BOC’s unanimous vote ends months of debate
The Oglethorpe County Board of Commissioners unanimously rejected the rezone request for the proposed dimension stone quarry on Lexington-Carlton Road on Monday night.
A vote on the rezoning was tabled at BOC meetings in May and June, but the result in Monday’s meeting received applause from many of the standing-room-only audience of about 60 people.
“If I hadn’t voted to deny (the rezone), I felt like I was betraying the people I represent,” District 2 Commissioner Andy Saxon said after the meeting.
In April, the Zoning Board recommended approval of rezoning Parcel 127 008 — which is in Saxon’s district — from General Agriculture to Heavy Industrial (Mineral Extraction) as requested by Gray Wolf Quarries and Terra Mining.
The vote was the first item on the agenda and Saxon proposed the motion to deny the request.
At the May and June BOC meetings, several Oglethorpe County residents voiced their concerns about the quarry, ranging from health concerns to general noise and traffic issues.
Quarry management also received pushback at a forum held at Town and Country Kafe on May 23 meant to ease concerns.
“We had a lot of people that came to these meetings that were speaking out, and they were speaking loud,” Saxon said, “but there in the end, it was the quiet people. I was getting words through the grapevine.”
The land is owned by Loretta Brooks, who lives in Cleveland, Georgia. She received the property when her husband George Brooks died in 2022.
“It’s unfair,” Brooks said after the meeting. “I just want to say that they did not explain why.”
Loretta Brooks said she will talk with her lawyers regarding her next actions.
In other business, the BOC:
- Tabled Kurt Wolfe’s request to rezone land from general agriculture to single-family residential. The zoning board recommended its approval.
- Approved Mary Julia Kidd’s request to rezone land from agriculture residential to single-family residential, as was recommended by the zoning board.
- Approved Timothy Frank Poole’s request to rezone land from general agriculture to single-family residential, as was recommended by the zoning board.
- Adopted new minor subdivision regulations that remove size restrictions on parent parcels.
- Approved the Beaverdam Volunteer Fire Department’s request to separate from Oglethorpe Consolidated Fire and Rescue.
- Approved the minutes from the June meeting and the monthly financial report.
- Approved District 4 Commissioner Will Brown’s motion to initiate the process of rezoning several tracts around the county: “There’s a lot of large tracts around the county that were rezoned (as) intensive ag(riculture) or heavy residential,” Brown said. “We need to visit those and turn them back to regular ag.”
- Heard comment from Randy Gordon of Comer about how the USPS is trying to make him move his mailbox because of the condition of Almond Drive, which is a gravel road.
- Heard comment from Arnoldsville’s John Parker about reducing school tax for older residents.
- Heard comment from Faith Campbell of Lexington about the ongoing writ of mandamus against the BOC and issues relating to animal control.