Wednesday, Septembder 5, 2001
|
Wednesday, Septembder 5, 2001 |
|
Pailer sues county over rezoning denial By JOHN
MUNFORD And DAVE
HAMRICK
Charlie "Lou" Pailer has filed suit against Fayette County over its denial of commercial zoning for his five-acre property next to the Starr's Mill school complex. The land is the site of the Peeples house, one of Fayette's oldest homes. In the suit, filed last week in Fayette County Superior Court, Pailer claims the land doesn't have a reasonable economic use as currently zoned for office-institutional. The property is at the northeast corner of the intersection of Ga. Highway 74 south and Redwine Road near Peachtree City. Previously, the property had been zoned A-R (agricultural-residential). Pailer requested C-H (highway commercial) but the County Commission in July granted O-I zoning instead. Pailer is asking the court to grant his rezoning request for the commercial designation. He also is seeking general and special damages for inverse condemnation and deprivation of his constitutional rights. During the July 26 commission meeting, Pailer said he has lived in the house since 1980, and enjoyed the rural atmosphere around the home until that was ruined by development of the mammoth school complex, which surrounds the home on three sides. The county's recent approval of a shopping center across the street will make the home even less desirable as a residence, he said. "I'll be looking right in the front door of that Kroger," he said. When he bought the house, he added, the advertisement "said historic plantation surrounded by countryside, not by a school." He has tried to market the property for offices without success, he said, and a commercial and office appraiser testified that after studying the situation, she's convinced there's no market for offices in that area. A couple dozen residents stood to show their opposition to the rezoning, and six spoke against it, saying they represented hundreds of homeowners in their neighborhood associations. All were sympathetic to Pailer's plight, but said they fear commercial development on the corner in front of the school will present a danger to their children. Donna O'Kelly, Pailer's daughter and real estate agent, said her own son will attend school at the complex. "If that kid would be in danger, I would not recommend" the rezoning, she said. Commissioner Herb Frady argued in favor of Pailer's request. "He's entitled to some use of his property," he said. "Mr. Pailer lived on that property a long time. Some of your subdivisions were not there, the school was not there ... he made it his home, and he's been impacted probably more than this store will impact your property," he told the opponents. But four other commissioners said the rezoning is simply not in the best interests of the county. "We do have to do what we feel is best for the largest number of people," said Commissioner Linda Wells.
|
||