The tiny home movement seems to have made its way to Gray with City Council members considering adding square feet minimums to building ordinance.
The topic was discussed at the May 16 meeting of all city committees that was called to order by Mayor Ed Barbee.
The tiny house discussion was brought up by City Attorney John Newberry, who noted that to date the City of Gray does not have a minimum square footage in its building code. Newberry suggested the city follow Jones County’s ordinance that was recently amended.
Newberry said he was looking at a minimum of 600 square feet.
When contacted May 17, Zoning officer Tim Pitrowski said the Board of Commissioners had approved the addition of tiny homes, 400 square feet or less, to the county ordinance.
The city attorney also brought up the issue of the number of tiny homes that could be built on a lot. He suggested if the owner wanted to add another home to a lot of 10 acres of less, it would need to be a conditional use.
Newberry said there was a need to extend the moratorium on the construction of tiny homes in the city until the city’s code could be amended. He said the timeline for the amendment would probably be July.
Council members agreed to put the moratorium on the agenda for the June city council meeting.
The definition of a tiny house is a structure 400 square feet or less. That is compared to the 2,261 square feet that is average size of a home in the United States, according to 2020 U.S. Census data.
There is also a small house movement that is a house less than 1,000 square feet. Only one percent of homes purchased in the U.S. are under 1,000 square feet. The precursor to the small and tiny home movements is thought to be shotgun houses of the 1930s that were small, narrow, singlestory buildings.
Councilman David Tufts said he was interested in finding out the size of the tiny homes built on Maynard Street in Macon.
Finance committee
Finance Committee Chairman Councilman Terrell Fulford said the city had collected 99.55 percent of the 2021 property taxes with $4,532.38 remaining unpaid.
Gray Downtown Development Authority Chairman Sherri Rollins was at the meeting to ask council members for help with the paving of the parking lot next to Butler Hall. She said Butler Hall has had a lot of events, and the parking lot continues to be full.
Rollins said she has received a lot of positive comments about the event venue but also suggestions that the parking lot needs to be paved. She said Butler Hall also needs a sound system.
The chairman said the DDA received a $20,000 grant from the Community Foundation that would help. She also noted that the budgeted revenues for Butler Hall were $30,000, and the venue already had revenues of $41,000 for the year.
Rollins said Butler Hall is approaching its first anniversary and is bringing people to Gray.
“That’s the good news, but we still need your help,” she said. “The estimated cost to pave the parking lot is $85,000 to $88,000, depending on rock prices.”
The chairman said the sooner the project is done the better, and it could be done as soon as next month. She said the paved lot will add 105-107 downtown parking spaces.
Rollins said another issue is the lighting of the parking lot at night. She said she spoke with a representative of Georgia Power, and the suggestion was to add four additional lights, which would add $200 to the power bill.
“We are asking for your help with the cost of the streetlights to keep people using the parking lot safe at night. We’re also asking for help with the cost of paving the parking lot,” she said.
DDA member Bert King added that, when going by the parking lot in the evening, he hadn’t realized how many people using it had nothing to do with Butler Hall.
“It helps all the businesses downtown and the courthouse,” he said.
Councilman Terry Favors agreed and said he has seen the lot full when there is nothing going on at Butler Hall.
King said the lot needs to be paved, and the building needs a sound system.
Rollins expressed her appreciation for everything the city council has already done to help with Butler Hall.
“You have gifted a lot,” said.
Mayor Pro Tem James Collins said it would be silly not the finish the project after everything else that has been done.
“It’s incredible how many people come through here,” he said.
Tufts suggested the DDA come up with a figure of what they need, and Favors suggested $20,000. Rollins said that would help a lot.
Council members agreed by consensus to put the vote to give the DDA $20,000 toward the paving of the parking lot on the June City Council Meeting Agenda.
Water and Sewer
Assistant City Superintendent Cheyenne Morgan said American Rescue funds were being used to purchase a generator, blower and other equipment. He said the amount received was $450,000, which was also being used for sewer rehab that was underway at the Glover Lane pump station.
Morgan said monthly meetings would be held for updates on the Wastewater Treatment Plant with the first meeting scheduled May 19 at 10 a.m.
Newberry said the moratorium on granting sewer capacity was reaching 90 days and would need to be extended at the June meeting.
Streets
Favors said he saw a mail truck upside down in the ditch behind Chevy’s and was told that people miss that driveway a lot. He asked public works to check about putting a pipe in the ditch.
Tufts said he had not heard from the company putting in the crosswalk at the courthouse intersection. Morgan said the estimated starting date for the project was the first week of June. The assistant superintendent also said he was working on adding mileage to Gray’s LMIG allotment with the Georgia Department of Transportation. He said wants to make sure the streets that were previously state highways are included.
Morgan said at the present time the city has 29.7 miles.
Other reports
Main Street Gray Director Ashley Robertson announced the date of Christmas on Main Street in Gray as Nov. 26.
Collins suggested, if the city did not already have a drug testing and background check requirement in place for employees, adding it to the next agenda.
“We want to make sure we are doing that for all new hires,” he said.
Gray Fire Chief Keith Eisele asked for a credit line increase on his department’s credit card. After a lengthy discussion about the way the credit card is shared among city departments and issues with the names listed on the account, it was suggested taking another approach.
Department heads agreed to check with local banks with the goal of closing the former account and opening new ones for each department.
Eisele announced the next firefighter class graduation was scheduled for 3 p.m., May 21, at the W.E. Knox Civic Center.
Local developer Brian Jackson presented council members with a preliminary plat of a proposed development at the end the Bill Conn Jr. Parkway. He said the property contains 12.9 acres, and he is proposing the construction of 43 single residential homes.
Jackson said his presentation was for information purposes only and added the property is currently zoned C-2.
The next council meeting is scheduled June 6.
