After hearing from neighboring business owners that a flea market would be “a step backwards” for the Banks Crossing area, the planning commission voted Tuesday night to recommend denial of a request for a conditional use permit for the project.
Planners Albert Ward, Sammy Reece and Keith Segars voted to deny the request. Planning commission member Alicia Andrews excused herself from the discussion and vote because of a conflict of interest. She is the manager of the outlet mall, Commerce Factory Outlets, adjacent to the site.
The request from Barrow 141 to locate a flea market at 100 Pottery Drive, at the former location of Craven’s Pottery, will go to the Banks County Board of Commission for action when it meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the annex building.
At the planning commission this week, a representative of Barrow 141 said a furniture store is already set to locate in a portion of the 90,000 square foot building and that the flea market would be in the same area. The hours of operation for the flea market would be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays and Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays.
Seven people spoke against the request at the planning commission meeting.
“I think a flea market is a step backwards,” said Joe Cook, owner of a nearby business. “We all had hopes we would see something really viable go there. If we put a flea market in that area, we are taking Banks County backwards. It’s a bad idea.”
Another nearby business owner, Don Bynam, also spoke in opposition to the project.
“A flea market is about as low as you can go … just above a yard sale,” he said. “In this location, it’s not the right thing. You are not going to be able to attract other businesses to come in if you have a flea market.”
Alicia Andrews said: “We will endanger the business community at Banks County if we allow this flea market to come in.”
Jennifer Tucker, a representative of property near Longhorn, said her company is in negotiation with a major restaurant chain interested in locating at Banks Crossing. She is concerned that a flea market might cause stop this project.
The representative of Barrow 141 said that large retail stores have declined to locate on the site due to the downturn in the economy.
“We’re trying to do the best we can,” she said.
She added that they have had to hire security due to vandalism on the property.
It would also guarantee that high quality businesses would not be attracted to the area and it would be detrimental to the existing businesses. My thought on the situation is wait until the economy turns around. In the meantime the county could sweeten the pot with incentives to attract quality developers. Something better will come for that site.
The Planning Commission voted to approve the fuel depot and the go cart track. Curt's detailing/towing and AJ Purcell's auto repair shop were approved as well.
The most interesting part of the meeting was the proposal that the commissioners are putting forward to pretty much do away with the planning commission
Athens Banner Herald has ran at least TWO stories on it!!!!!!!
It's bad that the local paper doesn't even cover local news!!!!
Can anyone answer why?
Angie Gary
Editor
The Banks County News
One of the Commisioners wants to do away with this because, He wants to have ALL Power to make some more of these Backroom deals, that sweetens his wallet and lets his Buds do what they want with no checks or balances!
The pay is so minimal, nobody is on it for that!
There are plenty of non esential positions in the Annex building! Ask around!
Their decisions are made based upon tax revenues rather than the actual property owners interest. If the owner of a property wishes to use his property in ANY WAY he wishes, he should be allowed to do so . If they wanted to put a flea market , restaurant, chicken house or smelly old hog farm there, no one should have been in a position to open their mouths - unless they want their jaw broken. If you are brave enough to pay all your life, just to acquire maintain & keep a piece of property , while thinking you now own something , only to find yearly your criminally extorted through land taxation and then regulated by some group of busy bodies telling you what you must do with our own hard earned land , smacks of unjust condemnation of the property owners assets without compensation .
Has anyone got any idea what the bloody Tax burden is on that piece of property for the owner ? If they have any guts at all , they will open it anyway & shoot the first politician or government employee dead that dares crosses the line to say there is something wrong with what they are doing. Call it a mall & rent the thing by the hour, they allow the local motels to do the same thing & there's business taking place there nightly in a lot of those rooms & with no chance of a sales tax collection either.
How many of you can remember how many companies Wal-Mart put out of business, with their little store over in Commerce all those years back; let alone with the superstore on the hill ? The Flea Market would have balanced in a failing economy so small business owners might have again had a chance to operate somewhere they can afford. Any of you noticed what the leases are in the tri county area these days - the word unaffordable comes to mind.
When ANY Government Legislates the land owner and small business owner out of business in favor of community standards, tax dollar issues & for the better of what can only be, bigger business interests, we all get nailed . All we need is more Wal-Marts , factory outlets and fast food restaurants to mess up this once peaceful & profitable neighborhood. Communities are built by local business owners spending their income with local vendors not with multi-national companies that export the money out of the community & in our case out of the country to the big business owners bank accounts.
I vote we close all the government offices completely; fire all the employees including the elected ones , all through out the 159 Georgia counties and do without them all, including the Police & Garbage men , Fire Departments & all legislative bodies and do as we have done for at least a few million years before this madness - Handle It Ourselves.
It seems the goal of our current local government is exactly the opposite---I wish someone could explain to me what they hope to accomplish. Could it be higher taxes?? Less revenue from businesses?? More unemployement??
More new expensive offices for the government employees??
I don't understand why they voted against the flea market. The presentation given at the meeting would have been a big improvement over what it looks like now when you drive by. The manager at the outlet said 3-4 of the current businesses were going to leave if the flea market opened. That's their choice--they were probably leaving anyway based more on the economy than the flea market opening.