Macon board approves rezoning on Barnes Ferry Road, denies permit for ethanol transfer
The Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission agreed Monday to rezone property on Barnes Ferry Road but denied the application for a rail spur transfer station on the property amid safety concerns.
Houston, Texas-based Epic Midstream LLC applied to rezone about 50 acres at 2048 Barnes Ferry Road from an agricultural district to a wholesale and light industrial district. The commission denied a conditional-use permit on that site to allow a rail spur to transfer ethanol from Norfolk Southern rail cars to Epic's pipeline.
The 50-acre site would be combined with an adjacent 30-acre site that is already zoned for wholesale and light industrial uses.
Epic planned to pump the ethanol through a new underground pipeline to its nearby storage facility. The company has been issued a permit for the pipeline. Company officials said they would maintain a 100-foot tree buffer across the front property line on Barnes Ferry Road.
The site is surrounded mostly by vacant land, except for a single-family development across Barnes Ferry Road.
Joe Waller, the company's director of development, said a unit of 80 rail cars would come to the proposed transfer station about once a month and that 16 rail cars at a time would move onto a rail loop where the cars would be unloaded. He said it was a safer way to transport ethanol than using tank trucks on the highway.
Any drips or spills would be contained on the site, he said.
"Nothing will be visible from Barnes Ferry Road," Waller said. And because of the deep buffer, any noise would be negligible to nearby residents.
But residents and the commission were more concerned about the safety of the transfer station.
Environmental issues with a leak in the 1980s from a jet fuel pipeline owned by a different company is still fresh in the minds of those who live nearby.
"We already have an ongoing problem in our neighborhood and feel this would create more problems," Arthur Hubbard said. "Human error is very possible. ... One of the dangerous parts of this is off-loading the ethanol where they are off-loading it. ... I'm looking at the safety of the people who live there ... It's considered a hazardous material."
Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Elaine Lucas had a problem with comments made by Zan Thompson, owner of ZT3 Placemaker Studio, which was representing Epic. He made comments about home prices in the area, that some were rental properties and that it was not a good place for housing because the neighborhood was surrounded by industrial uses.
"I think it's insulting to these people" for statements to be made about the price of the homes or that some are rental homes, Lucas said.
"I hate to see things like that ... as if these lives don't matter," she said.
Commissioner Bryan Scott said he thought the property needed to be rezoned to an industrial district and that the company has done what it could to minimize risk, but he couldn't vote for the conditional use.
"There is still risk to it," Scott said.
Commissioner Kamal Azar agreed.
"There could be errors," he said. "There is room for error, and I am concerned about that.
The commission voted 4-0 to approve the rezoning. A move to deny the conditional-use permit also ended in a 4-0 decision. Commissioner Ashok Patel was absent.
Attorney Bob Lovett, representing Epic, said after the meeting the next step would be either an appeal or a reapplication for the conditional-use permit later.
COMMISSION DENIES REZONING ON BASS ROAD
In another matter, the commission denied an application to rezone about 2 acres on Bass Road.
Widner & Associates was looking to rezone 1200 Bass Road from an agricultural district to a multifamily residential district to allow a professional office park. The commission also denied a conditional-use permit.
The site is adjacent to the Bass at Rivoli Farms residential subdivision north of the proposed site and wooded property owned by a church south of the site.
The office park would have contained three buildings with 3,500, 4,000 and 5,000 square feet of space.
Former Bibb County Commissioner Elmo Richardson Jr., who lives on Rivoli Drive, was one of several people who opposed the rezoning.
"What we are talking about is spot zoning," Richardson said.
Some other people speaking against the rezoning were concerned about an increase in traffic, destruction of trees and the impact on the value of their homes.
Both applications were denied 4-0 without any discussion by the commission.
Other items on the agenda were:
ITEMS DEFERRED FROM PRIOR MEETING:
4719 Raley Road: Conditional use to allow a residential multi-family development with (19 lots), R-1A District. Widner & Associates, applicant. Approved.
CONDITIONAL USES:
1655 Eisenhower Parkway: Conditional use to allow a community center, C-2 District. Stephen Martin, applicant. Approved.
685 Arlington Place: Conditional use to allow a professional office (medical), HR-3 District. Tiquella Shantel King-Whitby, applicant. Approved.
1573 Pio Nono Ave.: Conditional use to allow auto sales at an existing towing service, C-1 District. CAC Towing & Recovery Inc., applicant. Approved.
1015 Riverside Drive: Conditional use to allow a church, CBD-2 District. New City Church, Keith Watson, applicant. Approved.
CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS:
522 Cherry St.: Certificate of Appropriateness to allow design approval of signage, CBD-1 District. Jean Moore Bragg, applicant. Approved.
496 Second St.: Certificate of Appropriateness to allow design approval of a balcony addition, CBD-1 District. Cesare Mammarella, applicant. Approved.
RATIFICATION:
4931 Mercer University Drive: Conditional use to allow sales and installation of public safety equipment, PDE District [15-21219], Eddie Mason Jr., applicant. Approved.
Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Linda S. Morris, call 744-4223.
This story was originally published November 9, 2015 at 7:12 PM with the headline "Macon board approves rezoning on Barnes Ferry Road, denies permit for ethanol transfer ."