City Grants Street Abandonment Request

Toccoa City Commissioners grant an abandonment request.

Monday, the city commission approved a request to abandon part of East Savannah Street at the request of Mr. and Mrs. Jon Zeches and the First Baptist Church of Toccoa.

City Planning Director Connie Tabor said that the Planning Commission recommended approving the request, which would only affect a small portion of East Savannah Street located behind the Zeches property and adjacent to the church property.

Tabor said abandoning that stretch of road means it would no longer be the city’s responsibility.

“The city may declare that section of the municipal street abandoned,” said Tabor. “That section of East Savannah Street would no longer be part of the public street system and the rights of the public to that street as a public road would cease,” said Tabor.

According to Tabor, there are multiple reasons this request has been made.

Those are that the abandonment would help work out a property line issue with the Zeches family, while also trying to improve traffic safety around the First Baptist Church pre-school.

After approving the abandonment, the city commission also voted to deed back a narrow strip of land it owned along the street back to the adjoining property owners, as has been the city’s custom previously in similar street abandonments.

However, Toccoa City Commissioner Jeanette Jamieson said she could not support the abandonment or deeding over the land.

“We had an issue early on in my service on the city commission having to do with property that the First Methodist Church was asking us to abandon and deed to them,” said Jamieson. “We did that. I did not vote for that. I have a general opposition to just arbitrarily abandoning property and then giving it, even to a church or in this case a church and a private property owner.”

The votes were 4 to 1, with Jamieson voting against in both cases.