Wednesday, October 3, 2001
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Wednesday, October 3, 2001 |
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Fayetteville tax rate set By MONROE ROARK
Fayetteville's property tax rate has been set at 3.22 mills, meaning there will not be a millage increase in the city for the upcoming fiscal year. The City Council conducted the last of three required public hearings before last week's work session, because a 5.5 percent rise in assessments has led to a tax increase even though the tax rate is not going up. The rates are broken down into 2.47 mills for the general fund and .75 mills for capital projects. City officials pointed out the steady decrease from the 1993 millage, which was 5.98. A mill is one dollar per thousand dollars of a home's assessed value. Assessed value is 40 percent of market value minus any exemptions. In other business, the council will convene tomorrow night at 7:30 at City Hall for its regular meeting. Four public hearings are on the agenda. The first is to allow Fayette County to conduct the city's election this fall, as it has done for years. Three City Council seats were to be up for grabs in the Nov. 6 election, but only one is contested. Larry Dell and Al Hovey-King are unopposed and will return to their seats, while Walt White faces challenger Lee Hunt in the at-large election. A rezoning request for a portion of Fayette Promenade is set for a first reading this week. Marvin Isenberg is asking that 24.352 acres on the eastern edge of the property, behind the Fayette Promenade (Kinko's) shopping center across Ga. Highway 85 from Fayette Pavilion, be rezoned to allow 94 town home units and 43,600 square feet of offices. A memo from city staff stated that the city's land use plan anticipates business park uses for the site, which is next to single-family detached residential property on the south, agricultural-residential land to the north, a flood plain to the east and the existing shopping center to the west. Staff recommended denial of the request because of its incompatibility with the land use plan and because the city's comprehensive plan seeks to have high-density residential and multifamily residential property only in the downtown area. The Planning and Zoning Commission also recommended denial. Timothy Breyne is requesting rezoning to C-2 commercial for about 1.1 acres on the east side of Jeff Davis, about 200 feet south of Stonewall Avenue. The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended C-1 zoning, a less intensive commercial category, as did city staff, to meet the land use plan, provided a specific use for the property is identified. In the past, the city has not rezoned property without a specific tenant or use being identified, according to staff. Breyne told the council at the work session that one possible tenant is an ambulance service, but it would be a non-emergency medical transport without sirens and similar tools, although it would operate at the office 24 hours a day.
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