THOMASVILLE- The Thomas County Board of Commissioners met on Tuesday morning, where several commissioners raised questions about a rezoning request from Joey Collins.

The request, which is set to have a public hearing during the next Commissioners meeting, seeks to have 64.36 acres of a property, located on Springhill Road and U.S. Hwy. 319 South, rezoned from R-1, to R-2 to allow for the development of a residential subdivision, consisting of approximately 88 lots.

Commissioners were given a conceptual drawing of the proposed subdivision and it was explained that with this rezoning of R-2, Collins would be able to develop half acre lots as opposed to 1-acre lots in the current R-1 zone. However, Collins would still be required to enforce a 50-foot buffer along the Springhill Road portion of the property, as well last the Hwy. 319 portion of the property.

District 4 Commissioner Mark NeSmith wanted clarification on what type of buffer would be put in place.

Inspections and Planning Director Ken Gay informed NeSmith that he had spoken directly with Collins about the buffer and Collins planned, if approved, to have a natural buffer of trees, such as planted pines.

“He’s trying to be a good neighbor to those around him,” Gay said.

NeSmith told Gay he appreciated that, but he wanted to know what Thomas County required as a buffer, as he expects the buffer around the subdivision to be one of the primary issues raised by neighbors.

Gay said Collins’ rendering of a buffer was beyond what was required by the Commissioners, as the Commissioners only require one tree every three feet on public right of ways.

“This just seems very vague to me,” NeSmith said. “Are people going to be able to see in there?”

Gay refuted the claim that the ordinance was vague, stating it was very specific in the ordinance, but if the Commissioners wanted to impose additional requirements in order to approve the rezoning, they could do that at their discretion.

“We could get with Mr. Collins, because it wouldn’t be something we (the Inspections and Planning Department) would require him to do, but could be a part of the rezoning,” Gay said.

The property in question currently resides on a pecan orchard. District 7 Commissioner Phillip Brown asked if Collins may leave up some of the pecan trees to help with the buffer, but Gay doubted it.

“If he wanted to leave some, he could,” Gay said. “I doubt he would, because it’s not really a good tree for a subdivision, because the limbs break so bad and produce something that would get on people’s cars.”

County Manager Mike Stephenson appreciated Gay’s intentions by talking to Collins about his plans for a buffer, but felt like if the property was approved for re-zoning during the next County Commission meeting, a written document that must be enforced would need to be implemented.

Following Stephenson’s suggestion, the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approving the rezoning at the next meeting.

Commissioners still expressed serious concern, but do look forward to Collins attending the next meeting, allowing for further questioning about the future plans of the development and how it would impact existing residents and neighbors.