By Tara DeRock Mahoney
Senior Staff Writer

    Georgia Representative Doug Holt continues to work toward reform in area zoning cases that come up for judicial review. At issue is the Buckhead LLC decision in Morgan County Superior Court in late 2006, which allowed developers to acquire a higher-density zoning change that had been denied by Morgan County commissioners.
    Holt has been particularly concerned about the case because an earlier Georgia case, Tyrone v. Tyrone LLC (2002), may have set precedent that was not reviewed for the local decision. A Georgia appellate court declined to review the case in 2007.
    Holt prepared a bill for the state legislature that would have required zoning law decisions to be eligible for automatic appellate review, but that bill has not yet been passed, so he sought other means of achieving his objective, which is better judicial preparedness.
    “Two weeks ago, I met with Mr. Richard Reaves, who is the director of the state Institute of Continuing Judicial Education (ICJE),” wrote Holt in an e-mail earlier this week. “I explained what had happened in Buckhead, and the concern that the judge did not apply the Tyrone precedent in evaluating the case.”
    Reaves, in a letter attached to Holt’s e-mail, indicates his intention of putting zoning law decisions into the ICJE’s curriculum proposal for the coming year.
“Currently, we would propose to have the presentation look at the standard of review set out in Barrett v. Hamby (1975) and Town of Tyrone v. Tyrone, LLC (2002), along with their subsequent caselaw progeny, together with a discussion of how to ‘factually mine’ and ‘procedurally supervise any case-at-bar, in order to assure that the correct standard is properly applied by the reviewing superior court,” wrote Reaves.

Man shot during fight over money

By Tara DeRock Mahoney
Senior Staff Writer

    Madison City Council members voted unanimously Monday night to deny a request for a text amendment to zoning ordinances which would have allowed indoor playgrounds in I-1 zones as a conditional use.
    “C-3 [zoning classification] is the best place for this use,” agreed City Planning Director Monica Callahan.
    “Rather than further muddying the zone with this use, let’s clean it up,” said Council member Michael Naples, who also proffered a motion to have city planning staff review permitted used in I-1 zones and remove those that are not compatible with the stated purpose of that zone.
    Council members noted that if the text amendment had been approved, and a subsequent conditional use request permitted, the proposed play center would have been the only indoor recreational area in I-1. Other indoor recreational uses, such as movie theaters and bowling alleys, for example, are all relegated to C-3 zones, in more commercial areas of town.
    In other business, council members declined to make any changes to the city’s ordinances governing the presence of farm animals within the city limits. Currently, the ordinance states that residents must have at least four acres of land to hold livestock within the city limits, and then adhere to further restrictions related to the type and number of animals per acre of land. The four-acre minimum will stand, despite requests last fall from some local families with children participating in 4-H programs to be allowed to keep sheep, for example, on small residential lots.

By Patrick Yost
Editor

    After getting shot at least three times, Jabril Ahmed Muhammad, 20, made a request to the man arrested and charged with shooting him, said Morgan County Sheriff Robert Markley.
    “He said, ‘I can’t breathe, you’ve got to get me to the hospital.’”
    Antawon Cornelius Coats, 19, complied and Coats was arrested at Morgan Memorial Hospital after delivering Muhammad.
    Muhammad was shot three times under the right arm, and a fourth .22 caliber bullet may have grazed his head, reports state. According to Capt. Kenny Stewart, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Muhammad has been moved from intensive care and is in stable condition at Atlanta Medical Center. Muhammad was life-flighted from Morgan Memorial to Atlanta Medical Center last Saturday night following the shooting.
    Markley said Coats and Muhammad had argued on Saturday after Coats failed to show up for a pre–arranged social gathering on Friday.
    On Saturday, reports state, Coats and Muhammad spoke on the phone and arranged to meet and fight over what Muhammad said was Coats’ “rude” behavior.
    Markley said Muhammad and a woman were sitting in Muhammad’s vehicle at the end of Muhammad’s driveway on Double Bridges Road when Coats allegedly pulled in front of Muhammad’s vehicle, exited his car and fired at Muhammad, who had also left his vehicle.
    The shooting occurred at approximately midnight, reports state.
    Stewart said the two were friends. “They’re best friends, that’s what I was told,” he said.

By Patrick Yost
Editor

    Two men were arrested soon after they allegedly robbed a Rutledge convenience store last Saturday.
    Quadarrius Jamar Martin, 18, Chamblee, and Antwion Durrell Strickland, 19, Decatur, are both incarcerated at the Morgan County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing after both were arrested and charged with armed robbery.
    According to Morgan County Sheriff’s Office reports, both men allegedly entered the Golden Pond Convenience Store, Newborn Road, at approximately 1 p.m. Reports state that one man pointed a pistol at the clerk while another man jumped over the counter and shoved the clerk into a corner. The suspect with the pistol demanded money, reports state, and pulled the hammer back on the pistol.
    The pair fled the store after taking an undisclosed amount of money, lottery tickets, the clerk’s cell phone and a religious item. They fled south on Newborn Road in a red Chevy Cobalt and then proceeded west on Interstate 20.
    Moments after authorities put a look–out on the Colbalt, a motorist called Newton County authorities and reported that a car matching the Colbalt’s description was driving erratically on Interstate 20.
    Morgan County Sheriff Robert Markley said the Colbalt then passed a Covington Police Department unit on Interstate 20 and both the Covington unit and a Newton County Sheriff’s Office unit gave chase. The Chevy crashed at the Almond Road exit in Newton County. Martin was arrested at the car.
    According to Capt. Kenny Stewart, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office investigator, Strickland fled the crash site on foot. After a brief search, Strickland was seen knocking on the door of a nearby resident. He was then secured after officers applied a taser device to Strickland.

By Tara DeRock Mahoney
Senior Staff Writer

    Republican Sammy Cathey of southeastern Morgan County won a seat on the Board of Commissioners Tuesday, garnering 64 percent of the vote in a run-off election with Democratic opponent Joyce Thomas.