---
date: 2000-06-12
title: June 12, 2000 Minutes
source: 2000-06/2000-06-12_June 12, 2000_Minutes.pdf
pages: 1
---

June 12, 2000

CITY OF STOCKBRIDGE MINUTES
HENRY COUNTY, GEORGIA JUNE 12, 2000

The Regular Meeting of the Stockbridge City Council was held on June 12, 2000 and Mayor Kelley presided.
Members present were Harold Cochran, Fred Evans, W. A. Gardner, Ronnie Simmons and
Fletcher Turner.

Harold Cochran made a motion to convene; W. A. Gardner seconded; and passed unanimously.

Harold Cochran made a motion to approve minutes of May 8 and 26, 2000 City Council Meetings;
W.A.Gardner seconded, and passed unanimously.

Welcome guests. Tom Vining, Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 65 presented a plaque to Mayor Kelley and
the City Council for supporting their scout troop throughout the years.

Boy Scout Troop 291 requested to be on the agenda but failed to appear.

CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT FOR EXCELLENCE IN FINANCIAL REPORTING. Mr. Chuck
Huckleberry, Treasury Director of Gwinnett County and former president of the Georgia Government Finance
Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) was present to present the award to MerleManders, City
Clerk and to the City of Stockbridge. This is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and
financial reporting.

PLANNING AND REZONING

ANNEXATIONS

David Borer, 602 Redbud Lane, Stockbridge, Georgia requested initial zoning from R-3 (Single family
residential) unincorporated Henry County to R-3 (Single family residential) within the City of Stockbridge.
The property is located in Land Lot 3 of the 12th District. The property is a building lot located at 602 Redbud
Lane. The request is for annexation into the City of Stockbridge.
Harold Cochran made a motion to approve initial annexation from R-3 unincorporated Henry County to R-3
City of Stockbridge; Fred Evans seconded, and passed unanimously.

Fred Evans made a motion to approve annexation; Harold Cochran seconded, and passed unanimously.

REZONING

KILLEARN PROPERTIES, INC. of Stockbridge, Georgia requested rezoning from RA
(Residential/Agricultural) to PD (Planned Development, R-2, R-3 and Golf). The property is located in Land
Lots 17, 18, 47 and 48 of the 6th District and Land Lots 1 and 32 of the 7th District, located on the east side
of Tunis Road in Eagle’s Landing. The property contains approximately 181.02 acres, and the request is for
a planned residential development and the addition of golf holes for the Eagles Landing Country Club. The
Henry County/Municipal Planning Commission approved this request on May 11, 2000.

Ray Pacheco, Henry County Planning and Development told Council that of the 181.02 acres, about seventy-
five (75) acres is already in the City of Stockbridge. Mr. Pacheco suggested the City annex the remaining
portion and then rezone the entire tract. Mayor Kelley asked David Williams, Killearn Properties if this was
agreeable? Mr. Williams responded that it was agreeable with them and he will get with TedStrickland to
work out the details.

W. A. Gardner made a motion to table rezoning to be considered with annexation, Ronnie Simmons
seconded, and passed unanimously.

LEA AND WALTER DILLINGHAM of Stockbridge, Georgia requested rezoning from RA
(Residential/Agricultural) to C-2 (General Commercial) for property located in Land Lots 42 and 55 of the
12th District, on the north side of Georgia Highway 138 located at 1028 Georgia Highway 138, Stockbridge.
The property contains approximately 2.32 acres, and the request is for a retail center including a convenience
store and dry cleaners.

Ray Pacheco reported that the Henry County Planning and Development approved the rezoning request on
May 25, 2000 with seven (7) conditions:

1. The façade of any proposed building shall consist of brick, stone, stucco, wood
siding, glass or any combination thereof. Planning and Development shall
approve the exterior appearance of all proposed buildings before the issuance
of a building permit.
2. The installation of a sign shall be ground mounted not pole mounted,
decorated with brick stucco or stone or any combination thereof and not to
exceed twenty-five (25) feet in height.

3. Accel-decel lane where appropriately designated by the county or state
engineering departments.

4. All lighting shall be down-lit and be of moderate height and brightness so as
not to impose excessive lighting into the road or on the adjacent properties
causing a visual distraction or nuisance. Use of neon for building accent shall
be prohibited.

5. An extensive landscape plan shall be submitted to Planning and Development
for approval.

6. No overnight parking or storage of vehicles.

7. Dumpsters shall be enclosed on three sides with the material used on the
building or decorative fencing and landscaping, to be approved by Planning
and Development.

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to approve rezoning subject to the seven (7) conditions that will be
attached to the Rezoning Ordinance as “ Exhibit A”, Fletcher Turner seconded; and passed unanimously.

BILL MABROS of Jonesboro, Georgia requested rezoning from PD (Planned Development) to PTD
(Planned Town Development) for property located in Land Lots 6, 7, 26, and 27 of the 12th District, on the
southwest corner of Walt Stephens road and I-75. The property contains 115.7 acres, and the request is
for a single-family residential development. The Planning Commission reviewed this request on May 11,
2000 and heard this request on June 8, 2000.

Tim Jones, developer of the subdivision will develop in accordance with the regulations in the PTD Ordinance
and with the following conditions:
1. The developer will not be required to put in alleyways.
2. Move trees from right-of-way to yards.
3. No commercial development will be required for this subdivision.
4. Standard street size rather than street size required in PTD Ordinance.
Ronnie Simmons made a motion to approve rezoning to a Planned Town Development with the listed
conditions; seconded by Fred Evans, and passed unanimously.

OLD BUSINESS

GARY HOWELL, Liquor Licensee for District 1 asked the Council to approve the Dillingham property on
Highway 138 that was just rezoned by the Council to C-2 for the District 1 liquor location.

Mayor Kelley advised Mr. Howell that in accordance with the Liquor Ordinance, he must submit an application
and plan for a liquor license at this location. Mr. Howell pointed out that the Dillingham site is located on a
curve on State Route 138. The Georgia Department of Transportation plans to straighten the curve and five
lane State Route 138. Mayor Kelley said the Council would take that into consideration when they review his
application. Mr. Howell asked the Council for an extension of time to the next council meeting to prepare a
proposal for this location.

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to approve request for an extension of time to the next council meeting;
Fletcher Turner seconded, and passed unanimously.

LIVABLE CENTERS INITIATIVE GRANT. Mayor Kelley advised Council to adopt a resolution to authorize
Mayor Kelley and City Clerk to sign Subgrant Agreement between the City of Stockbridge and the Atlanta
Regional Commission (ARC) for the Livable Centers Initiative Grant. The matching grant in the amount of
$72,000 is for consulting and engineering fees to complete a study for sidewalks on North Henry Boulevard
and State Route 138. The City will then submit plans to ARC for a matching grant in the amount of $650,000.

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to authorize Mayor Kelley and City Clerk to sign Subgrant Agreement;
Fletcher Turner seconded, and passed unanimously.

Ted Strickland, City Manager, asked permission to make additional comments regarding this matter. In order
to apply for the matching grant, the City must retain the services of a consulting firm to apply for the Livable
Centers Initiative Grant. Mr. Strickland reviewed a study of consulting firms that applied to do the project and
he recommends Hughes, Good, O’Leary and Ryan Consulting Firm as the City’s consulting firm. They have
been involved with Monarch Village and other projects in the area. They have a thorough understanding of
the needs for this project and meet the guidelines as a consulting firm.
Ronnie Simmons made a motion to approve HGOR as the City’s consulting firm for the Atlanta Regional
Livable Centers Initiative Grant; seconded by Fletcher Turner, and passed unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS

SOUTHCREST DRIVE AND SOUTHCREST PARKWAY RIGHT-OF-WAY DEDICATION. A. J. Welch
informed Council that SouthCrest Drive and SouthCrest Parkway are the roads that serve the SunTrust
Company complex. The parkway presently goes to the SunTrust building and dead-ends. The City is
requiring the owners, Sid M. Kresses and Larry Wilenski to add a cul-de-sac to the parkway. Mr. Kresses
and Wilenski have posted a bond agreeing that they will build the cul-de-sac.

Mr. Welch sent the documents to Butch Oliver, Director of the Henry County Building Department for review
and everything is in order. The owners have six months to build the cul-de-sac. The reason it has not been
constructed already is because they are constructing a new facility in the complex and they are not sure
exactly where the cul-de-sac will end. The cul-de-sac has been defined in the documents but once they
get ready to construct, Mr. Welch will do an amendment to the right-of-way documents. Mr. Welch did not
want to take the deed without title to the land where the City could put in a cul-de-sac and have a bond in
place to pay for the construction of the cul-de-sac in the event the owners go under. Mr. Welch recommends
the Council adopt the resolution accepting these as City roads.

Fletcher Turner made a motion to adopt resolution accepting SouthCrest Drive and SouthCrest Parkway
as City streets; Ronnie Simmons seconded, and passed unanimously.

PAY ESTIMATE FOR WELL PROJECT

P. F. Moon & Company, Inc., Division I
Pay Request No. 7
$108,282.00

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to approve payment; Fletcher Turner seconded, and passed unanimously.

Stevenson & Palmer Engineering, Inc.
$ 5,242.56

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to approve payment; Harold Cochran seconded, and passed unanimously.

CHANGE ORDERS FOR WELL PROJECT

P. F. Moon & Company, Division I
Change Order No. 3 requests
extension of completion date to June 30, 2000.

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to approve; W. A. Gardner seconded, and passed unanimously.

Caldwell Tanks Alliance, LC, Division III

Change Order No. 3 requests
payment for additional asphalt costs required by
Georgia Department of
Transportation to pave driveway to water tank.

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to approve; Fred Evans seconded, and passed unanimously.

PAY REQUEST FOR ROCK QUARRY LIFT STATION

MacBa Sewer & Pipeline, Inc.

Pay Request No. 2, Substantial
Completion $ 26,873.10

Fred Evans made a motion to approve; Fletcher Turner seconded, and passed unanimously.

AQUASCAPE ENVIRONMENTAL. Ted Strickland informed Council that he has received a request from
AquaScape to go into Clark Community Park to remove some trees and restructure the creek bed to improve
the drainage. This will be at no cost to the City. When an Environmental Protection Agency wetland
regulation is violated, the violator is required to pay for this type of improvement project. Mr.Strickland would
like permission to investigate this proposal and if it checks out, he will give them the go ahead. If not as they
propose, he will get back with the Council.

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to authorize Ted Strickland to negotiate with AquaScape to determine the
scope of work planned; Fletcher Turner seconded, and passed unanimously.

AMEND AGENDA - Ronnie Simmons made a motion to amend the agenda to hear Steven Harper; Fletcher
Turner seconded, and passed unanimously.

STEVEN HARPER, CUSTOM DRYWALL SPECIALTIES, 4858 North Henry Boulevard would like to discuss
an incident that happened a month ago with Ted Strickland. Ted Strickland appeared at his business and
demanded that he move business because he was violating City Code. He did not ask for the owner but
approached the workers that were getting ready to go out on the job. One of his workers brought this to his
attention and he came down stairs and he listened to what Mr. Strickland was saying. Mr. Harper became
upset and had a few words for Mr. Strickland. After a heated discussion he agreed that he would go to City
Hall to discuss the zoning.

At the present time his zoning is OI (office/institutional) and he thinks he is operating within the limits of this
zoning classification as long as he operates as a profession business and does not wholesale or retail.
Mayor Kelley asked if he has a business license? The Clerk advised that a license was issued strictly for an
office. Mr. Harper explained that he originally ran his business out of his home and he had an office in his
home until he found this site with George Quillian. The building was leased under OI to run an office and
that’s what he does. Nothing is manufactured of built on the premises. It is exclusively for an office. Workers
come in to get assignments, they go out into the field and they work.

Ted Strickland told him he could not park commercial vehicles on this site but Mr. Harper said he believes
under OI he is allowed to park company vehicles on site. Mr. Strickland also made the comment that they
are not allowed to store materials and it does not say anywhere in OI zoning that you cannot store any type
of material. Mr. Harper stated that originally he started the drywall business and overnight he became a
multi-million dollar business. He brought this business to Stockbridge and has given employment opportunity
to several people. He runs sixty (60) men in the field but they do not come to the office. One person from
each crew comes to pick-up paychecks. The only storage they have is when they have a bucket of sheet
rock mud that is leftover is brought back and stored in the lower garage of the building and goes back out the
next day on a job. There are a few small pieces of sheet rock stored in the garage. According to his
calculations, the amount of material is not even one (1) percent of the amount of materials out on the jobs.

Mr. Harper said that Mr. Strickland was trying to file him into M-1 (light manufacturing). He evaluated this
with Mr. Strickland. He explained to Mr. Strickland that he did not fall under M-1. M-1 is a manufacturing
enterprise, and he does not manufacture anything.

George Quillian, owner of the property, stated that when Steven Harper came to him to rent this property and
he did a credit check on him and found out that this is not a little small business but a well run business. Mr.
Quillian called Capital Materials, the largest distributor of sheet rock in the Atlanta area, and Mr. Harper is
one of their largest customers. He has an open account of over $60,000 a month just for materials, which
throws the business into a multi-million dollar business classification. Mr. Harper’s credit is perfect. Mr.
Quillian said if the Council does not want this type of business, what do they want?

Mayor Kelley said the City wants every business but he certainly will have to be in the right zoning. Ted
Strickland said that less than two months ago, they had put in a car wash on this site and water was running
down the hill onto the street and he told them “no” you couldn’t have this here. Mr.Strickland said when he
approached the business, he had his card in his hand and told Mr. Harper’s employees what he wanted and
what the problem was and was told he needed to talk with the manager and Mr. Harper came down the stairs
at that time. Mr. Strickland told Mr. Harper he needed to be in C-1 or C-2 zoning, then he and Mr. Harper
did have some words. When Mr. Strickland was there, there were three or four trucks in the driveway and
men working around the bottom of the garage. Mr. Strickland did not check Mr. Harper’s credit because that
was not a factor when it comes to proper zoning.
Mayor Kelley said that Mr. Harper must conduct his business as an OI business and the City would be
monitoring his business. Mr. Harper said that he is remodeling the outside of the building and he has no
outside storage and there is never more than three (3) trucks there at one time.

Ronnie Simmons pointed out that we have calls from time to time complaining about various businesses and
the Council must go strictly by the ordinance and Mr. Harper should keep the storing of materials to a
minimum to keep down the complaints. Mr. Simmons complimented Mr. Harper on remodeling the building
to make the area look better.

Ronnie Simmons made a motion to adjourn; Fletcher Turner seconded, and passed unanimously. The
meeting adjourned at 7:15 P. M.

Respectfully submitted,

Merle Manders, CMC R. G. Kelley
City Clerk Mayor
