Friday, April 6, 2001
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Friday, April 6, 2001 |
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Mayor disputes bribe charges By JOHN
THOMPSON
After the smoke had cleared on three rezonings in Senoia, Mayor Joan Trammell let the residents and councilmen know exactly where she stood. "I was appalled at some of the things that I heard during last week's public hearings," she said. Trammell lashed out at resident Bill Royal, who alluded to deals being made and money under the table at the public hearing. "I work as a nurse and I do that for money. I have never taken a bribe," she said. The mayor said that some sort of legal action could be instituted against Royal and said she did not appreciate comments about people living in $160,000 homes that were made at the hearing. Trammell said she has always been a believer in green space and said she was more open to smaller lots with some trees left rather than clear-cutting a tract and just putting houses on it. She said she initially favors keeping only the R-40 zoning with open space and doing away with everything else. R-40 allows half-acre lots and she said there may be a problem with lot size, but said it's something the city can evaluate. In fact, Trammell made a motion to place a moratorium on all developments for three months until the R-40 classification could be worked on by the Planning Commission. But the motion died, and Councilman Dianne Cleveland offered a motion to set the moratorium at six months. After Councilman Robert Hannah seconded her motion, Planning Commission member Julie Brown spoke from the audience and said six months was too long. Fellow planning commissioner Jack Merrick also agreed, and Cleveland changed her motion back to a three-month moratorium. City Attorney Drew Whalen said a moratorium could not be enacted without a public hearing, so the vote was to start the process. The motion passed unanimously and the city will conduct a hearing on the issue April 24 at 7 p.m. at City Hall.
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