Archived story
As originally published
A proposed lot-size exception for 39 Collier Road in Toccoa remains without a documented final county decision after it appeared on Stephens County agendas early this year. Gunby Communications Inc. is seeking permission for two tracts smaller than the one-acre minimum, and the Board of Commissioners’ Jan. 27 agenda listed the matter for consideration; that agenda does not record whether commissioners approved, denied, postponed or changed the request.
The request concerns a site identified as Residential Single and would affect what can be created on this property, rather than changing the countywide lot-size rule. One proposed tract would contain 0.55 acres and require a 0.45-acre variance; the other would contain 0.39 acres and require a 0.61-acre variance. Whether the exception is granted determines whether those two smaller lots may proceed at the Collier Road site.
The matter first appeared on the Planning Commission’s Jan. 6 agenda, where staff recommended approval. Planning Commission minutes from that meeting confirm discussion of the request but do not say the commission approved, denied or made another decision. The Board agenda later described a Planning Commission recommendation to approve as requested, then the same variance request reappeared on the Planning Commission’s Feb. 3 agenda without a documented revision or official outcome.
Gunby Communications is the applicant seeking the two variances. County planning staff recommended approval on the initial Planning Commission agenda, and the Board of Commissioners agenda lists a Planning Commission recommendation to approve the request as submitted. But the Planning Commission minutes do not state what action that body took, and the cited records do not document a separate public position for neighboring residents or other opponents.
The variances remain a proposal in the records cited here, not a documented completed approval or denial. The Planning Commission minutes establish that the request was discussed, while the Board of Commissioners agenda establishes scheduled consideration and reports a Planning Commission recommendation; neither record establishes a Board vote or final action. Nor do these records establish that the property has been subdivided, sold, developed or otherwise changed under the requested variances.
The next public step is identification or release of an official Board of Commissioners action record, such as minutes or a vote record, for the listed variance item. Until then, the central question is unresolved: whether Stephens County authorized two sub-one-acre lots at 39 Collier Road, rejected the request, deferred it or approved a different version. A later Planning Commission agenda mention alone does not answer that question.