Facing one coordinated crowd of homeowners who had done their homework in opposition to a rezoning request and another who had taken grass-cutting and minor repairs into their own hands at a local park, the Putnam County Board of Commissioners had a full agenda to address at last week’s regularly scheduled meeting.
The Board eventually turned down a zoning request to build a third, four-tier boat storage facility on property along Greensboro Highway, near Lake Oconee, but no decision was reached on Eatonton’s Jimmy Davis Park.
In his initial presentation for a third boat storage facility on property off Ga. 44 and Briarpatch Road, Jeremy Crosby of JFC Design and Construction represented owner William Jones. The owner lives in nearby Butts County and is the father of Burt Jones, the GOP candidate for lieutenant governor in November’s general election.
Crosby asked the commissioners to table the request for 45 days so he could make sure the proposed project was “still financially viable” in the face of inflationary cost increases. The commissioners would later turn down the request.
As for the group of nearby homeowners in opposition, each took up different arguments in the three minutes allotted to each speaker.
Marian Zerkus noted that at the 2016 hearing involving the rezoning request for a second boat storage facility, Crosby had said there was “no intention to develop further.” Then she turned her focus to fire safety.
“They say hazardous materials would not be stored in the building, but the recommendation is to have 40 gallons of gas per boat. That’s 8,000 gallons in one building,” she said. “They fail to address whether the county had the resources to protect three buildings, plus the gas pumps (at the convenience store facing Ga. 44). Residents would have to use lake egress. A fire would be a disaster.”
Zerkus also pointed to houses being bought and removed in 2008 and 2009, plus the purchase of four residential lots in the subdivision in 2010.
“How much more degradation can we take?” she asked, citing the “grossly oversized” structures. “It’s becoming more industrial than residential.”
Alan Foster, who formerly represented the area on the county commission and will be returning to that position in January, told of only three businesses being located along Ga. 44 when he moved to Putnam County 30 years ago. “Now there must be 330. There are going to be some conflicts, but we need both (residential and commercial properties),” he said.
“It is the beauty of the lake which draws people here,” Foster added before asking, “Just how far does commercial creep go? There is an investment in lives, not just money.”
Seven more speakers presented arguments before the board, with a video of a monster fire at a large boat storage facility in another state and a tape recording of the noise along Ga. 44 also presented.
Meanwhile, residents living near Jimmy Davis Park continued to pressure the commission over ownership and funding for the long-neglected recreation facility.
“We are taxpayers, too,” Lavonia Sanders said. “Why are we treated this way? I feel discriminated against.”
“We are not getting a fair share of the funding,” added J.D. Davis. “There is no staff. The building is empty–no tables, no nothing. Y’all are spending $15,000 on mowers, yet the citizens are cutting the grass.”
The county reportedly is looking into what may be involved in dropping its demand for the city of Eatonton to take over the park, plus determining what costs may be involved to bring it back operationally.