‘I’m just at a loss as to why we are here’: Some question proposed changes to P&Z

One Macon-Bibb County commissioner has called for drastic changes to the Planning and Zoning Commission, but several speakers at a public hearing on the issue Wednesday didn’t think that was necessary.

“I’m just at a loss as to why we are here,” said Arthur Brook, who sat on the P&Z commission several years ago. “Actually the P&Z procedures have worked very well as far as I’m concerned for many, many decades.”

And if there was any change to be made, it could possibly be to the appeals process, some speakers said.

Earlier this month, Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Joe Allen filed a resolution calling for the elimination of the zoning commission as it has operated since 1952. It proposed the creation of a planning and zoning department under the control of the county commission.

However, a day after it was filed, Allen told a reporter the reason he came up with the resolution is because he wants two county commissioners to sit on the P&Z commission.

Critics of the resolution as written have said such a change could lead to delays in getting projects approved.

Commissioner Al Tillman, who called the public hearing, and Allen were the only two commissioners at the meeting until Commissioner Larry Schlesinger arrived about 15 minutes before it ended.

Tillman said during the hearing that he and Allen had heard from some residents complaining about the appeals process if a zoning application is denied. Not only is the applicant out of the application fee paid, but the applicant can only go back to the zoning commission to ask for a rehearing or file legal proceedings with Bibb County Superior Court.

The P&Z commissioners are appointed by the mayor and approved by the county commission, and the county is not involved in the appeal process, Tillman said. Zoning commissioners volunteer and are unpaid.

Brook said the county commission should not change anything for at least a year until it has its own house in order and has a balanced budget.

“I would suggest that none of you volunteer to be appointed” to the P&Z board, architect Gene Dunwody Sr. told the commissioners.

If the county commissioners wanted to know what was going on with P&Z, “you could go to the meetings” or ask P&Z’s Executive Director Jim Thomas to report to them at a committee meeting, said Dunwoody, who has served on the county commission, the P&Z commission and on the Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authority.

Ned Dominick, who opposed P&Z’s decision in May when it approved a medical office that would offer abortions, said he was concerned when he learned the only recourse was appealing the decision to Superior Court. Also, he was particularly upset that the staff report indicated the office would not be a nuisance on the surrounding area.

He said there was a nuisance created because P&Z’s decision was followed up by a protest of hundreds of people “and every week there have been demonstrations of this place that are impacting the local property owners all the way around.”

A lawsuit was filed in June by area business owners stating the demonstrations were hurting their businesses.

But Thomas said in response, “If there is a problem, it’s the protests ... and that’s not something that should be considered by the zoning board.”

The public hearing came one day after the Macon-Bibb County Commission approved the amended $161 million general fund budget which includes $8.5 million in funding for nonprofits and governmental agencies, such as the planning and zoning commission. The budget, which has taken months to pass, includes a 3-mill tax increase approved last week.

Four other county commissioners, Tillman, Mallory Jones, Scotty Shepherd and Valerie Wynn, signed on as sponsors of the resolution to change P&Z. But shortly after it was filed, Tillman said he was taking his name off of it. Commissioners tabled the resolution while it dealt with the budget, and on Monday called for the public hearing.

On July 23, the zoning commission approved an increase in application fees after the county cut its budget and due to the uncertainty about how much it would end up getting from the county. The county contributed $900,000 to the planning and zoning office last year, which is half of its operating budget.

The county approved $810,000 for planning and zoning this year.

This story was originally published August 22, 2018 at 4:45 PM with the headline "‘I’m just at a loss as to why we are here’: Some question proposed changes to P&Z."