Senoia votes on trash container, certificates of appropriateness
By W. WINSTON SKINNERwinston@newnan.com
The Senoia City Council has approved several certificates of appropriateness and voted to allow a local restaurant to share trash receptacle space with a church.
Bill Wood talked with the council about space for a large metal trash receptacle at Katie Lou’s Café. There are several issues relating to the placement of the trash container including a large tree Wood would like to save, the gateway accessing the town’s water tower and a telephone service box.
“We have very little land there,” Wood told the council at their second May meeting. Wood told the council he had talked with City Administrator Richard Ferry about the issue. Wood said he is willing to have the trash container on the same side of the street as the restaurant, but that plan might require the council to approve a right-of-way encroachment near the water tower access.
“It’s not necessarily the best solution, but it works for me,” Wood said during the meeting at Senoia Magistrate Court.
The trash receptacle could be placed across the street without blocking the tower. First Baptist Church has a receptacle there already, and Wood said he is willing to build an enclosure for both containers.
Mayor Robert Belisle said having the container on the same side of the street as the restaurant could block access to the water tower. “Where the current Dumpster is, there’s plenty of space,” Belisle said.
“I fully agree,” Councilman Larry Owens said.
Wood said the church did not agree to having both receptacles together. “That is an eyesore over there. Sorry the church didn’t take you up on that,” Owens told Wood.
Belisle said the church’s container is located on city right-of-way. Ferry said he had not found an encroachment permit for the church to have the container on right-of-way but acknowledged they could have obtained one many years ago.
“We can grant you the approval whether they approve or not,” Belisle told Wood. The council voted to allow Wood to place his container next to First Baptist’s and to allow Wood to enclose the area around them both. Councilman Bobby Graham voted against the motion.
The council also heard three requests for certificates of appropriateness. Those issues are usually handled largely by a city board, but the council had to hear them because of time constraints. The issues before the council were:
• Rachel Wood asked for variances to place a fence and accessory structure on her property at 9 Johnson St. She said she wants to place a picket fence around her home.
There will be a swimming pool at “kind of the back part of our lot,” she said. “There will also be an interior fence around the pool.”
She wants to have a rustic building on her property. One side would be a supply shed. “I want to make it two-sided so it will be a playhouse for my girls,” Rachel Wood said.
“We would be doing the siding to match our house,” she said. She also asked the council to let her place a metal roof on the shed, rather than the type roofing that is on her home.
“I personally have no problem with the roof,” Belisle said.
“What kind of precedent are we setting by allowing a metal roof?” Graham asked.
While the town has generally required accessory buildings be roofed to match the home, Belisle said the Johnson Street request made historical sense. Years ago “most of your outbuildings did have metal roofs,” Belisle said.
“I wanted it to look more like an outbuilding than part of the house,” Rachel Wood explained. She said the wanted to give the shed “more of a rustic appeal.”
Graham asked if an existing shed on the property will be removed. Rachel Wood told him that structure eventually would be removed.
The motion passed with Graham opposing.
• David Hayes requested permission to replace the roofs on his home at 76 Clark St. and an accessory building with metal roofs. “I’ve seen several roofs in town that have the same appearance,” Hayes said.
Hayes’ request was approved unanimously.
• A request was made for an accessory structure at 42 Quick Dr. using the same type of material used for the home.
The request was for a 16-by-16-foot accessory structure. “The staff report shows no record of anything that varies from the guidelines,” Ferry told the council.
That request was unanimously granted.
