meetings where the appeal was to be presented were both canceled.
Crystal North represented the applicants reminding commissioners that was not a rezoning – as the property is zoned for a mixed-use development – but a preliminary plat approval.
“We are seeking to develop the parcel as intended per your approved guidelines [ and the] comprehensive plan 2023,” North said.
At one point, North quoted District 2 commissioner Demond Mason with the words, “Growth follows sewer.”
However, Mason pointed out that North had left a portion out from the quote.
“Thank you for quoting me. I think one thing you left out of the quote was infrastructure,” Mason said. “Even though there may be sewer, there’s not the proper infrastructure in place for this type of project.”
A total of six citizens spoke opposing this development, with a majority of the residents citing traffic concerns and increased growth that is already occurring in Newton County.
Mason made the motion to table the preliminary plat appeal for 60 days so a community meeting can be held to discuss this project. This was seconded by District 3 commissioner Alana Sanders and passed 5-0.
It is not clear when the community meeting will be held.
