Monday, February 18, 2019

Gaines And Wiedower Undecided On House Bill 302, Noting “Concerns” In Oconee And Clarke Counties

***Waiting On Committee Process***

Houston Gaines and Marcus Wiedower, who represent Oconee County in the Georgia House of Representatives, say they were asked to join as sponsors of House Bill 302, which would greatly restrict local regulation of one and two-family housing, but they declined.

The two said in a joint statement that “before supporting this bill, we want to fully understand the impact it may have” and that they will follow the bill “as it moves through the committee process.” Both are Republicans.

Spencer Frye, who represents Clarke County and is one of the bill’s six sponsors, said that the proposed legislation “is a consumer protection bill” that helps guarantee the rights of consumers “to low cost housing.”

Frye, who is one of two Democratic sponsors of the bill, said “At the end of the day, this is a Republican bill” and “Being on the bill gives me an opportunity to help be part of the discussions if we need to change it.”

The bill, which is opposed by the Georgia Municipal Association and the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, is before the 24-member Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee, chaired by Tom McCall of Elberton, one of the bill’s Republican sponsors.

House Majority Leader Jon Burns from Newington, north of Savannah, is another of the bill’s sponsors and also is a member of the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee.

Impact On Oconee

The bill’s first sponsor is Vance Smith, a Republican from north of Columbus.

Gaines

Smith owns and operates Vance Smith Contracting and Consulting, according to his biography on the General Assembly website. Smith’s company provides business development services and consulting to Pond, a major engineering and contracting company based in Atlanta.

Oconee County has been in conflict with the housing industry over the Board of Commissioners’ decision in June of 2018 to prohibit slab foundations on most single-family housing in the county.

The Board of Commissioners frequently specify various design features of home construction as part of zoning.

The bill as currently written would prohibit local governments from adopting or enforcing ordinances regulating building design for one and two-family housing and specifically prohibits regulation of the types of foundation structures that are allowed under state minimum standard codes. Slab foundations are allowed by the state code.

Daniell On HB 302

Oconee Board of Commissioners Chair John Daniell told me in an email message late this (Monday) evening that he opposes House Bill 302.

The bill will be “detrimental to communities” attempting to achieve the goals of their Comprehensive Plan, he wrote.

“The bill is a clear violation of home rule and gives metro production builders complete control to determine the character and vision of all Georgia communities,” he wrote.

“It is important citizens contact representatives to help stop this attack on local communities,” he added.

Frye On Lower Costs

Frye told me in an email message exchange today (Monday) that he is “aware of” the Oconee County policy on foundations “and others around the state.”

I had sent Frye an email message yesterday (Sunday), asking: “Would you be willing to provide your reason for sponsoring HB 302? What is your goal with the bill?”

“This is about letting people build their homes according to their needs and not the government’s wants,” Frye said of the proposed bill in his response this morning.

“It lowers the overall costs associated with home ownership,” he said. “It protects the design rights of the homeowner. It allows people to be able to explore potential energy saving construction materials within the nationally accepted building codes.

“People have a right to build their home how they want, as artistically as they want, whatever color they want and with the materials that they choose,” he added. “This protects some of our creative class and gives them room to freely choose how they want to design their own homes.”

Gaines And Wiedower

Frye’s District 118 is entirely in Clarke County, but Wiedower’s 119th House District is split between Clarke and Oconee counties, with Clarke County slightly dominant in terms of registered voters.

Wiedower

Gaines’ 117th House District consists of parts of Barrow, Clarke, Jackson and Oconee counties, with Clarke the dominant part, followed by Oconee.

I sent Gaines and Wiedower separate email messages yesterday (Sunday) asking each: “What is your position on HB 302?” I also asked each if he had been asked to be a sponsor.

Gaines and Wiedower decided to respond in a single message.

“We appreciate your email and concern about this issue. We have the following response,” they wrote.

“This is an issue that will affect Oconee Co. and the entirety of our local area, and before supporting this bill, we want to fully understand the impact it may have. Since the bill was dropped, we have heard concerns from local officials in Clarke and Oconee counties.

“We strongly support private property rights, but also recognize and support local control. We look forward to watching this bill, hearing from our constituents and being a part of ongoing discussions as it moves through the committee process.”

Backgrounds

Gaines and Wiedower are both in their first term in the General Assembly.

Gaines lists in his General Assembly biography that he “works at Cannon Financial Institute, where he serves clients across the country in the financial industry.” Cannon is an Athens company.

Wiedower has not placed his biography on the General Assembly web site.

He lists his occupation as real estate.

On his LinkedIn page, Wiedower says he is a realtor at Coldwell Banker Upchurch Realty.

Wiedower formerly was president of BluePrint Builders. According to his LinkedIn page, he left that position in November of last year. (The Georgia Secretary of State Office lists Wiedower as the registered agent for BluePrint Builders LLC as of Jan. 9, 2019.)

Frye, elected to the General Assembly in 2012, is the executive director for Athens Habitat for Humanity and, according to is biography, has been a small business owner and construction manager in the past.

I also wrote to Republican Bill Cowsert, who represents Oconee County in the state Senate, but he did not respond to my email message.

5 comments:

Zippity said...

Senator Cowsert never responds to his constituents either. Guess he figures his election is guaranteed since he's been in office so long. Spencer Frye has become a libertarian, probably because of his interest in habitat for humanity houses and low cost housing. His position is understandable. I agree with John Daniel though. Local communities should be able to set their own standards within current restrictions. I hope this bill fails as it is clearly an action by developers in the legislature to improve their bottom line.

Anonymous said...

Here's my conspiracy theory...
If the OC Commission hadn't put a ban on slab construction, this bill would have never been drafted. I believe it was introduced by "safe" representatives to benefit those who have brought the lawsuit. Wiedower and Gaines, stated (together?) they would wait to see what implications this bill could have before deciding to support it. Really? If their votes aren't needed, I bet they'll vote NO so they can then tell us sheep "We didn't support that legislation, so you can't hold that against us."

Earthsavor said...

Spencer Frye is not a Libertarian, because they are not cost-shifters. Spencer is simply representing Habitat as a housing developer, whose objective is to get roofs over heads and leave the longer-term costs of slab construction---related to heat loss, water infiltration, utility maintenance, and inevitable ground settling---to be absorbed after the sale.

Indeed, there is good reason to be cynical about the motives of Wiedower and Gaines. At least Spencer is up front, writing to me as follows: "At the end of the day this bill could move with or without me. It has a Republican sponsor in a Republican held legislature. My co-sponsorship allows for a seat at the table on crafting the bill. I have already had discussions on what the Mayor would like to see changed and I am working towards those modifications." Unfortunately the influence of his Democratic "seat at the [Republican] table" is likely an illusion, and surely Spencer knows that by now.

Xardox said...

"A consumer protection bill?" Hardly.
Guaranteeing "affordable housing" means shoving a certain kind of building down a communities throat.
Making an entire state dance to the tune of the builders violates the spirit of the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, leaving decisions of local interest to those who actually live in those localities.
Vote "No" on HB 302.

Anonymous said...

Wiedower is part of development and now working the real estate angle side of it. He said little during the election except the Republican mantra and the sheep voted accordingly. He is not a Republican, he is a lobbyist for development. The vote is in and our county has been sold out.