The Americus City Council met on March 20. Harriet Holmes served as honorary council-member at the request of Council member Terence Clemons. A moment of silence for the family and friends of local radio personality James Thurston Clary was observed, along with a resolution of condolences that was presented to the family.

The Council heard a request to rezone parcel number 75-34, at 414 South Georgia Tech Parkway, from residential to commercial. No one spoke in favor or against the rezoning request.

There was also a public hearing concerning a rezoning request for parcel number 20-7-2, at 502 South Lee Street. The request is to rezone from residential (R-2) to Institutional (IN), for a group personal care home. The request was made by Whole Truth International Ministries.

The Pastor of Whole Truth International Ministries, Reverend George Monts, addressed the Council. “There’s a great need in our community.” Monts spoke of families and children sleeping in hotels and going without food. Monts stated they wanted to address those needs, and planned on using the old church facility as a group or transitional home for those in need.

Zac Monier also addressed the Council in favor of the measure. He addressed concerns of parking and the character of the neighborhood. “You should respect these opinions.” However, Monier stated that a youth home is greatly needed. “Youth in situations of intransience or in periods of flux in their lives, need a place where they can feel safe, need a place where they can feel at home, even if it’s just for a few weeks or a few months, having that stability, that housing first model, goes a long way to healing other traumas.”

He stated it would have little effect on the physical characteristics of the neighborhood. “This would be considered what you would call gentle development, or gentle density, where you use existing properties and you adapt them for new uses without significantly changing the overall environment.”

Terri Crawford addressed the Council in opposition to the rezoning. She stated she was opposed to changing it to institutional because it would allow for a large occupancy. She contrasted it with The Perry Wellness Center and Senior Innovations, which don’t have overnight stays. “There’s too many unknowns for this.” She stated that occupancy was unclear, and there were concerns for increased traffic. “There’s over a dozen homes in the historic district that are used as personal care homes that did not have to come before . . .zoning or anybody because they have six or fewer residents in there. At what point does it become too many?” She also stated there were concerns for property values. Crawford also expressed concerns over the large number of sirens from ambulances going to Magnolia Manor, fearing a group home could cause an increase in ambulance visits to the area. “At some point we have to say enough personal care in an area. Let’s move it into areas that aren’t so saturated as the historic district.”

Kim Christmas also addressed the Council, urging the council to deny the rezoning; “at least until there’s additional discussion and discovery of what exactly is the intention of the rezoning.” She had concerns over the planned occupancy. The zoning board has recommended the rezoning of the property. Christmas questioned how the zoning board determined there would likely be no adverse impact on the values of surrounding properties. “Future land use map indicates institutional, however, the current map that these decisions should be made upon does not indicate that.”

Chief Building Officer Roger Willis stated that if the ministry were to create a group home, there would be state regulations they would have to follow in order for the building to comply. He also stated that the future land use map does have institutional use designated for the property.

 

Correction: Terri Crawford spoke during citizens comments. The article previously identified Terry Crawford as the speaker.