Council approves removal of 'archaic' setback

March 11, 2010

Teresa Williams The Times Enterprise Thu Mar 11, 2010, 07:11 PM EST

THOMASVILLE — A long-standing additional setback buffer required for some medical facilities has been eliminated from Thomasville city code.

The Thomasville City Council gave final approval to amend Sec. 22-106, located in the “zoning” chapter, that pertains to “Schedule of Permitted Uses — Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Senior Citizen Homes” at its Monday meeting.

The council agreed to strike subparagraph “c:” an additional setback of 25 feet “more than required for other structures within the same district.”

“This section of the ordinance was related to an archaic setback requirement,” City Planner Lee Chastain said Thursday. “The council removed that additional 25-foot setback buffer.”

Structures under the section still have to comply with regular setback guidelines as defined in the code.

Chastain said city staff is currently going through city code and came across this outdated buffer.

“We’ve been steadily going through code and addressing revisions that really need to take place that have not been addressed over time,” he said. “This particular section of code is an archaic standard probably added when the code was initially approved in the 1950s or 60s.

“It was made based on health conditions of the day, when tuberculosis and other airborne illnesses were a concern. They probably thought having that additional setback at the time would help eliminate the spread of such diseases.”

The ordinance was approved on first reading Feb. 22 and went before the council for final approval at the March 8 meeting.

“It made good sense to change it and, as a builder, I understood it very well,” Council member Greg Hobbs said Thursday. “Years ago, the buffer was required for medical reasons, but we don’t have as many problems with those diseases today.”