Friday, March 28, 2003

Warehouse owner given 90 days to get certificate of occupancy

By ALISA KING
Special to The Citizen

Some controversial issues concerning the Valencia Warehouse arose at Fairburn's City Council meeting Monday night.

The owner of the Valencia Warehouse, located on the Ga. Highway 74 Bypass, requested a certificate of occupancy for the warehouse. However, the certificate could not be issued because the site and the landscaping were not developed in accordance with the approved plans.

According to Jim Williams, City Administrator, the owner of the Valencia Warehouse was given two alternatives:

Rework the site and the landscaping to reflect the approved plans.

Prepare new plans to reflect what is on the ground and then see if he can get those plans approved.

Williams claimed the problem with new plans is that two businesses, in the meanwhile, are being adversely affected by it.

An antique business has already relocated to the new space without a proper certificate of occupancy, and it is under orders to not conduct business. Furthermore, a new business has moved into the space vacated by the antique business, and it cannot get a certificate of occupancy because it is not a permitted use in the zoning district.

The council agreed to let the two businesses occupy the buildings and conduct business under a temporary 90-day CO.

In addition, the council will propose changes to the Zoning Ordinance to correct the zoning issues and the developer will be given no more than 90 days to correct the site plan and landscaping problems.

Williams said in order to assure compliance, the developer should be required to post a cash bond of at least $25,000 that will be forfeited to the city if the work is not satisfactorily completed within the 90-day period. In the event of a forfeit, the developer will still be liable for the completion of the work and a new bond may be required.

Williams says this approach will assure compliance, but it will not do so at the expense of the two businesses, which are simply victims of the process.