Builders want looser county codes

Among Worley’s allegations is that the county has lost $6,400 in revenue from District 3 due to permits not being issued as required.

“We cannot afford for this to continue to happen,” Worley wrote in a letter to BOC chairman Danny Yearwood dated April 8. “Barrow County deserves better and to know that we, as county employees, must all do whatever is best for the county. As it is on everyone’s mind, we have a shortfall in our budget and every dime counts. $6,400 is something to be concerned about.”

One of the properties where Worley said that the county codes were not followed is at 713 Carl-Bethlehem Road, where he says there is a beauty salon operating out of a trailer without the required permits and business license.

Worley also mentioned the Moose Lodge on Hwy. 211 where he says there are “soil erosion problems” and the owners did not get the required land disturbing permit. Worley said there is a gravel parking lot in the back of the property that doesn’t meet the county code.

Worley also pointed out in the letter to Yearwood that Clack Construction, the contractor at the Hawk Creek Subdivision, did not get the appropriate permits for three lots.

“This is the same construction company that Mr. Lyn Clement (director of licenses and permits) hired to do some of the building maintenance done at the annex building and the museum,” Worley wrote. “This introduces a whole new issue. Why do we hire an outside contractor to do general building maintenance when we have a building maintenance department? Why would we use a contractor that doesn’t even follow county codes?”

Worley said that he contacted Clement about the violations on March 15.

“I asked Mr. Clement why the work was allowed to be done without permits,” Worley wrote in the letter to Yearwood. “He told me that he and his department have been so slow they didn’t ride into all the subdivisions to see what the contractors were doing. According to the information he gave me, some of the properties have had clearing and or soil erosion measures going on for over two and a half years.”

Worley sent an email to Clement requesting a written explanation of why he had not enforced the county code’s requirements. Worley’s e-mail also listed a total of 17 addresses reportedly without building permits: four in the Waterside at Riverwalk Subdivision; nine in the Pointe South Subdivision; three in the Hawk Creek Subdivision; and one on Miller Springs Drive.

At Clement’s request, he and Worley met March 19 to discuss Worley’s request for information. During that meeting, Worley said that Clement confirmed that no permits had been issued for any of the listed properties.

Worley said that he and Clements also discussed soil erosion problems on some of the lots.

“He stated that soil erosion was not their job,” Worley said. “I have pulled the job descriptions for Mr. Clement and the inspectors that work under his supervision and it states that they are indeed responsible for it. However, after pulling their personnel file, no one in his department even has the minimum training and certification to perform soil erosion inspections.”

District 6 commissioner Ben Hendrix said during the meeting that he would look into any violations in his district.

“I was dumbfounded to find out some of the things he found out going on in his district,” Hendrix said.

REQUESTS FROM BUILDERS
Worley’s remarks about the codes and permit requirements not being enforced came at the end of the meeting Tuesday night. The majority of the meeting dealt with a review of the nine recommendations from the builders on proposed changes to the unified development code. They include the following:

•no open space required in residential subdivisions. The builders said that green space often is not maintained and it would be better to the overall development to divide the space into lots and sell it to individual owners who would maintain it.

•sidewalks not required in residential subdivisions. The builders pointed out the expense of sidewalks and the lack of use of them in other areas.

•reduce house sizes to 1,350 square feet instead of the minimum of 1,600 square feet. Commissioner Worley said he “definitely doesn’t like that” recommendation. “There are enough starter homes in this county,” he said. “That is what this is—starter homes.” One of the builders estimated that the reduction in home sizes could save homeowners $10,000 to $15,000. “It allows us to sell to someone who can’t afford that 1,600-square-foot home,” one builder said. “…Everything is dead out there. We’d just like to get things moving.”

•maintenance bond for 18 months only. Yearwood said he doesn’t see a problem with this as long as the work is completed within the 18 months.

•reduce tap fee on sewer to $3,000 and let builder pay half at time of permit and half when certificate of occupancy is issued. Yearwood said his concern with this is the “infrastructure debt we have to pay.” He did suggest the builders pay a portion of the fee to tap onto the system and then the remainder when the home is sold.

•reduce tree requirements by 50 percent on commercial and industrial property. The builders pointed out that this would still require “quite a few trees” to be planted.

•reduce buffer width by 50 percent. The commissioners had differing opinions on this suggestion with Worley stating he wants to keep this buffer in place, while another commissioner suggested handling this with variances on a case-by-case basis.

•keep minimum lot size the same but eliminate density requirement by one lot per acre on R-1 subdivisions. The builders are asking that the lot sizes remain the same but that the density requirement be taken out.

•sight distance requirement on subdivision entry roads of 450 feet. Worley said this is a “safety issue” and he didn’t want to change it. “To me, we cross the line when we start dealing with safety,” he said.