THIS IS A COPY OF AN EMAIL I SENT YESTERDAY TO ALL MEMEBERS OF COUNCIL, THE MAYOR, AND THE PLANNING COMMISSION

My name is Doug Best. I own Lots 3 and 4 in Trickum Creek Estates in Tyrone, GA. This subdivision has come up in public discussion recently because of local citizen concern for a gravesite located on this subdivision. I have copied you on this email because I believe you may be an important part of the discussion as we search for a solution.

This gravesite has become an issue because concerned citizens have learned after the fact that developers put a road through a clearly platted gravesite. There are pictures showing that what is now a jumbled mess was once a fairly pristine and obviously historic location.

This subdivision would not have been allowed to proceed as it is, and the gravesite would not be in the disarray that it is, if both the developer and the responsible Town of Tyrone official had followed the existing rules.

The most important fact is that the responsible Town of Tyrone official had 2 chances to ensure that the gravesite in Trickum Creek estates was properly marked and protected as the law requires. One was before construction on the subdivision was permitted to begin and one was once work was stopped after a citizen reported to the police that a road had been illegally cut through one side of the graveyard. Both the Town and the developer had legal obligations relative to the gravesite which were not met.

In order to help figure out why this happened and where we should go from here, I would ask that you bear with me while I explain a little more about the subdivision's history and the money trail. Here are a few pertinent facts:

1) Town of Tyrone rules dictate that no driveway shall service more than 2 houses. Multiple-house, private drives were allowed in the past but rescue personnel expressed concern about locating the proper house in an emergency. At the time the Trickum Creek Estates subdivision was applied for, this type of drive was prohibited.

2) The developers purchased 10 acres and subsequently persuaded the Town of Tyrone to annex this area. The developers applied for a subdivision permit allowing them to develop the area into 5 approximately 2 acre lots.

3) For those who have not been to Trickum Creek Estates, the 5 houses/lots in Trickum Creek Estates are serviced by ONE driveway. Regardless of any other fact, this subdivision as it stands is clearly inconsistent with Town of Tyrone rules. Although culpability certainly lies with the developer, ultimately, it was up to the responsible Town official to ensure that the subdivision was completed according to Town rules and that any subsequent building permits issued were also consistent with Town rules.

4) If the developers had been forced to follow Town Rules, this 10 acre+ section could not have been developed without curbs and gutters. However, even if the subdivision had been built with proper curbs and gutters, it could not have been built and marketed with 5 buildable lots given the limiting dimensional aspects of the gravesite.

5) Established where it is, down the property line, a proper road with curbs and gutters would have destroyed even more of the gravesite. The only legally permissible alternative at the time would have been to allow less lots.

6) The developers originally submitted a Subdivision Plat that shows a road/easment closely circumventing the graveyard. This graveyard is clearly marked on previous plats filed at Fayette County. If the road had been cut where it was originally permitted, the developers would not have been able to sell Lot 3. There simply would not be enough room to meet all the requirements regarding setbacks and septic fields and still build a house on this lot.

7) There is both pictorial evidence and statements from local citizens supporting the fact that gravestones in this site were upright and extended to, and perhaps past, the property line. In order to put in the road these gravestones were moved and/or removed.

8) The plat submitted by the developers is inconsistent with the dimensions described on the plat on record with the county. These new dimensions were accepted by the responsible Town official as fact. Law requires significant proof to change the platted dimensions of a gravesite.

9)The developers were not forced by the Town official to pin, partition off, or protect the gravesite in anyway PRIOR to receiving a permit to start on the subdivision. The developers had a legal obligation to mark and protect the gravesite before beginning any work.

10) The developers cut a road directly down the property line and over the outside 25% (approximately) of the gravesite shown on the plat. The road was cut and gravel poured before work was stopped. Obviously, this road did not go where the approved plat had allowed.

11) After the fact, the developers secured a letter from an "expert" which asserted that there was no proof that bodies now lay directly below the road the developers had already cut. This issue was not brought before the council or any other governing body that might have insisted upon protection and clear delineation of the gravesite. The developers were allowed to file a new plat for subdivision with absolutely no confirmation as to the real boundaries of the gravesite. Again, the gravesite was not pinned or protected as required by law and work was allowed to continue. The only protection or identification that has occurred around the site to this point is a silt fence erected by a person working for me as an attempt to protect what was left in conjunction with my erosion control program.

12) Four building permits have currently been issued in this subdivision. In order to obtain a building permit, a Site Survey must be submitted. The accepted site surveys and corresponding building plans issued for all lots are not consistent with the subdivision as currently platted.

13) In order to meet the obligations as described by the subdivision plat, the homeowner on Lot 1 would have had to cut a driveway across the drainage easement out onto Trickum Creek Road. Instead, Lot 1 was permitted and built with a driveway accessing the main road into the subdivision.

14) In order to meet the obligations as described by the subdivision plat there would need to be 2 immediately adjacent and parallel driveways extending down the property lines of Lots 1, 2, and 3. Again, the house on Lot 1's driveway was permitted to cross directly across the supposed "easements" for lots 3, 4 and 5.

15) By law, there must be public access by way of an easement to this gravesite. In order to accomplish this, the Town official allowed that required public easement to be combined with the private easements necessary to access Lots 2, 3, 4, and 5.

16) Maintenence personnel must be allowed access to maintain the gravesite but no access is possible except down what was permitted as a private driveway.

17) There is no area available for people to park when visiting or maintaining the gravesides except in the middle of this public driveway.

It is obvious by the results that neither the developer nor the responsible Town official intended to ensure that this subdivision comply with Town law. This subdivision is the result of a "backroom" agreement outside of the processes dictated by Town code.

I believe that a Town's code/law exists to protect the rights of its citizens, both alive and dead. It would be easy at this point to say simply, this "train has left the station" and there is little that we can do. But my questions are: Will we accept incompetence or worse from a public official? Are we going to reward deception and rule breaking on the part of a developer?

I would ask that you use whatever influence you have to ensure that this discussion isn't allowed to digress into a finger pointing contest. I ask that this very important issue become part of the public conversation. I ask that both parties be held accountable and pressured to expedite a solution that serves both the homeowners in Trickum Creek Estates and the memories and families of those lying in the graveyard.

Regards,

Doug Best

I thought there were going to big things... local TV, AJC articles, GA Bar investigations. Maybe something on 60 min, 20/20 or Dateline (ooops' wrong topic but wait there is a predItor or 2 over there).
Don't forget about getting that info on the "snakes." I want to know the who, what, when. where, why on the "eyewitness" w/ the skier in the bullrushes dying. Your credibility is at stake.

Tyrone didn't obey STATE LAWS which are there to protect graves. BEFORE a developer can do anything around a cemetery he HAS TO apply for a permit and 1. show ownership 2.have a report from an archeologist showing how many, and where the graves are. 3. a plan to notify all decendants 4. preposal on how to avoid damage to the cemetery.
NONE OF THESE WERE DONE AND THAT IS STATE LAW! When questioned, the town manager made some remark about that being a STATE law and not Tyrone's! Oh please! If he thinks we are that dumb, why does he have the police running around now chasing the lotto ticket bandits? Do we have a local law about stealing? Gee I thought that was our state laws.....does Tyrone have local laws about murder since they don't have to go by STATE or FEDERAL laws? I wonder if I could talk my ex into a long weekend here since it seems to be a place where nothing is a crime if it aint on Tyrone's books! Wow! a real utopia for law breakers!