Lake Santeetlah – A lengthy discussion on changes to Lake Santeetlah’s zoning application fee schedule dominated Nov. 12’s Zoom meeting.
Attorney Brian Gulden launched the largest portion of the discourse by expressing his belief that the $50 charge in the draft for an initial review of the site was steep.
Council member Roger Carlton backed up that belief, noting that zoning administrator Brian Farley only charges the town $30 an hour.
“I don’t think you’re supposed to make this into a profit center; you’re supposed to recover your costs,” Carlton astutely said.
Anne Hager – who is in charge of the town’s planning board – explained the reasoning behind the price tag, noting that research was performed on “7-8” other towns before setting the rate.
But, Hager was also quick to point out that the planning board was open to changes.
Language in the first paragraph – which stated that the town’s process of “re-inspecting” residential and commercial properties – was also questioned by Predmore.
Carlton elaborated, pointing out that the town does inspect “setbacks,” or hiccups that occur after the county approves a building permit. Gulden agreed to update the document to read “ … re-inspection of zoning application …,” a suggestion made by Predmore.
Once the schedule is approved, the fees will undergo a yearly review, which would sync with the town’s planning for a budget.
Other news and notes from the meeting included:
* Jose Rosado with Lake Point Properties of Santeetlah, LLC. – the company developing a new condominium on the old location of the Thunderbird Lodge, which was torn down over the summer – provided some updates on the project. Of note, groundbreaking is set to begin in early-spring, 2021 and finish roughly 18 months later, or around fall 2022. Four of the 10 condos in the complex have already been reserved. The facility will feature a three-story lodge surrounded by cottages, fire pits, a canoe-club pavilion and an underground parking garage. Inside the condo will be 10 two-bedroom, 2½-bath units and two penthouses, which will sell for $300,000-500,000.
* Glenn Burnette was named as an alternate member on the town’s 5-person planning board.