Fire truck tied to county growth

A requested variance on Clay County's height restriction never made it to a vote at the board of commissioners' meeting on March 4. The way in which the issue ultimately gets resolved could, however, play an important role in the future growth within the county.

Commissioner Scotty Penland asked the rest of the board to grant the request on behalf of the Rural Development Authority, as part of the agency's efforts to lure an established hotel chain to Clay County. According to Penland, those efforts center on a three-story structure which would exceed the county's 40-foot height ordinance by about 10 feet.

At the heart of the issue is Clay County's lack of a ladder fire truck used to fight fires in taller building structures, as well as the recent precedent set in turning down other requests for variance.

After more than 10 minutes of discussion, the board agreed to allow Penland to explore the possibility of establishing an agreement between the Clay County and Towns County, Ga. fire departments, which could help facilitate a hotel. Penland noted that Towns County's fire department has a ladder truck and that the proposed hotel site at Chatuge Shores is less than 2 miles from the county line.

Multiple commissioners signaled they could not presently support the variance as is due to recent precedent, as well as liability concerns.

"I think we're all behind the hotel and we're all behind the Rural Development Authority," Commissioner Dwight Penland said. "However, I don't see how we can grant this variance when we turned one down for the apartments six or eight weeks ago. I don't see how that would be legal."

County Attorney Merinda Woody agreed with Dwight Penland.

"If you had a private entity that came to you just a few weeks ago and asked for a variance because of the height in the apartment complex, and now you had this entity, even though you are part of a government entity, bringing the same question, it would be hard to justify giving this one a variance but not that one," Woody said.

"Maybe later on, if we ever get a fire truck that can accommodate these higher rises. This came up some years ago when there was going to be a five-story condo over at the marina here in Hayesville and it got shot down because of that very thing. It's been a problem for years, but we just don't have the fire protection that we need and to get it. It would cost taxpayer dollars."

Penland presented the problem as a kind of Catch-22.

"We're never going to get anything in this county that helps tourism, or a hotel, unless it's three stories," Scotty Penland said. "We can't build something three stories because we don't want to buy a ladder truck. We don't want to buy a ladder truck because we don't currently need it."

Vice-Chairman Randy Nichols and Dwight Penland both expressed openness to Scotty Penland exploring a possible Memorandum of Understanding between the Clay County and Towns County fire departments. Woody said such an agreement could be possible, but that there would be a variety of legal details to consider.

Chairman Rob Peck acknowledged the inevitability of future growth and that the board must ensure its ordinances reflect the modern needs of Clay County. He also pointed to the possibility of addressing the problem directly through Clay County Fire and Rescue.

Clay County's four fire departments announced in February plans to consolidate into one department under the umbrella of Clay County Fire and Rescue. The final approval of those plans was on the agenda for the March board meeting. However, Peck said the fire department was not yet ready to present the plans, which should take place at the April meeting.

"Maybe as they're consolidating, that's something they need to focus on, that aspect of being able to fight these larger structure fires," Peck said.