At last week’s city commission meeting, commissioners voted to rezone just over 13 acres at 2002 Ocilla Road from General Commercial to M-1 Light Industrial. The property is formerly the site of Mid-South Trailers and, for the last six years, has been the site of a cargo trailer manufacturing facility. Despite opposition from nearby property owners, notably Louis and Ruby Harper, who own the property directly east of the cargo trailer plant, commissioners voted 4-1 to approve the request. The Harper family plans to appeal the decision.
The city conducted the first reading of the rezoning request at the December 23, 2024, meeting. The second reading and public hearing took place at the January 13, 2025, commission meeting. Two commissioners, Brenda Moore and Mike Gowen, were not at the meeting. The property in question is in Commissioner Gowen’s ward; he could not attend the meeting due to a family emergency.
Hanna Black, an attorney with the Valdosta law firm Langdale Vallotton, represented the Harper family at the meeting.
Since 2019, the cargo plant at 2002 Ocilla Road has, according to the city, operated lawfully as a legal non-conforming use under the Unified Land Development Code (ULDC). Going back to 2007, Mid-South built small utility trailers there. In 2017, Mid-South relocated to property on South Shirley Avenue. From 2017-2019, there were no manufacturing operations on the Ocilla Road property. In 2019, the property became the site of the cargo trailer plant.
On February 28, 2011, the city passed the ULDC. That document grandfathered in the property in question as a legal non-conforming use. The occupants of that property have operated as such since 2011. However, there are conditions attached to operating under the non-conforming use guideline. City representatives believe that the current occupants of the property have followed those conditions. The Harpers disagree.
And therein is where the problems arise.
According to Black, who spoke on the Harpers’ behalf at the meeting, there was no manufacturing on the property from 2017 until 2019. In order to qualify as a legal non-conforming use, there cannot be a break in operations on a given property for six months or more. The operations on a property must not expand or enlarge, either.
Black (and the Harpers) maintain that manufacturing operations at the location stopped from 2017-2019. And since manufacturing resumed in 2019, the operation has expanded into heavy industrial use, a far cry from the light industrial application of the previous owners. The current owners have also expanded in terms of buildings on the property. “The prior owner had a legal non-conforming use in 2007. But that was terminated in 2017 when the previous owner moved. The utilities were disconnected in 2017. There are no city records showing a business license from 2017 to 2019,” said Black.
She continued: “There is no legal non-conforming use on the property. The applicant has been allowed to continue and expand. This application has been put forth to you all as a means of sweeping all these ongoing violations under the rug, as a means of just quickly correcting them. But that’s not right. That’s not how we correct issues . . . We correct them the same way we would ask any property owner to correct those issues. We don’t permit a rezoning request that goes completely against our standards and objectives to fix these deficiencies.”
City officials, however, maintain that the legal non-conforming use of the property never stopped. While utility usage decreased, the utilities were never disconnected, they say. Officials also believe that the current use of the property falls within the legal non-conforming use guidelines in the ULDC.
In addition to Black, several members of the Harper family spoke in opposition to the rezoning request. No one spoke on behalf of the current owners of the property.
When the public comments had concluded, Mayor Tony Paulk made a motion to rezone the property. Commissioner Tony Paulk II seconded. During the discussion before the vote, Commissioner Steve Bailey made a few comments, asking rhetorically if there was any way for the two parties to co-exist. Commissioner Cindy McNeill voted in favor of the motion but did ask if it was prudent to hold off on the vote at least until Commissioner Gowen could be involved. “We have a legal quorum. It requires four votes to conduct business in the City of Douglas. We have met that very basic legal requirement of having a quorum,” said Mayor Paulk. The rezoning request passed 4-1. Commissioner Bailey voted against the motion.
There is a 30-day period in which an appeal can be filed. The Harper family indicated that they will in fact appeal the commission’s decision.
Commissioners also approved the following items:
- The animal shelter contract with Alapaha Animal Control;
- A resolution to provide PTSD supplemental insurance for city firemen and police officers;
- The purchase of a double-sided electronic message board for the recreation department’s sign at Van Davis Road and Highway 441 North (the main entrance off of 441 to Jardine Stadium and the recreation department ball fields);
- A new 6” gas meter;
- An alcoholic beverage license for La Mansion restaurant, which is located at the old Flyin’ Cowboy;
- An alcoholic beverage license for T&M Food Mart on South Peterson Avenue (this is due to a change in ownership);
- The appointments of Dr. Morris Leis and Avery Daniels to the Planning Commission;
- Awarding the contract for GEPA water system improvements to Doyle Hancock and Sons Construction for $1,520,688.50; and
- The grant CHiP grant application for homes in the Jamestown area – McDonald Road, Glendale Avenue, Holiday Circle, and Jamestown Drive.