Deep South Farms Application Returned to Planning Commission

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Gilmer County, GA – People stood in the Commissioners’ Conference Room on Thursday May 14, 2015.With more still coming in, the Board of Commissioners opted to deal with the issue concerning Deep South Farms first in the meeting due to so many people in attendance for it.

Deep South Farms, a wedding and events venue out Mulkey road off of Highway 52, is applying for a Conditional Use Permit for a Recreational Outdoor Facility for events at their location. The county has already given Deep South Farms a license in December 2014 to operate their business as a small event venue, this means events there should not exceed 50 cars.

President of Deep South Designs operating as Deep South Farms and representative of RFF Investments in this application process, Debra Jones said she believed the whole issue came up with a threat by a local to sue the county for allowing Deep South Farms to operate in the currently agricultural zoned area.

While the issues against the application reference the current zoning being for agricultural use, Ms. Jones says this has nothing to do with what they are currently applying for. They are already licensed to conduct business in the current zone. The current application is for allowance to host slightly larger events.

Ms. Jones has stated one of the arguments against the application was the possibility of 500 or more cars to be at the venue. However, she states the largest event that has been requested would be no more than 200 people requiring an estimated 100 cars. In addition, most events planned never exceed 100 people, requiring around 50 cars. These all also occur within their mid-year operational period as Ms. Jones states, “We’re closed from Thanksgiving to March.”

The tightly packed room, filled to overflow capacity with those in support of and opposition to the Farms application, seemed unsettled as the Board announced they would not be making a decision on this issue due to technicality within the County’s Policies.

The reason for this choice was attributed to the printed date on the county’s legal printed advertisement. According to County Attorney David Clark, there must be 15 days allowed for advertisement print to be available before the Board can make decisions such as this. However, though the printed ad was available on a Wednesday, the legally printed date of publication was the following Thursday. This printed date only allowed 14 days of publication before the called meeting.

Now the county must re-advertise this issue, then put it back before the Planning Commission. According to the Planning and Zoning Office, it is scheduled to be advertised beginning May 28, 2015 and then appear before the Planning Commission on June 18. Last time it was before this Commission, the vote passed unanimously.

If it does pass again, the Conditional Use Permit decision will return for to the Board of Commissioners, on July 9, who serve the final decision, and may also set limitations upon the permit such as a limit to cars allowed.

Deep South Farms held an open house earlier this year for local neighbors to come and see the 30 acre facility and ask questions and speak, according to Ms. Jones. While the issue of readvertising is frustrating to many, Ms. Jones says they are not hindered by the decision to re-advertise according to the policy since their larger events are not pressing.

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