Albany City Commission denies rezoning request

ALBANY — The Albany City Commission threw “strike two” past Jyotsnaben Patel and his development firm Tuesday evening, denying a rezoning request that would have allowed the group to build a convenience store/gas station with an attached restaurant at 2402 Whispering Pines Circle.

The group had had a similar request denied last year.

“I believe this is a development that would create a hardship for the people who live in the (adjacent) neighborhood, many of them senior citizens,” Ward III Commissioner B.J. Fletcher said during discussion of the request. “I support new businesses, but I can’t support this.”

Whispering Pines Circle residents asked the board to deny the request, while Tod Lanier of Lanier Engineering spoke on behalf of the applicants, who were asking that the property be rezoned C-2 (general mixed-use business) from its current R-1 (single-family residential).

“That’s the only residential property for a long stretch along Dawson Road,” Lanier said. “To be consistent, it should be commercial. The owners have agreed to all of the conditions that have been placed on them, I don’t know what else you could ask them to do.”

The board voted 7-0 to deny the request.

The commission did vote to approve rezoning requests at 1705 N. Slappey Blvd. and 1701 N. Slappey Blvd., allowing the two businesses to fall under C-2 designation rather than C-1. The zoning changes will allow the tenants at both properties — a new Cup O’ Rice ‘N’ Wings restaurant at the former Taco Bell location and the Pig and Whistle liquor store — to use drive-through windows. The city recently enacted changes in its zoning that allows drive-throughs only at banks except in locations zoned C-2 (general mixed-use business).

Commissioners went against the recommendation of the Albany-Dougherty Aviation Commission and selected Ken Hodges to fill a vacant seat on that board. Ward VI Commissioner Tommie Postell said that while he has great respect for Aviation Commission nominee Anthony Parker, he worries that the Albany Technical College president, who has twice undergone treatment for cancer, might be taking on too much.

“I have no doubt that Dr. Parker would do a great job, but he has such a full plate,” Postell said. “I know Ken Hodges’ daddy had an airport here and he worked there as a young boy. I think Ken will be a great addition to that board.”

Ward II Commissioner Bobby Coleman, who nominated George Buchanan for the Aviation Commission seat, said he wanted to see new blood on city boards and commissions.

“If we keep naming the same people to all of these boards, we are not being inclusive,” Coleman said.

The commission also approved a property termination notice requested by the Kappa Alpha Psu fraternity, OK’d SPLOST VI funding to complete Thornton Gym and Edison Alley improvements, and approved a slate of funding requests that included $417,420 for Georgia Public Web to upgrade the city Utility Board’s Internet bandwidth.