CARLTON FLETCHER: Vote on dealership sends mixed signals

Your wasted words will never be heard.

— The Allman Brothers Band

On the surface, it would appear that Monday’s vote by the Dougherty County Commission to deny businessman Darrel Finnicum’s rezoning request was one of those benign, no-harm, no-foul measures.

Everyone said the right things about the vote — one commissioner declaring the “passionate concern of our constituents” swayed his decision — and everyone said the right things afterward. The citizens who opposed the vote said it was never about Finnicum, but instead about the circumstances surrounding his request, and the businessman himself declared, magnanimously it would seem, that he had no hard feelings.

But with the principles in this matter removed and the issue taken at face value, one has to wonder what kind of message the commission sent to the community at large with its unanimous vote to deny Finnicum the opportunity to establish a satellite car lot to complement his successful Lee County dealership.

District 1 Commissioner Lamar Hudgens, in whose district the Gillionville Road property Finnicum asked to rezone lies, admitted that he was torn by the decision because he had “friends” on both sides, and there was no question he and other members of the board wrestled with the decision before casting their votes.

But for a commission whose stated priority is to bring jobs and additional tax revenue into the community to turn down an opportunity to do just that when a business with a proven track record comes calling is puzzling, to say the least.

There’s also little doubt that the citizens who opposed the rezoning — including Annabelle Stubbs and Alex Willson, who spoke against the matter at the commission meeting — were sincere in their belief that the rezoning to C-2, which would allow larger businesses than are permitted under the property’s current C-1, Ag and R-1 zoning classifications, would alter their neighborhood.

Willson’s assertion that there are a number of other already vacant properties in Albany and Dougherty County that might be better-suited for Finnicum’s dealership — an interesting argument, given that part of Finnicum’s plan was to utilize an abandoned building that was once a neighborhood convenience store as an office — and Stubbs’ claims that the intense lighting, possible disturbance of adjoining wetlands and precedence-setting invitation for other large businesses to move into the peaceful neighborhood scored points with the commission, as they should have. But it was also pretty apparent that the opposition was more of the NIMBY — not in my backyard — variety than it was a condemnation of Finnicum’s plan.

Backlash from the commission’s decision has already begun. Many who’ve complained have asked variations of the same question: Didn’t (members of the commission) run for office promising they’d do their best to bring jobs into the community and increase the tax base?

One city official, told of the vote, went so far as to say, “This was obviously a case of the wealthy getting the benefit over the working man. I don’t know all of the details, but Darrel Finnicum is the kind of businessman we want in our community. He brings real jobs, takes pride in the appearance of his business and truly cares about the people who work for him. You tell him if he wants to look at any property in the city limits of Albany, I’ll gladly do everything I can to make the process easy as it can be for him.”

Finnicum, meanwhile, said he “learned a lesson from the process” and admitted that his primary motivation for focusing on that particular property on Gillionville was that he’d grown up in that area and knew the people well. He reiterated Tuesday, though, that he was not upset with anyone involved in the matter and would continue his search for a location that’s a good fit for a satellite lot.

It’s hard to fault Dougherty commissioners who were swayed by the passionate arguments made by truly concerned citizens, citizens who, after all, only want what’s best for their neighborhood, as we all should. But it’s also hard not to question the commission’s commitment to business in the region when its members turn down on opportunity to bring in a businessman with such a proven track record.

Email Carlton Fletcher at [email protected]. Follow @ABH_Fletcher on Twitter.