-David Crowder, WRGA News-
Attorney Fisher K. Law speaks on behalf of the applicant seeking to rezone a Burnett Ferry Road convenience store during Monday’s Rome City Commission meeting.
The Rome City Commission has voted to deny an annexation request for a West Rome property.
The property at 203 Burnett Ferry Road is currently home to A-1 Food and Beverage.
The application went before the commission with a recommendation from the Rome-Floyd County Planning Commission to approve.
Attorney Fisher K. Law spoke on behalf of the applicant.
“Because we cannot operate or offer COAM at our location, my client is currently taking a bath on about half of the fair market value of rent that he could get from a convenience store operator if he could operate COAM there,” he said. “The reason why we can’t COAM there is that the county’s distance regulations don’t allow us to.”
Commissioner Elaina Beeman was one of the seven votes to deny.
“My mom used to tell me that all money is not good money,” she said. “You talk about the COAM machines, and we might as well say it’s just gambling. So when they are gambling, and they are buying the chips, the drinks, and the sodas, is that good money?”
“That’s not for me to make, but I think that decision has been made elsewhere,” Law responded. “I think that we have hav e to respect the intelligence and the moral wherewithal of our own constituents, and let them make the choices that they believe are best for them.”
Commissioner Vic Hixon, who serves on the planning commission, was the only vote against denial.
This is the second time the commissioners have been asked to approve annexation.
The first time it was denied was in December, with Rome’s temporary moratorium on new convenience stores being cited as the
