Head-on collision results in fatality

On Tuesday, January 19, at approximately 1:27 p.m., the Houston County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call regarding a wreck on the 400 block of Dunbar Road in Warner Robins.

According to Houston County Captain Harlowe, it was a head-on and on Corder Road.

Councilman Larry Curtis presented the first rezoning petition at Wynn Place for 40.4 acres. Residing on the board of the Development Authority of Warner Robins, Curtis and the rest of the board work closely with the Planning and Zoning Commission. The petitioner’s request was to change the current “R2, general residential district, and M2, general industrial district, and C2, general commercial district, to the zoning of R4, multi-family residential district.” After reading the petition and initially approving the rezone, Curtis made a motion to pass it.

Councilman Kevin Lashley of Post 4 was not as easily convinced and raised several questions regarding the rezoning. “I would honestly like to hear more from the company, or the developer, just as an idea of what kind of apartments we’re looking at. I know that it just says multi-family apartments, and then there is a section for 55 and retired. But I want to know basically how they plan on getting in and out better. When driving a two-lane residential street, I wonder if they’re going to have another access point on the backside. Who is going to be in charge of getting that road finished out and what [is] the overall plan?”

The approval of the entrance and well being of the residents was also questioned by Councilman Keith Lauristen, who revealed that he has not received any notable feedback from the surrounding residents. “I haven’t had any emails or calls or anything about this, so I’m assuming that the residents in that area haven’t really brought it to our attention.”

From previous meetings concerning the access points, Curtis was under the impression that the residents didn’t need to worry about the access point for the future plans of the lot. 

“From my understanding,” began Curtis, “the access point is not going to be on Wynn Way. It’s going to go back down to the VECTR (Veterans Education Career Transition Resource) Center. This development is going to be almost like Pennrose – it’s going to be fundamental, beneficial for the VECTR Center. I think this is going to be a good project.”

Sherri Windham, Community Development Director, was able to participate in the teleconference call and clarified that though the developer is in current negotiation with the VECTR Center, the initial rezoning petition has been approved with having Wynn Place as the entrance.

“At this point, the access is through Wynn Place,” Windham stated. “They’re trying to get access through the VECTR Center, but apparently there’s some resistance there about it being state property and getting access. I think the developer is still negotiating with the VECTR Center, but it has not come to fruition yet. At this time, it is through Wynn Place for sure. But he’s still negotiating trying to get access through the VECTR.”

Realizing that the council did not truly have all of the pertinent information to make a vote in good conscience at the current time with Councilman Charlie Bibb also requesting traffic studies to be done, Lashley offered the idea of holding the vote for a later date. “I would like to move that we table this until we talk further with them so that we can get a better idea of what they’re actually looking to do,” he stated.

Curtis withdrew his motion to move forward and agreed with the rest of the council to table the item agenda for a later date after discussing more details with the developer and what the rezoning fully means for the surrounding community.

The mayor and city council also moved to approve the rezoning of 931 Corder Road from the zoning of R4 to the zoning of C2 to allow the business Platinum Roofing, LLC to plan for its office to reside at the address. Lauritsen hesitated on the vote initially, leary of the idea that this could bring the overall community appearance down, but Mandy Stella, City Clerk, provided reference to the supporting documents that ensure it would only be an office space instead of an area where industrial trucks would be tracking through the area.

In other business, Lashley read the resolution to remove DAWR member Renotto Solomon after confirmation of his current residence in Byron of Peach County. Curtis abstained from the vote claiming that there is a conflict of interest with him also serving on the board, but the rest of the council approved the removal. Councilman Clifford Holmes pointed out that Solomon had been residing at the provided Warner Robins address at the time of appointment and Curtis thanked him for his service to the community.

After final council comments to urge citizens to continue practicing safe COVID precautions and to offer condolences to those who lost everything in the Coldwater Apartment fire last weekend, the meeting adjourned.

HHJ News