‘Everyday I put my life on the line just to get out of my neighborhood’

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — The Warner Robins residents residing within the Harper’s Ridge subdivision and surrounding areas have pleaded their case to the City of Warner Robins on several occasions. In a Town Hall meeting initially intended for Councilman Kevin Lashley, residents told Councilmen Derek Mack and Larry Curtis of several widespread issues in their community with water leaks and traffic concerns among them.

In following engagements, be it by reaching out to city officials directly or attending various city-held meetings, residents have asked that the city install a traffic light outside their neighborhood on Houston Lake Road to make egress safer as well as additional inlets to their subdivision so that travel might be easier during peak times of the day. They have also requested that water leaks be fixed within the neighborhood, many of which they claim have been in need of repair for up to 11 months.

As the community around their neighborhood has grown, many residents have said that the issue has only become worse. With the addition of more than 100 homes being tacked on to their subdivision by the developer as well as multiple apartment complexes being constructed in the immediate area, residents say additional vehicles on Houston Lake Road has only exacerbated the issue of traffic on the roadway, and that many peoples’ yards are being flooded as rainwater flows into a nearby creek.

When the residents were informed that the Warner Robins Planning and Zoning Board were to hear a request for a rezoning, allowing another apartment complex in their immediate vicinity to be built, they showed up to the meeting in numbers.

Warner Robins’ Planning and Zoning Board held their monthly meeting on Thursday, Aug. 25. The board made their way through several items, approving or tabling home occupation requests in quick succession, with little to no issue or opposition. It was not until the board began discussing a rezoning located at the southeast corner of South Houston Lake Road and Corder Road that citizens stood to be heard.

A representative of Sujano, LLC, stood to present the request. The rezoning would alter a plot of land along Houston Lake Road from R-1, a single family residential zoning, to R-4 — multi-family residential.

Before turning to the public to ask for opposition, Chairwoman Miranda Britt turned to Zoning Manager Darin Curtis for any concerns or recommendations city staff may have.

“According to Houston County’s Joint Comprehensive Plan, this area is characterized as an in-town corridor, and the plan to develop a residential community does conform with the projected development,” Curtis said. “Staff recommends that consideration be made to approve.”

Following Curtis’ recommendation, Britt asked the public if there was any opposition. Several hands raised in the air. Seeing the level opposition in the room, Curtis followed with an additional recommendation to the board.

“Despite a recommendation to approve, I also recommend that consideration be made to limit access into this site,” Curtis said. “We currently are looking at ways to mitigate impact to existing intersections, and so I would say that as a condition if any potential approval, that consideration be made to stipulate, that as part of any plan submittal, the developer submit an access plan that is reviewed and approved by city staff and the development team.”

Following Curtis recommendations, the board heard concerns from the public, most of which were not new — residents of Harper’s Ridge asked again for some form of traffic control, and the resolution of widespread water leaks in their neighborhood. Their concern with this new apartment complex was that it would only add to their existing concerns.

Warner Robins resident Lisa Armstrong rose to the podium first.

“I would like anybody in here to name me another area besides Harper’s Ridge that is surrounded by apartment buildings or duplexes,” Armstrong said. “We had new houses brought in, and we begged for another exit around Springwood, off Corder Road, and we were told that that no, that couldn’t happen because there was some water running back in the same area that you all are now wanting to develop.

Armstrong continued, turning to the issue of dangerously high traffic.

“Everyday I put my life on the line just to get out of my neighborhood,” Armstrong said. “We asked for a light, and I was told no, we couldn’t have a light on Tucker either. So between the new place across the area that’s fixing to start filling up with people and the people down the road and people wherever else ya’ll are sticking them, we’re literally trapped.”

Laurie Bressler’s began her statement with concern of water leaks, citing several homes across the neighborhood experiencing leaks. Bressler also voiced concern for additional traffic as new developments complete in their area, bringing in new families and more cars.

Two additional residents in the area, Catherine Hill and David Cooke, both stood and asked for the same consideration, that the City of Warner Robins resolve the issue that Harper’s Ridge is facing, put together an action plan to create solutions and consider how this development could affect these problems — traffic and water leaks — before allowing it to continue.

Community and Economic Development Director Kate Hogan stood and offered a “multi-departmental approach” to help the residents of Harper’s Ridge with any issues they may be facing, pointing them to several departments within the city that could assist those with water leaks were pointed to the Utilities department, those with stormwater issues to the Stormwater Compliance Department and those with concerns over traffic were pointed to Warner Robins Police.

Following some brief comments from members of the board, Curtis offered a recommendation that Planning and Zoning table the item until some of the residents’ “glaring concerns” could be addressed. The board responded accordingly and voted to table the request. The action received some small applause from the gathered residents.

As the meeting came to a close, more citizens stood to speak with additional concerns. After hearing their complaints that their needs had fallen on deaf ears, Chairwoman Britt gave a suggestion to the surrounding crowd.

“Mayor and council are all elected positions,” Britt said. “Remember and vote. Our positions are appointed, we are normal citizens just like you. We hear your concerns. We vote based on our curriculum and what we hear from both sides — but if your elected officials are not listening to you, not showing up for meetings, in my personal opinion, they’re not doing what they’re elected to do.”

Councilman Mack, who was present at Thursday’s meeting, said he was disturbed by the lack of action from the city to address these citizens’ concerns.

“I understand that the constituents are indirectly ignored with their concerns,” Mack said. “Until we get this traffic under control in that entire region, it’s my personal opinion that we need to stop all progress in that area until we can address the traffic issue with another ingress/egress for the Harper’s Ridge subdivision.”

Mack also told The Journal that engineering needs to become more involved in this process and that he is considering bringing his concerns to mayor and council.

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