DUBLIN, Ga. — People in Dublin are voicing concerns after an application was sent into the city's Planning and Zoning Board. The applicant, Dublin Hotel LLC wants to convert a hotel into family apartments.
Some people in the community say they've heard that illegal immigrants will be housed there, but Dublin City Planner Tara said the city hasn't seen anything to support the rumors.
"The accusation that it's for immigrant housing for this project, I have no evidence," Bradshaw said.
The building is being used as a Baymont hotel.
Now, there's an application to re-zone it to become affordable housing, according to one of the hotel employees. Some people like Laurens County Republican Party Chairman, Bill Vaught, are curious about what it'll be used for.
"If it's going to be used to house immigrants, illegal immigrants, then that is a safety concern because if you look at New York and other places you know we don't want that kind of thing to happen in Laurens County," Vaught said.
The Laurens County Republican Party sent emails and made a Facebook post urging people in the community to go to the meeting and ask questions.
Dublin's Mayor Joshua Knight addressed the public before the meeting and said Dublin will not house illegal immigrants or become a sanctuary city.
"The state of Georgia does not allow sanctuary cities, so in no way would Dublin try to become a sanctuary city. That has not been on the table," Knight said.
In 2009, a Georgia law banned cities and counties from having a sanctuary policy. In sanctuary cities, local governments do not cooperate with immigration officials.
Alison Stinson referred to the recent death of Laken Riley at the University of Georgia. Jose Ibarra is a non-U.S. citizen charged with her death.
"It is happening and I'm not saying here. I'm not saying anything ill is going on here, I'm just saying that's the concerns. That's why we're concerned," Stinson said.
The re-zoning applicant asked to withdraw their request before the meeting. The Planning and Zoning Board approved a motion to defer the public hearing until their next meeting.
Bradshaw stayed nearly 30 minutes after the meeting to answer questions from the public. She said before today's meeting no one has reached out to her office looking for information.
"Ask for the facts. If there's anything we can ever tell you, I am an open book and I'll be happy to answer any questions for anybody," Bradshaw said.
The next planning and zoning meeting in Dublin will be April 9th. Bradshaw said this is the first time the owners asked to defer the rezoning request, and the planning and zoning board complied. They hope the applicant will be present so that the public can hear from them directly.