GREENE COUNTY
Contracted services from companies offering city services are sometimes utilized in what is often intended as a cost savings measure.
The city of Greensboro employs Bureau Veritas to perform services that the city currently does not offer, such as zoning, permits, inspections, and more. An overview of its work was presented recently at the city council for its first- and second-quarter reports of the city’s planning and building department.
Building permit applications are received by city staff and then forwarded to Bureau Veritas for review and compliance. Approved applications with permits are then forwarded to the city to issue the approved permit and collect fees as applicable. Permit fees collected by the city totaled $29,102 for the period of January through June, with the most activity noted in June.
Most complaints the city has heard involve high grass growth (four cases), inoperable vehicles, junk, and debris, each having three cases thus far throughout the city.
Bureau Veritas also manages the city’s local issuing authority through the Environment Protection Division (EPD). Most of the activity for the city has centered around the development activity taking place at Towne Center along the Highway 44 corridor. It includes the new Longhorn Steakhouse, Holiday Inn Express, Greensboro Center on South Main Street, and Phase 1 of the new Oconee Town Center.
City billings to Bureau Veritas amounted to $80,384 for the calendar year 2022.
Several incoming projects are making progress in Planning and Zoning, including the historic depot next to Oconee Brewing. The depot dates back to the early 1900s when cotton production was at its peak in the area.
Nathan McGarity of Macon and a project developer in Greensboro, who was key to the development of Oconee Brewing, seeks to rezone the property to a commercial planned unit development (PUD) for a mixed-use residential and retail development.
Other requests include four parcels on Veazy road in the city for annexation and rezoning to a PUD. It is expected to have 140 single-family residences and 42 townhomes.