Applicant pulls Landing on Frederica rezoning request from BOC agenda
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By Pamela Permar-Shierling
The two most controversial items on last night’s (Nov. 5) Glynn County Board of Commissioners’ (BOC) agenda were removed from the agenda.
At about 4 p.m. yesterday, an announcement was posted on the Glynn County Commission Facebook page stating the rezoning petition for the Landing on Frederica would not be heard at the Nov. 5 6 p.m. meeting.
The BOC also deferred a rezoning hearing on 461 acres on Highway 99 pending a regional impact review.
The Georgia Dept. of Community Affairs (DCA) requires a formal review process for large-scale real estate or land use projects that may affect infrastructure, traffic, the environment or public welfare across multiple local government jurisdictions.
The BOC cannot make a zoning decision on this property without the regional impact review being completed. This rezoning request from Forest Agricultural to Basic Industrial passed the Mainland Planning Commission in October on a unanimous vote. Two nearby residents spoke against the rezoning request during the October MPC meeting.
The Highway 99 rezoning request was included on the BOC’s Oct. 15 agenda but deferred at the applicant’s request.
Four public comments opposing the rezoning were included in the BOC’s Nov. 5 meeting information packet.
Opposition to the rezoning request for the Landing at Frederica, formerly known as The Hub, was strong. Opposition from Sea Palms property owners included 792 pages of emails and letters opposing the rezoning.
Letters from attorneys Smith Welch Webb & White dated October 1 and September 11 were sent to both the BOC and the Islands Planning Commission (IPC) asking that the rezoning application be denied to avoid litigation.
Also included with the attorney’s letters was an appraisal from Michael Biggers, a Georgia MIA appraiser, stating that the impacts of the proposed zoning would cause nearby residential property values to diminish significantly.
It is not known if the property owner, Sea Palms Ventures I LLC, who requested the application be removed from the agenda will reapply at a later date with a different plan.
In other business the BOC approved the King and Prince Hotel rezoning request.
Requested changes to the PD text included adding the now county-abandoned Downing Street to King and Prince property, modify parking requirements from 1.1 parking spaces per sleeping room to 1 parking space per sleeping room; a maximum of 10% of the required parking spaces will be reserved for golf cart parking; combine tracts A and B into tract A; change building setbacks: Neptune Dr. 10 ft. at tract A; no setback on Downing Street; Site coverage would also change from the current 50% to 60% which is the current site coverage requirement for St. Simons Island.
Note: the BOC took the Islands Planning Commission recommendation and the requested setback changes on Beachview and Forest were left at 30 ft; not 20 ft. as the applicant had requested.
Two nearby residents spoke against the rezoning request stating concerns about public beach access and green space. Public beach access remains the same as it is currently: off Arnold and off Neptune. Both roads remain public rights of way.
The approval was unanimous.
The BOC approved a zoning ordinance amendment to add Live-work as a special use in certain commercial zoning districts: Office Commercial (OC), Local Commercial (LC), General Commercial (GC), and Medical (MED)
The IPC and MPC both approved their own versions of the ordinance amendment.
The MPC placed no location restrictions by floor level of residential or commercial within the building.
The IPC restricted residential to the second floor only.
District 2 Commissioner Bob Duncan made a motion to approve the ordinance amendment using the IPC recommendation. The motion died for lack of a second.
District 1 Commissioner Sammy Tostensen made a motion to approve the ordinance amendment using the MPC’s version which passed six to one with Duncan voting no.
