Rod Skiff, who also serves as Troup County Juvenile Court special prosecutor, now can conduct his private practice legally in a former residence at 411 N. Greenwood St., but faces a citation and adjusted utility bills, city officials said.
Council on Tuesday approved the rezoning of Skiff’s property from residential to office institutional-residential after listening to him and his next-door neighbor, Hubbard Morris, who opposed the rezoning on numerous grounds, including concern that his family would be living next to a business frequented by suspected criminals.
“I speak to this council and board knowing that which ever their decision, it has been a burden for all parties,” Morris said. “If not resolved in an appropriate manner, it will result in fear and discomfort for my family, so wisdom is needed.”
Skiff countered that those charged with offenses are not guilty until convicted and LaGrange is a progressive community that must accommodate its progress.
“To say that there are criminals coming on a regular basis is outlandish,” Skiff said. “Everyone charged with an offense has a right to an attorney. This property is in a commercial area and is a very good location for this service.”
The rezoning included a special provision requiring Skiff to erect an 8-foot-tall wooden opaque privacy fence between his office and the Morris residence.
“I feel like he was already obligated to build a fence,” Morris said. “I don’t understand why only one party was involved in negotiations. The process of the decision was very unbalanced.”
Councilman Bobby Traylor said the city did everything possible to make Morris and any residents in the surrounding areas more comfortable.
“The planning and rezoning board had already recommended the property to be rezoned,” Traylor said. “That area has several commercial properties including a dentist office right next to Mr. Morris’ residence and the $11 million expansion to LaGrange High School nearing. The only thing the city was required to do was a post a sign on the property prior to the rezoning, but we did everything possible.”
City Manager Tom Hall said Skiff must pay an adjusted utility bill because he has been paying residential rates, which are about 15-20 percent lower than office general service rates.
Hall also expects the attorney to receive a citation for illegally operating on the property.
“There will definitely be a fine for violating the zoning regulations,” Hall said.
Skiff, who purchased the property about 18 months ago, admitted at a public hearing in December that he had been meeting clients at the property for nearly a year.
“He runs a gypsy business,” said Morris whose primary concerns include that his daughter’s bedroom window is located 9 feet away from Skiff’s property and clients frequently mistake the Morris home for the law office.
“It’s a magnet for DUI offenders, felons and drug offenders right across from the high school and right next to my daughter’s window,” Morris said. “There have been approximately 15 of his clients knock on my door in the last year asking for him or another attorney. Also, his property wasn’t zoned for front yard parking, yet cars would frequent the front of his property. It’s despicable.”
Skiff said he meant no offense to Morris or anyone in the surrounding area and has been actively seeking rezoning for the past 15 months. The cutting down of several feet of shrubbery on Morris’ property was a landscaping company error, he said.
“I feel sorry that he (Morris) feels that way,” Skiff said. “I have been trying to get it rezoned for a year and a half now. It has taken an enormous amount of time to do so, but we want to be as amicable as possible in trying to be fair to everyone. We are constructing and paving a parking lot in the back of the property as well.”
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