770-928-0706 - The Cherokee Ledger-News

10 THE CHEROKEE LEDGER-NEWS NEWS MAY 20, 2009
BY CONSTANCE COOPER
constancecooper@ledgernews.com
The city of Canton may have to
give more than $4 million in impact
fee credits to the developer of The
Bluffs of Technology Park – even
though officials can’t find any
record of the city council ever authorizing
the credit.
A development agreement was
signed Jan. 30, 2003, by former Mayor
Cecil Pruett and Richard
O’Brien, president of TPA Realty
Services, LLC, which built The
Bluffs.
The agreement entitles TPA to an
Open Space Parks and Recreation
Impact Fee credit equal to the value
of a 150-foot buffer around the
Hickory Log Creek Reservoir that
TPA agreed to donate to the city of
Canton. It also reimburses TPA for
costs it incurred in building Bluffs
Parkway with transportation impact
fee credits, even though Canton
had no transportation impact
fees at the time the document was
signed.
The agreement states that TPA
would be given transportation impact
fee credits if those fees were
enacted in the future. The city of
Canton started charging developers
impact fees on April 20, 2006. As
of May 8, Canton had $1,095,704 in
its impact fee coffers.
At the May 7 work session, the
city council discussed two letters
TPA sent to the city in April. The
letters, which TPA is asking the
city to sign, state that, per the 2003
agreement, Canton will give TPA
$2,250,000 in transportation impact
fee credits and $1,850,000 in parks
and recreation impact fee credits.
If the letters are approved by the
city council, these credits will be
given to the developer when it obtains
new building permits. The
city council is expected to vote on
whether or not Mayor Gene Hobgood
will sign the letters on May 21.
The $1,850,000 parks and recreation
credit amounts to a quarter of
the $7.4 million in parks and recre-
■■■
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ation impact fee credits the 2003
agreement entitles TPA to receive.
TPA Vice President Mark Mallard
said that his company is offering to
take a reduced amount because “25
percent is a more realistic value”
for an impact fee credit.
When asked why TPA moved forward
with construction of The
Bluffs without making sure the
city council had approved the development
agreement it was working
from, Mallard replied “I think
when the mayor signs the agreement,
you’re assuming all the appropriate
things have taken place.”
“What you’re saying is news to
me,” he added.
Hobgood expressed concern that
Canton could be obligated to honor
an agreement that the city council
may not have approved. Nonetheless,
he thinks that Canton must
still give the credits.
“There are some agreements
that I don’t think were in the best
interest of the city,” Hobgood said.
“But they were made, and the developer
relied on that.”
Because TPA relied on the agreement
when building The Bluffs,
Hobgood doubts the city would be
able to fight them in court.
“We need to move forward, recognizing
some of the problems of the
past,” the mayor said. “There’s
some of these we could fight forever,
but in the long run, we wouldn’t
be better off.”
City Attorney Billy Hasty said
that the council could choose to ratify
the development agreement after
the fact.
“We may not be able to find (a
vote on the development agreement),
but the council can elect to
ratify it because performance had
been done in good in faith,” Hasty
said.
In other business, the council:
• discussed revoking Charles
Carnes’ business license for a towing
company he operates at 650
Oakdale Road. Carnes’ neighbor,
N.J. Wilbanks, spoke for revoking
the license, and Carnes defended
his right to operate the company,
maintaining that he was following
city ordinances. In debating the
revocation, Carnes and Ward 3
Councilman Lester Cantrell, another
neighbor, exchanged heated
words. “You remember when you
came to my house and threatened
me with a lawsuit?” Cantrell asked.
“I still have that lawsuit ready,”
Carnes replied. The city council
voted 3-0-3 to revoke the license,
with Ward 3 Councilwoman
Amelia Rose, Ward 2 Councilman
Bill Bryan and Cantrell abstaining.
Rose and Bryan abstained because
they did not feel they had enough
information to vote on the issue,
and Cantrell abstained because of
his personal dispute with Carnes.
The motion failed;
• discussed the city’s policy of
having the building and fire departments
inspect a business site
every time a new business moves
into that site, at a cost of $100 to the
business owner. Mayor Gene Hobgood
thinks this may place an unnecessary
burden on business
owners. However, Lead Building
Inspector Mark Crosby thinks that
it is necessary for safety reasons,
although the fee may be excessive;
• discussed the occupation tax
Canton charges professionals
within the city limits. Former
Court of Appeals Judge Marian
Pope, who was sitting in for City Attorney
Billy Hasty, said that courts
had deemed these charges illegal
and continuing to bill them could
place the city at risk of litigation;
• discussed offering 65-gallon recycling
carts to city residents at a
cost of $5 per month. Residents
who wish to continue using plastic
recycling bins will be able to do so;
• instructed city staff to move forward
with a more detailed plan for
a park at the end of Industrial Parkway.
The city hopes to build this
park with funds from the county’s
$90 million parks and recreation
bond, but the county is asking for
more in-depth plans before it commits
funds;
• discussed adopting the capital
improvements element and the
five-year short-term work program
of the 20-year comprehensive plan.
Director of Community Development
Ken Patton said that these
parts of the plan must be approved
separate from the impact fee portion
of the plan for Canton to regain
its qualified local government
status from the Georgia Department
of Community Affairs;
• discussed right of way acceptance
for the section of Great Sky
Parkway at the entrance to Great
Sky. The city accepting this right of
way is not expected to influence a
dispute between Great Sky property
owners and Fairgreen Capital,
which built the development, over
a commercial road being constructed
near the entrance to Great
Sky;
• discussed building code violations
at 750 East Main Street. The
city sent a letter to Patti Ball, attorney
for Chris Anderson, who owns
750 East Main, on April 30. The letter
instructed Anderson to remove
a retaining wall at the rear of his
property within 30 days or face a
$1,000-per-day fine by the city. As of
May 7, the city had not received a
response; and
• discussed bids to repair a sanitary
sewer crossing in Cherokee
Overlook. The bids ranged from
$12,850 to $14,724.