Sandersville City Council voted unanimously to deny a special exception request at their Monday, November 1 City Council meeting.
Property owner Milton Whipple requested that he be allowed to convert a home in an R-1 zone (single family residence) to a duplex (multi-family residence). The property is located at 702 East McCarty Street in Sandersville.
Sandersville’s Building Official Dave Larson explained that in order for the property owner to convert the structure to a duplex, he must receive a special exception.
“It’s not given by right because it’s multi-family, or considered a two-family dwelling,” said Building Official Larson.
The Sandersville Planning and Zoning Committee heard this request at their meeting on Monday, October 25; they voted 5-1 to deny this request.
Prior to voting on the request, Sandersville Mayor and City Council also held a public hearing. Mayor Jimmy Andrews explained that notice of this request was advertised in the legal organ, as required by law, and a sign was placed on the property to notify the community of the request.
Property owner Milton Whipple spoke during the City Council’s public hearing; he stated that he is interested in converting the property into a duplex, two-family home.
“It seems to be a prime area to turn that into a duplex,” said Whipple. He added, “I looked at it, and thought it would be a good investment property to do that.”
Cathy Johnson also spoke in favor of the request; she stated that the property was initially a house, but was converted to a doctor’s office.
“The only thing he [the doctor] changed out was with the bathroom,” said Johnson, adding that the tub was removed when it was a doctor’s office.
During the public hearing, Mayor Andrews asked about the requirements for duplexes; Building Official Larson noted that a firewall would be needed between the units, and the units would need to meet the square footage requirements.
“Each side would have to have 1,200 square feet,” said Larson.
At the conclusion of the public hearing, Councilperson Mayme Dennis moved to deny the request.
“Most of the residents that are on that side are single-family residents, even the rental property in that area is still R-1 zoned,” said Councilperson Dennis. She continued, “Past experience has shown that multi-families in a unit sometimes causes more problems than the neighbors should have to tolerate.”
Mayor Pro-Tem Jeffery Smith seconded, and the vote carried unanimously to deny the request.