Minutes of the
MUNICIPAL PLANNING COMMISSION
For the
City of Lookout Mountain, Georgia
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
PRESIDING: Chairman Earl Carstens
PRESENT: Keith Sanford, Sarge Allison, Beth Soloff, Chip Corley, Building Official Larry Reed and City Clerk Mary Katherine Harper. Also present were Catherine Kelley, George McGee and John Tallman.
CALLED TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the Municipal Planning Commission was called to order on Tuesday, March 13, 2007, at City Hall, 1214 Lula Lake Road, Lookout Mountain, Georgia, at 5:00 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the regular meeting and public hearing of the Municipal Planning Commission held January 9, 2007, were approved as mailed.
NEW MEMBER: City Clerk Harper advised that she had received a phone call from Bob Fawcett’s daughter informing her that he was no longer well enough to serve on the commission. Regretfully, Ms. Harper accepted the resignation and informed Chairman Carstens. He stated that he had spoken to Arch Willingham who had expressed a willingness to serve. The group was in agreement to send the recommendation on to City Council for final approval.
DIANE DUKE: Chairman Carstens and Building Official Reed were in agreement that based on past experience with the Golf Club and the lack of information presented, both had to recommended denial of a permit for Ms. Duke’s addition at 1508 Cinderella Road. Mr. Reed stated that she lacked a site plan with setbacks, a floor plan and elevations. He further questioned the aesthetics of the second story addition and could not recommend it for approval. Sarge Allison seconded Chip Corley’s motion to deny permit with all in favor.
GEORGE MCGEE: Mr. McGee advised that they were moving forward with the project with Mayor Gifford’s verbal concurrence that the sewer system had sufficient capacity to connect his development without an actual document from CTI confirming. He anticipated preliminary approval of the plat in April, final in May and construction commencing in June. He added that they had decided against a gated community with a homeowners association and gone with a public road built to County/City specs. Finally he informed that he had hired a firm to complete a stormwater and soil erosion and sedimentation plan and would return next month.
DAVID HOWERIN: Chairman Carstens explained that the commission wanted to begin future land use study instead of rubber-stamping building plans and introduced David Howerin who is a planner for Coosa Valley Regional Development Center to lend his advice to the commission members on how they should begin this process.
Mr. Howerin began by directing the commission members to the Department of Community Affairs web site explaining that it contained a wealth of knowledge and direction. He advised that they had a Quality Growth Tool Kit that the members should take a look at that ranged from alternative to conventional. He further recommended that the City budget money to have a group from the DCA complete a visioning study for the community where a group will come spend a few days in the community and it could be advertised to the community for their input as well. He closed by explaining that the Coosa Valley RDC would lend a hand where it could but they were more generalists and the City really needed specialists.
There being no further business to come before the Municipal Planning Commission, the meeting was thereupon adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Katherine Harper
City Clerk