This letter is not about gated communities, planned unit developments, homeowners’ associations with restrictive covenants, or other regulations. It is about the Residential R1-R zoning district obtained by Putnam County residents beginning on Oct. 21, 1997, when Journey’s End subdivision was the first to be placed in the R1-R district.
Putnam County is divided into other zoning districts as well, such as Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and various Residential zones. Each zone specifically lists the allowed uses; for example, a concrete plant would be allowed in an Industrial zone but not allowed in a Residential zone.
The R1-R single-family residence use is plain and simple. If rented for use by others it becomes a multiple-family residence in that more than the owners’ family occupies the residence. If the homeowner is required to have insurance covering other uses, a business license is issued by the county, and hotel/motel tax is assessed, then call it what it is … a business!
Businesses are not at all listed as a permitted use in R1-R. The only other listed use in R1-R is religious facilities.
If I wanted to build an apartment complex on my farmland it would be necessary to go through the rezoning process to change the use of the land. There is no way I can think of to rezone a single-family residence in R1-R to a hotel.
That’s not what R1-R residents were thinking when they hired a zoning attorney and fought tooth and nail for their subdivisions to be placed in this district 25 years ago.
Putnam County officials, if you have issued business licenses to residents of single-family homes in R1-R then either revoke or not renew them. In any quest to obtain revenue think about the long-term, tax-paying citizens in these subdivisions (35 years for me) who contribute to the tax digest.
Better yet, think about your obligation to R1-R residents to uphold the Zoning Ordinance and protect us from uses that are not permitted.
Sylbie Yon, Eatonton