Columbus, Georgia

PLANNING ADVISORY COMMISSION MEETING

December 4, 2002



A meeting of the Planning Advisory Commission was held Wednesday, December 4,

2002 in the Council Chambers of the Plaza Level of the Government Center.



Commissioners Present: Chairperson Ralph King, Bradford Dodds, Derrick

Shields, Sharon Jamison, Rick McKnight, Shep Mullin, and Michael Corradino.



Staff Members: Will Johnson, Zoning Administrator, and Tina Trant, Recorder.



Commissioners Absent: Berry Henderson and Arline Kitchen.



Others Present: Lawrence Smith, Robert George, Mary H. Barnette, Jarrell

Hethcox, Margaret Mosley, Kenneth G. Mosley, Sara Lois Thompson, B. J. Welsh,

Burnette Welsh, Betty Brown, Anne Lewis, Anna Gilbert, Dorothy Harrington,

Carol Tongret, Omer Tongret, Jeanne Shiver, Lynn Shiver, W. Brown, B.J.

McIntire, Aileen Mooney, Jane S. Adams, Michelle Brown, Beverly and Jose

Canedo, Arlis Jones, Patsy Dean, Susan Powell, Elizabeth Cheves, James

Brannock, Tom Creamer, Ken Blake, Gladys Perkins, Ken Blackmon, Gerard

Guntherd, Jack Cadena, George Wade, Robert George, and Pat Farmer.



I. CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson King called the meeting to order at

10:05 a.m. He stated that Arline Kitchens is absent and Shep Mullin will vote

in her place. Berry Henderson is also absent and Derrick Shields will vote in

his place.



II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Chairperson King asked for a motion on the

November 7, 2002 minutes to be accepted per the requested changes.

Commissioner Corradino made a motion to accept the November 7, 2002 minutes.

Commissioner Dodds seconded the motion. The minutes were approved

unanimously. Chairperson King explained the rezoning process to the

audience. Chairperson King also explained that case ZC0211-3 would be

presented first.





III. REZONING CASES



1) ZC0211-3: A request to rezone the property located at 6930 Buena Vista

Road. The current zoning is C-3(General Commercial) District. The proposed

zoning is R-1A (Low Density Residential) District. The property is to be used

for single family residential.



Kenneth Blackmon, Applicant



Mr. Will Johnson read the Finding of Facts for this case. This case is

consistent with the Comprehensive Plan (P. D. 11), which shows low density

residential for this area. Policy statements are not addressed. It is

compatible with existing land uses. It is served by public water, sanitary

sewer and all City services. The property does not lie within the studied

floodplain and floodway area. The Engineering Department will need to approve

a drainage plan prior to issuance of a Site Development permit. The request

does not constitute spot zoning. It will not have a negative impact on the

transportation network. It must meet the Codes and Regulations of the City of

Columbus Consolidated Government for residential usage. No special conditions

are needed. There were no comments from adjoining property owners.



Mr. Kenneth Blackmon came to the podium. He lives next door to this piece of

property. He will build a home for his grandparents next to him. It is

currently zoned C-3 and he wants to rezone it to R-1A.



Chairperson King opened up the floor for a motion on this case. Commissioner

McKnight made a motion to approve this case based on the fact that it is

consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, it is compatible with existing

land-uses, and it does not constitute spot zoning. Vice Chairperson Dodds

seconded the motion. It was approved unanimously.





2) ZC0211-1: This is a request to rezone the property located at 4600 Woodruff

Road. The current zoning is R-2 (Low Density Residential) District. The

proposed zoning is C-2 (NeighborhoodShopping) District. It is to be used for a

medical office.



Dr. Jose A. Canedo, Applicant



Mr. Will Johnson presented the Finding of Facts. This case is not consistent

with the Comprehensive Plan (P.D. 5), which shows low density residential for

this area. Policy Statements are not addressed. It is compatible with

existing land uses. It is served by public water, sanitary sewer and all City

services. The property does not lie within a studied flood plain or floodway

area. The Engineering Department will need to improve a drainage plan prior to

issuance of a Site Development permit. It does not constitute spot zoning.

Traffic Engineering did not have enough tubes to get a traffic count. It will

be done before it goes to City Council. The traffic count that Mr. Johnson has

is for the other side of Manchester Expressway and Woodruff Road. This

property must meet the Codes and Regulations of the City of Columbus,

Consolidated government for commercial usage. An inquiry into this site

indicates that the minimum requirements cannot be met, interior traffic

circulation criteria will not be met, and the ingress and egress traffic will

impact the surrounding properties and streets, therefore, the Traffic

Engineering Division recommends denial for this rezoning. Special conditions

are needed: 1) all lighting shall be directed internally using deflector

shields and 2) no external trash dumpters / compactors shall be located along

the property lines bordered by the R-2 zoning district. There were comments

from adjoining property owners. There were several more letters since the PAC

members received their packet. A copy of the petition signed by the neighbors

was passed out to the Commissioners. There was one question for Mr. Johnson

from Commissioner Shields about the notification to all the property owners.

The Thanksgiving Holidays did not affect the letters going out. Commissioner

Dodds had a question about traffic circulation for Mr. Johnson.



Dr. Jose Canedo and Beverly Canedo came to the podium. Mrs. Canedo stated that

they did not have the typical doctors office. Fifty percent of Dr. Canedo?s

practice is in the hospitals. It is more like a psychiatrist?s office, with an

appointment every 30 minutes or hour. They have two employees. It is a very

small practice. They won?t have more than five cars at a time parking in the

lot. They don?t have a lot of deliveries, maybe twice a month from UPS. They

won?t do any surgery, have no x-rays or chemicals. After a discussion about

the driveway and traffic circulation, it was explained to the Canedo?s that

even if the property was rezoned, they could not get a permit because they

couldn?t meet the minimum requirements for parking and circulation.



Arlis Jones and Pat Farmer came to the podium in support of the rezoning.



Lawrence Smith, representing the opposition, came to the podium against the

rezoning.



After a discussion with some of the other neighbors, Chairman King asked for a

motion. Commissioner Sheilds made a motion to deny this request to rezone

based on the fact that it is not consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and

Traffic Engineering recommended denial. Commissioner McKnight seconded the

motion. It was denied unanimously.





3) ZC0211-2: This is a request to rezone the property located at 1423 54th

Street. The current zoning is R-2 (Low Density Residential) District. The

proposed zoning is C-2 (NeighborhoodShopping) District. It is to be used for

offices and a small church.



Robert George, Applicant



Mr. Will Johnson read the Finding of Facts for this case. This case is

consistent with the Comprehensive Plan (P. D. 5), which shows mixed

office/commercial for this area. Policy statements are not addressed. It is

compatible with existing land uses. It is served by public water, sanitary

sewer and all City services. The property does not lie within the studied

floodplain and floodway area. The Engineering Department will need to approve

a drainage plan prior to issuance of a Site Development permit. The request

does not constitute spot zoning. It will not have a negative on the

transportation network. This section of 54th Street will be improved in the

near future. According to Traffic Engineering, there are problems with

off-street parking / curb cuts. It must meet the Codes and Regulations of the

City of Columbus, Consolidated Government for commercial usage. The existing

driveway does not meet minimum criteria. Interior traffic circulation will not

be met. The ingress and egress traffic will impact the surrounding properties

and streets if the interior circulation criteria cannot be met.

Special conditions are needed: all lighting shall be directed internally using

deflector shields. There were no comments from adjoining property owners.



Robert George came to the podium. He wants to rezone this property to have a

small church and offices. They will have about 20 people. He will acquire

the three properties next door if they become available.



Chairperson King opened up the floor for a motion. Vice Chairman Dodds made a

motion to deny this rezoning application based on the report from Traffic

Engineering. Commissioner Jamison seconded. It was voted on three to three to

deny. Since it was a tie, Chairperson King voted, making it four to three to

deny.



4) ZC0211-4: A request to rezone the property located at the northwest portion

of 2485 Elm Drive. The current zoning is R-1A (Low Density Residential)

District. The proposed zoning is A-O (Apartment-Office) District. It is to

be used to extend the A-O zoning to include drainage and buffer for 2472

Martha?s Loop.



Fog G&H Elm, LLC, Applicant



Mr. Will Johnson gave the Finding of Facts. This case is consistent with the

Comprehensive Plan (P.D. 7), which shows General Commercial for this area. It

is consistent with policy statements, Commercial Development policy statement

#1. It is compatible with existing land uses. It is served by public water,

sanitary sewer and all City services. Storm water run-off and flooding are

not an issue in this case. The request does not constitute spot zoning. It

will not have a negative on the transportation network. According to Traffic

Engineering there are no problems with off-street parking/curb cut. Special

conditions are not needed. There was one comment from an adjoining property

owner concerning this request. The extension of the A-O is to address the

water run-off problem.



Gerard Guntherd came to the podium. This property is to be rezoned to take

care of the water run-off. This land was bought from the Marchetti?s.

Walgreens will keep control of this property.



Jack Cadena came to the podium. He is against this rezoning because it brings

another 125 feet of A-O zoning into the R-1A neighborhood which was not agreed

upon at the last meeting. It was agreed upon that Walgreens would buy this

property to bring another 20 feet of buffer to this area. Mr. Cadena told

Mr. Farhad Alifarhani, City Engineer, that some of the pipes going in were not

in the right position. Richard Bishop went out and looked at it. The next day

the pipes were being dug up and repositioned.



After a discussion about the rezoning, heigth of the building not being what it

was supposed to be, the bank angle not what it was supposed to be, trees that

are to be put in, Chairperson King entertained a motion. Commissioner Dodds

made a motion to approve the rezoning based on the fact that it is consistent

with the Comprehensive Plan and a policy statement, it is compatible with

existing land-uses, it is served by water, sewer, and all City services, and it

does not constitute spot zoning. Commissioner Mullin seconded the motion. It

was approved five to one to rezone, with Sharon Jamison voting to deny.



IV. NEW BUSINESS

There are two cases for the next PAC Meeting. Richard Bishop was

asked to comment on the Comprehensive Plan meeting for December 16, 2002.



V. OLD BUSINESS

No Old Business





VI. ADJOURNMENT

Chairperson King adjourned the meeting at 11:55 a.m.







___________________________________ ___________________________________



Ralph King, Chairperson Will Johnson, Zoning Administrator