Houston lowers construction speed limits; more tickets being written in county

PERRY -- Houston County commissioners are warning drivers that law enforcement officers are writing more speeding tickets in construction zones, after approving the decrease of speed limits on three county streets.

“That ordinance allows us to double the fines in those areas,” said Chairman Tommy Stalnaker. “We don’t want fatalities.”

The commission voted unanimously Tuesday to set the speed limit to 30 miles per hour for the areas under construction on Sandefur, Moody and Lake Joy roads.

The normal speed limits ranged from 35 to 50 miles per hour on those roads. The normal fines for speeding range from $33.75 to $830.

The commission also unanimously approved another speed limit measure that changed speed limits on state routes in Houston County to match the limits listed by the Georgia Department of Transportation.

Stalnaker said the commission considered the resolution because drivers could technically dispute traffic tickets if the posted speed limits differed from the state’s.

He said drivers should know Georgia State Patrol and the Houston County Sheriff’s Office have been issuing more speeding tickets throughout the county.

“It seems a lot of the traveling public wants to go faster,” Stalnaker said.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the commission reviewed two annexation requests, one from Perry and the other from Warner Robins.

Though lots that would remain in primarily county subdivisions have raised concerns among commissioners and residents recently, the commission found no problems with an isolated lot in the Mill Pond Plantation subdivision.

About four or five lots in the subdivision are already part of Warner Robins, Stalnaker said. The situation mirrors that of two residents in Carter Woods West, who are fighting Warner Robins City Council not to be annexed.

Stalnaker said the lot reviewed Tuesday differs from other similar lots for three reasons.

The annexation is happening before the house is built, the property cannot be built upon without tapping into the city’s sewer line and owners Melanie and Michael Black requested the annexation.

The Perry annexation is a land lot where a new church intends to install a detention pond. The rest of Christ Lutheran Church would be built in the city of Perry, and the commissioners said it wouldn’t make sense to allow the detention pond to be the only part of the church in Houston County.

Warner Robins and Perry city councils will need to approve the annexations before they are final.

This story was originally published September 7, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Houston lowers construction speed limits; more tickets being written in county."