Commissioners hear secret pitch to build homes inside Claystone Park

While housing developments around Lake Tobesofkee aren’t uncommon, Macon-Bibb commissioners are considering a new concept: building homes inside a park at the recreation area.

The County Commission was recently presented a proposal to build several dozen homes inside Claystone Park. Questions about possible restrictions on new developments inside the park need to be answered, however, before officials decide how to proceed.

And there’s another potential hurdle: Commissioner Joe Allen is advocating for a conference center at the site of the proposed subdivision.

Allen says funding needs to restored for the meeting space and park ranger offices that the former Bibb County Commission once approved.

Real estate broker Gene Kernaghan proposed the idea of the 35-house development to the County Commission on Feb. 28 in a session closed to the public.

“This would maybe be a way the average, typical Maconite could possibly own a great waterfront view and not have to pay an exorbitant price to live there,” Kernaghan said in an interview later.

The county would have the option of determining the type of lease. Commissioners could decide to lease the land for a period time before eventually turning it over to the homeowner, or Macon-Bibb officials could allow the lots to remain under county control permanently, Kernaghan said.

The development, he estimates, could bring in about $75,000 a year from leasing fees and property taxes to Macon-Bibb. That total would come to about $1.1 million over a 15-year period.

The subdivision could include a dozen lots at the current Claystone trailer rental sites and another 23 lots located in what’s now undeveloped acreage backing up to Mosley Dixon Road. The houses would have a view of the lake, but they would not be located on the beach.

“Nothing is going to be disturbed” by the water, Kernaghan said.

One possibility for the revenue from the subdivision is using it for maintenance and to run the Lake Tobesofkee recreation area, Commissioner Mallory Jones said.

“This is about preserving and enhancing Lake Tobesofkee,” he said. “Right now we have a dwindling and deteriorating asset.”

The county attorney’s office is reviewing regulations that need to be followed for the development, Macon-Bibb spokesman Chris Floore said.

The initial reading by County Attorney Judd Drake is that a residential development could be built inside Claystone Park, he said.

“He’s digging further to learn as much as possible so he can answer commissioners’ questions,” Floore said.

There are questions about how long certain federal requirements for the park are in place — if they end after 50 years or if it’s a longer period of time, Floore said.

Bibb County’s original 1963 agreement for the Lake Tobesofkee watershed project was with the U.S. Soil Conservation Service, which paid for a portion of the $4.5 million project. The federal agency, at the time, placed restrictions on what could be built inside the recreation area.

The original documents mention that the county needed prior approval from the federal agency for certain improvements to the development. Also, any facility or structure that would “interfere with the use of water and land areas devoted” to recreation would be prohibited, according to the agreement.

There is some precedent with Macon-Bibb leasing land at Lake Tobesofkee, such as the Sandy Beach Water Park. Two other private businesses — Fish N’ Pig restaurant and Central Georgia Marina, lease Macon-Bibb land in the Lake Tobesofkee area.

Conference center

Plans for the conference center and ranger offices date back before the consolidation of Macon and Bibb County in January 2014.

A 2010 master plan estimated that the facility would cost $2.3 million, and commissioners later issued bonds to go to Lake Tobesofkee and other projects.

Allen, who served on the Bibb County Commission when the 11,800-square-foot center was proposed, said he’s fighting to ensure that what was promised is actually built. The meeting center and offices were put on the back burner after Macon and Bibb County consolidated in 2014, he said.

“What they did was a slap in the face of the people that live in the district as well as the people that come from all over to use Lake Tobesofkee,” said Allen, who did not serve on the first post-consolidation commission.

Money from those bonds was used for work at Lake Tobesofkee. There was some remaining money that officials decided to use on other projects, Floore said.

“The money allocated for the conference center wasn’t enough after we made repairs to the boat ramp and other much needed immediate work,” he said.

There’s been ongoing conversation about the needs at Lake Tobesofkee recreation area, including meeting and office space.

“We still see a need out there, but we have to identify that source of funding,” Floore said.

Allen says with passage of the new $280 million special purpose sales tax measure, there should be enough money to pay for a convention center. Lake Tobesofkee should be a high priority, he said.

“They took money from the project when they needed to make sure this was finished,” Allen said. “They need to do Lake Tobesofkee like the (former) board of commissioners voted on in the beginning.”

This story was originally published March 10, 2017 at 6:09 PM with the headline "Commissioners hear secret pitch to build homes inside Claystone Park."