By BECKY CRISSMAN

becky.crissman@gaflnews.com



VIENNA — The road is growing longer for one Houston County man who wants to construct a drag strip on his property in north Dooly County.

Michael Reece, of Perry, has met a great deal of public opposition ever since he first made his intentions for the land known. It is that opposition that has slowed his progress.

Several times in the past few months, Reece has come before the Dooly County Commissioners to ask that they overturn the Planning Commission’s denial of his request for a conditional use permit for the land that’s located on Highway 41 just north of Unadilla.

Commissioners conducted a public hearing Thursday morning and heard more comments. A number of citizens, living in the vicinity of the proposed drag strip property, turned out to voice their disapproval. They complained about the noise that the drag strip would generate, the type of people the establishment would bring to the community, depreciation of homes in the area, and traffic and alcohol consumption issues.

“I can’t be convinced that this business will be good for the city of Unadilla or Dooly County,” said Nelson Dupree, one of several citizens speaking against the drag strip. “The noise will be a nuisance and Georgia Law protects us from nuisances. Loud noises can lead to high blood pressure, and anxiety.

“He (Reece) did not come to the citizens first. He did not have any consideration for us. Why should we have any for him.”

Dupree went on to say that the drag strip would cause the value of adjacent properties to diminish. He also charged that the oil or fluids that may leak from the vehicles could cause contamination to the water supply.

Dupree and other citizens expressed concern over the “riff-raff” that the drag strip would bring into the area, claiming it will increase the number of alcohol impaired drivers and speeders and therefore would increase the number of accidents in the area.

One citizen, who agreed that those leaving the races were more likely to speed also claimed that the smell from the drag strip would not be good nor would it go away, even after days. She claimed to have such knowledge from living near a drag strip in another state.

In rebuttal Reece promised citizens that he was a “man of integrity” stating that he would do whatever is necessary to accommodate citizens and make the drag strip into something that not only will bring revenue into the community, but will be something the community could be proud of.

He informed citizens that the track would be built down in the dirt with barricades around it to assist in containing noise.

“Cars are only on the track for a matter of seconds,” said Reece. “It is not going to be in operation every night or not even every weekend. There will be times, like in cold weather that we cannot run races.

“During times that we are not using the facility, I have no problem with people from the community using the facility.”

In an attempt to appease the citizens, Reece said he would plant trees to block noise. That still did not satisfy the parade of complaining citizens, all of whom were among the more than 150 signatures on a petition presented to the commission asking that they deny Reece’s request.

Reece’s offer to implement a curfew so races would not last past a certain time of night also fell on deaf ears.

Billy Granville voiced his support of the strip stating that many of those complaining about the drag strip were not even present at a recent test run, though many claimed they did not know about it.

“Has anybody here gone out to see where the drag strip will actually be located?,” asked Granville “There is nothing out there. There are hardly any houses and those that are out there are not close. There are no churches in the vicinity that I have seen.

“If traffic is an issue then the state could get an off ramp for Interstate access. It is going to bring in some jobs so I say let him build.”

Earle Hudson, a citizen of Unadilla also supported Reece, who is an acquaintance of Hudson.

“I do not live much farther away that any of the rest of the people and it does not bother me one bit,” he said. “Mr. Reece is a man of his word.”

After listening to arguments from both sides, commissioners went into closed session with their attorney, Bill NeSmith, to discuss the matter before bringing it to a vote before citizens.

After emerging from executive session, NeSmith said, “At this point there is not enough information to move forward with this action.”

He recommended that Reece have a certified sound engineer study done as well as an odor study. Reece agreed that he would obtain any information asked of him by the commissioners.

Commissioner David Barron, whose opinion was that Reece had been waiting long enough, made a motion to approve his request for the conditional use and give him the go ahead on the drag strip.

His motion was seconded by Commissioner Harry Ward but failed in a 3-2 vote with Barron and Ward voting in favor and Commissioners Terrell Hudson and Charles Anderson voting against. Chairman A.C. Daniels broke the tie, also voting against the motion.

Commissioners did pass a second motion, allotting Reece time to have the studies conducted and gather necessary information to bring before them at a later time.

In other business:

• NeSmith reported that county governments have no power to license contractors. The state is fully in charge of licensing all contractors, he said.

• The Planning Commission recently voted to leave the minimum lot size requirement for the Agricultural Zone at five acres. Barron had asked that the board reconsider the decision, making it more flexible.

A motion to decrease the minimum acreage to one acre as long as the lot can accommodate a well and septic tank was approved.