Albany Dougherty Planning Commission mulls land use amendment

ALBANY — A divided Albany-Dougherty Planning Commission is moving forward with a proposed change to the county’s zoning ordinances that could have a significant impact on the whether a proposed microbrewery locates in western Dougherty County.

Of the six members present at the planning commission’s regular meeting Thursday, three were opposed and three were in favor of a proposal Albany Dougherty Planning Director Paul Forgey made that will better outline what types of non-agricultural activities can occur on agriculturally-zoned land.

Forgey told commission members that the proposed amendment was directly related to a recent, still unapproved by the Dougherty County Commission, request by Morgan III Properties to have agricultural land the company owns on Walker-Ducker Road re-zoned to C3 commercial to allow the company to construct a microbrewery utilizing crops grown on the property.

“As you know this came about because of the microbrewery discussion,” Forgey said. “There’s current push for this change.”

Forgey explained that the microbrewery discussion, as well as a discussion his office had with the owners of a 100-year-old family farm in eastern Dougherty County about the potential to host events on their property, led him to research current and potential land uses.

According to Forgey the county’s current ordinances are restrictive concerning additional uses of agriculture land, thus creating a situation where land must be rezoned entirely to permit certain non-agricultural activity.

Under the current guidelines, agricultural land can be used to house social/fraternal clubs, lodges and union halls, all without any square footage limitations; commercial greenhouse operations, including sales, with no size restrictions; chicken houses and feed lots with no restrictions; certain non-commercial recreational activities; and religious institutions with no size restrictions.

If approved, the amendment presented by Forgey would fully detail additional uses for agricultural land, and provide a three-tiered approval process to allow those uses.

For example, the new guidelines would allow seasonal types uses, including “cut-your-own tree” operations, hayrides, pumpkins patches and small farm stands up to 700 square feet without any governmental approval.

New land uses, such as wineries, breweries and distilleries up to 10,000 square feet would be allowed by administrative review, meaning the planning department would make the determination if the land use would be allowed.

Other land uses, such as wineries, breweries, and distilleries larger than 10,000 square feet; bed and breakfast inns; and hosting frequent large events would require special approval from the planning commission, rather than requiring re-zoning of the property.

Forgey explained that the benefit comes in the form of expanding agritourism and agribusiness opportunities in the area, which would be economically beneficial to the community.

“The purpose (of the amendment) is to give farms and other owners of agriculturally zoned property additional ways to utilize their land without having to rezone it to a commercial category,” said Forgey. “It’s beneficial to the property owners and operators as well as the local economy. Agritourism and value-added agriculture is not a new concept. Several states promote it aggressively.”

While Georgia does not have any statewide policy recommendations surrounding agritourism, many other states do and several counties around the Georgia, and primarily in South Georgia are home to some thriving agribusinesses.

Things that would fall under the agritoursim realm would be things like petting zoos, pumpkin patches, hay rides, working farms that provide tours, farms that have retail sales, plantations with hunting operations open to the general public, and wineries, breweries and distilleries that produce and sell a product made from crops grown on the farm.

Examples of agribusinesses near Dougherty County include Horsecreek Winery in Berrien County, Still Pond Vineyard and Winery in Calhoun County, White Oak Pastures in Calhoun County, Gin Creek Plantation in Colquitt County, Sparkman’s Dairy in Colquitt County, Quail Country Plantation in Early County, Georgia Olive Fams in Lanier County, Koinonia Farm in Sumter County, Mark’s Melon Patch in Terrell County, and Sweetgrass Dairy in Thomas County.

While the vote on the motion to approve Forgey’s recommendation was split, the proposed amendments will be presented to the Dougherty County Commission for discussion at its work session on Monday. The amendment will then be presented for a public hearing and a vote at the county commission’s next regular meeting August 17.

In other matters the planning commission also approved a conditional zoning request from Roy and Eula Duncan to have two tracts of land totalling 10.029 acres on the west side of South County Line Road from AG to R2 residential. The re-zoning will allow the Duncans and property owners Robert and Marsha Reese to install a new septic tank to service God’s Foundation Christian School, Inc., located at 905 S. County Line Road.

The planning commission will have its next regularly scheduled meeting Sept. 3.