Glynn County Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

I'd like to welcome you to the Thursday, September 17th meeting of the Glynn County Board of Commissioners. Tonight, I have asked Commissioner Booker if he would lead us in our invocation, and Commissioner Wafalski to lead us in our pledge. If you'd be so kind to stand with us, please.

Bow our heads. Heavenly Father, we come before you once again with thanksgiving in our hearts. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for allowing us to wake up this morning. Heavenly Father, we want to thank you for this community. Heavenly Father, we want to thank you for the opportunity to serve, to serve your people. And Heavenly Father, we ask tonight that this meeting is all of you and none of us. We ask all these things in Christ's name. Amen. Amen.

Would you please join me in the pledge?

under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

All right. Mr. Chairman.

Yes, sir.

I move to amend the published agenda to number one, amend consent agenda, general business item number three by striking $500,000 and inserting $1 million so that the item reads, approve the submission of the CDBG-DR grant application adoption resolution committing $1 million to be funded with additional 20-22 splot collections and accept the related grant forms and documents. And number two, add item 10.5 to the consent agenda, general business, authorize the chairman to execute the forms required to enter into the FY2022 contract with the Georgia Department of Human Resources for promoting safe and stable families, funding in the amount of $37,500 with a local match requirement of $12,500. Second.

All right. We have a motion by Commissioner Sweat, a second by Commissioner Booker. All right. Any discussion on amending the agenda? And do we have any other commissioner online as of yet? No. All right. We do have two commissioners out on board assignments in other areas this evening. So it looks like there will be five of us. So all in favor, please raise your right hand. And that is 5-0.

Mr. Chairman, I move. to approve the consent agenda for general business with the exception of any item a commissioner wishes to pull. Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Rafalski, a second by Commissioner Booker to approve the consent agenda as amended. Any discussion? All right. All in favor, please raise your right hand. That is 5-0.

Mr. Chairman, I move to approve the consent agenda for finance, with the exception of any item a commissioner wishes to pull. Second.

I have a motion by Commissioner Lefalski, a second by Commissioner Booker, to approve the consent agenda for finance. Any discussion? All in favor, please raise your right hand. And that is 5-0. Mr. Attorney, did we handle the amended agenda? All right. That brings us to item number 21, public hearings for abandonment. Public hearings will be limited to 30 minutes for each opposing side with five minutes allocated to each individual speaker. Comments are to be limited to relevant information regarding your position and should avoid being repetitious. If your group has a spokesperson, please allow that individual to present your group's position in the time allocated. And your cooperation, as always, in this process is greatly appreciated. Item number 21 is AB-26-12. Consider the abandonment of unimproved areas of west boundary of parcel 04-15968 and the west boundary of parcel 04-02460 317 Broadway Street and 319 Broadway Street, St. Simons Island, Waterford Green Communities, LLC, John Burns, registered agent and applicant, and we have Mr. Hartman with us. Mr. Hartman?

Good evening, Commissioners. Jason Hartman, Engineering Director. This is Abandonment 2612. The The present use of the right of way is that the section of the right of way is currently being unused. The past history is that the section of the right-of-way has been used as it currently stands for several years. Potential use for the future would be that the public will continue to benefit from the ability to use the right-of-way for access and or utilities. Benefit to the public in continuing usage would be that the public may benefit from the ability to use the right-of-way for access to the adjacent parcels and or utilities. and the benefits to the public in the abandonment would be that it would be returned to the tax digest. Our engineering staff has reviewed this application. Highlighted in red is the two parcels in question for the abandonment tonight. These two parcels are owned by the same owner. This is a plat showing the two parcels zoomed in. The areas in bold are the area that's going to be abandoned. They're also shown in red here. They're approximately 10 feet wide by 50 feet long. Important note is that all the other areas in this alleyway have already been abandoned. So this area is kind of landlocked right now. So it should be favorable to go forward with this abandonment. This is a few photos that were taken on site from one of my engineers. This is a north directional view of the area. This is a south directional view. And this was an aerial view taken by a drone photo here. We did not have any utility comments, therefore there will be no utility easements asked for with this abandonment. And we also did not receive any public comments during the public comment period. Here is a list of your possible motions with the recommended motion highlighted in red. This concludes my portion of the presentation. If anybody has any questions, I'm happy to answer anything. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Harmon. Commissars, any questions before we open the public hearing? All right, this is a public hearing for AB-26-12. If anyone is here to speak in opposition, please come forward, state your name for the record, and you'll have five minutes to speak in opposition. Seeing none, hearing none, we'll close that. Anyone who wishes to speak in favor of AB-26-12, please come forward, state your name for the record. All right. Seeing none, hearing none, we'll close the public hearing. And, Commissioners, we're back to you.

Mr. Chairman, I move to approve AB-26-12 as presented.

Second.

All right. We have a motion by Commissioner Rafalski, a second by Commissioner Clark. Any other discussion? All in favor, please raise your right hand. That is 5-0. And Madam Clerk, if you should see where one of the commissioners gets in, please send me a reminder. All right. Item number 22 is a public hearing for land use. It is ZM-26-14, that is 9385 Old Post Road Rezone, consideration of rezoning requests from Forest Agriculture to GC General Commercial for development of a retail store at 9385 Old Post Road. SP-26-18 is the companion site plan application. Parcel 02-02712, Pete Schoenlauer, Tidewater Engineering, agent for Wilson Brown, Terramore Development LLC developer, Brantley Convenience LLC owner. And we have with us tonight Mr. Carey.

Good evening, Commissioners. Before you tonight, we have a rezoning for your consideration. It is at the corner of Highway 32 and Old Post Road. It is the property in blue. Here's your area map. Here is the location. So again, right here in red, outlined in white. And then we have a picture of the property. It is this parcel right here. Highway 32 is right here. Old Post Road, and across the street is Brantley County. Again, this request is to rezone to general commercial for the use of a retail store. We have had numerous public comments received regarding concerns about traffic, safety, and development. And this project was noticed with ad sign and paper and mailers on August 14th. So here is an overview of all the comments received, various comments from additional traffic congestion, lack of infrastructure, endangered species inquiries, and adjacent mining operation behind the property. So right here is your zoning analysis showing the difference between what is proposed and what is existing. The current zoning is forest agriculture, and the proposed would be general commercial. Within our comprehensive plan, general commercial is not highlighted, but highway commercial is. This use would be less intensive than highway commercial. Overall, it would be a lower impact than a highway commercial zoning. Here is the accompanying site plan that was presented in the site plan application, showing the layout of the project. The Mainland Planning Commission did recommend unanimous approval of this application. And these are your possible motions. We do have Pete Schoenauer and the Tara Moore team available for questioning as well.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Kerry. Commissioners, any questions before we open the public hearing? All right. This is a public hearing for ZM-26-14, Old Post Road Red Zone. The same rules for public hearings as stated earlier are still applicable. Anyone who wishes to speak against ZM-26-14, please come forward. State your name for the record, please. You'll have five minutes.

Yes, sir. My name is Jebediah Schwartz. I live at 10045 Old Post Road in Glynn County, and I would like to speak against this on the basis of multiple reasons I've already presented from the previous meetings, including the gopher tortoise being an endangered species as classified by the DNR. There have been several noted burrows of the gopher tortoise there at this location. And the DNR is very lenient as far as property rights for property owners. The recommendation by the DNR is that the tortoises be relocated. But they require the approval of the property owner to go and actually relocate the tortoises. They are actually an endangered species as recognized by the DNR in Georgia. But the main concern that I would like to raise tonight, besides the engineering issues with the mine being an unsafe mine, is additional traffic enforcement is required on Old Post Road. They've recently put in three flock cameras. The flock cameras help to slow down the drag racing that was occurring at that end of the post road. But the main problem is in Georgia, the Department of Transportation regulates whether or not the ATVs that have been licensed properly to operate on the county roads are able to do so. There is a two-lane dirt highway next to Post Road that runs from the Golden Isle Speedway at Georgia Highway 82 all the way down parallel to... the cemetery that is located at Georgia Highway 32, and the gas station located immediately behind Georgia Highway 32 and Post Road intersection. We know that we probably won't be able to get you guys to change the decision about zoning it. It's their property. We're not against commerce. We're just against the idea of them putting a Dollar General store because there are four within 12 miles of the proposed location for this one. What we would like to request is an increase in law enforcement presence because the general consensus with... Probably nine out of 10 property owners immediately surrounding this site that's being requested for rezoning and development is that, just like at the Dollar General down on 82 and Post Road, is that there's going to be an increase in the drug activity. There's going to be an increase in the number of people who are in the neighborhood attempting to commit theft because when The Golden Isle Speedway has a race, and they publish them, and they make an annual schedule. There are a large number of people that show up with ATVs. There was a child killed on Highway 82. He stole an ATV, drove across the highway in the middle of the night, and he got hit by a motor vehicle. We have people that drag race. on their little miniature scooters and their little motorcycles and ATVs down Post Road. The law enforcement doesn't show up and patrol out there. Is there any way that we can please request an increase in the police presence and patrols down Post Road and Highway 32 if you're in agreement to go ahead with the zoning and rezoning of this section of property? Thank you.

All right, sir.

Anyone else who wishes to speak in opposition, please come forward. State your name for the record. To speak in opposition. All right. Seeing none, hearing none, we'll close that portion. Anyone who wishes to speak in favor of ZM-26-14, please come forward. State your name for the record.

Hello. I'm Tyler Grable with Terramore Development. And I just wanted to speak in opposition of this project. Obviously, Mainland Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve this project. We think that at this intersection, it's a great location. Obviously, we know across the road there's a gas station. And the nearest Dollar General is actually over six miles, which I think, as we know nowadays, is quite far. There's a very large trade area. And we feel like this location would certainly be more of a benefit than a nuisance to the area. But yeah, we certainly think that it's the highest and best use being at the corner. The annual average daily traffic is fairly low. The site plan will go through all permits needed. If any gopher tortoises need to be relocated, they'll be relocated. Generally speaking, we've also, through site plan approval, decided to add fencing to the south and east borders to protect from the mines. And we've also increased facade improvements per Mainland Planning Commission to make it look as much as possible like the Ratcliffe Road property. So really if you have any questions, uh pete schooner is our uh he's with tidewater engineering he can answer anything as far as permitting or site plan related questions and we also have wilson brown and jason tate here um we're more than happy to answer any questions for you but thank you for your time all right sir anyone else to speak in favor all right we'll close the public hearing on zm-26-14 and commissioners can we have motions

Mr. Chairman, I move to approve ZM-26-14 as presented.

Second. All right. We have a motion by Commissioner Rafalski, a second by Commissioner Clark to approve ZM-26-14. Any other discussion?

I believe the University of Georgia can help with the removal of the tortoises.

Correct, because we've got property in Pierce County, and we've got a bunch of those tortoises, and they are protected in that area.

Yeah, and I want to just thank the Dollar General folks. The one at Radcliffe you mentioned is probably one of the most attractive ones you have. Y'all did a fantastic job, and hopefully y'all follow suit out at Post Road. Appreciate it.

And as far as the law enforcement goes, the police chief is here, and he heard you.

And we will ask. We understand that there is a need. On the county line road, it's a little more difficult, but we will certainly request additional service that way. Is there any chance of maybe a red light or a caution light? I mean, you said that's there all the time. Stay out. I'm sorry first that we don't open back up to comment, but to answer your questions that we don't answer during comments, that is a state highway and it has to meet state highway standards for traffic and intersections. It might be that we could petition for a four-way stop there. That's above discussion tonight because we don't have those particulars.

No motion. Did you get a second?

We had a second by Commissioner Clark. Any other discussion, Commissioners? All in favor, please raise your right hand. That is 5-0. All right. Item number 23 is ZM-26-20-4150 Whitlock Rezone. Consideration of a county initiated change of zoning from one family residential R6 to limited industrial LI for the purpose of commercial use. With the proposed metal storage building, the property is located at 4150 Whitlock Street, parcel 03-09059. The parcel is currently zoned R6. Glen County Board of Commissioners is the applicant. And again, Mr. Carey.

Good evening, Commissioners. Before each night, we have a rezoning request at 4150 Whitlock Street. Here's the location in blue. And here is your area map giving you perspective on where the location is. So right here we have Public Works and the Sheriff Department. And basically right across Highway 341 and the rail line, you have the subject in question. And here is a picture of the property. The request is to rezone 1.65 acres of property from one family residential R6 to limited industrial to allow for future commercial development. The property had a residence in approximately the 1980s and has been used primarily as a commercial location ever since. During that time in the 80s, the home was demolished and business continued to run through that location. This project was noticed with at mailer in sign on August 14th. And here is your zoning analysis. So this location in the comp plan does not have limited industrial listed. It is in the traditional neighborhood area. However, there is a large industrial development all along Whitlock. So that is one of our industrial areas. So that is why this district was proposed for the applicant. And here's your sketch plan showing a metal building and the overall location. The Planning Commission did recommend unanimous approval of this application. And these are your possible motions. We do have Mr. Burchette available as well for questioning. And that is all from staff.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Kerry. Commissioners, any questions before we open the public hearing? All right. This is a public hearing for ZM-26-204150 Whitlock Avenue. Anyone who wishes to speak in opposition, please come forward. State your name for the record. You'll have five minutes. to speak in opposition. All right, seeing none, hearing none, we'll close that portion. Anyone who wishes to speak in favor, please come forward, state your name for the record, and you'll have five minutes. All right, seeing no one, hearing no one, we'll close the public hearing, and Commissioners, we're back to you.

Mr. Chairman, I move to approve ZM-26-20 as presented. Second.

Have a motion by Commissioner Rafalski, a second by Commissioner Swepp. Any other discussion? All right. All in favor, please raise your right hand. That is 5-0. Thank you. Item number 24, ZM-26-6, 4305 Highway 82 rezone. Consider a request to rezone approximately 1.87 acres located at 4305 Highway 82. Excuse me. Parcel 03-26432 from Highway Commercial HC to Forest Agricultural FA to allow for residential development. Timothy Hicks, owner, and Ms. Wright is here to present. Thank you, Ms. Wright.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good evening, Commissioners. Christina Wright, Senior Planner. The 4305 Highway 82 rezone is a request to rezone approximately 1.87 acres from HC Highway Commercial to FA Forest Agricultural to allow for residential development. The property, of course, is located at 4305 Highway 82. And here you can see the zoning and the location of particular emphasis here is not only at HC zoning of the property, but also the FA zoning classifications adjacent and proximate to the property. Here's your character area map indicating that it's within the Economic Corridor Center character area in which the requested FA Forest Agricultural Zoning Classification is not listed as a compatible zoning classification. However, the property is adjacent to and proximate to other FA properties. Here are images looking west along Highway 82 from the subject site. Here are images looking east from the site, south into the site, and north across Highway 82 from the subject site. Here's a sketch plan indicating the layout of the proposed residence on 1.87 acres. Here's the zoning comparison, simply emphasizing that the reason for this request is to allow a residential use. Here's a zoning analysis that demonstrates the development standards for each zone and classification. And in summary, under the FA zoning classification, the maximum density is two dwelling units per acre and requires a lot size of 20,000 square feet, which the applicant easily achieves. However, the character area does not include FA as a compatible classification, although the subject parcel is once again adjacent to and proximate to other FA forest agricultural zoning classifications. The Mainland Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval at their regularly scheduled September 1st meeting. Here are your possible actions and notions. I'm happy to answer any questions. And Mr. Timothy Hicks is the applicant and owner, and he is here as well.

All right. Thank you, Ms. Wright. Commissioner, is there any questions before we open here?

Yes, sir. I have one. How long has this property been highway commercial?

Since 1984.

Was it 84? Okay. And does the property on the other three lots that are highway commercial? Or just that one?

I don't believe so. Yeah, the adjacent parcels? His grandfather does. Okay. All right. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

All right. And the applicant does understand that if, and you're saying the adjacent properties are family owned, but should anybody come forward wishing to change other FA to commercial, it would be within their right to do so. And they're good with that with their home site, knowing the family. Very good. Thank you. All right. Any other questions before we open the public hearing? This is a public hearing for ZM-26-6. Anyone who wishes to speak in opposition, please come forward, state your name for the record, to speak in opposition. Seeing none, hearing none, anyone who wishes to speak in favor, please come forward, state your name for the record. All right, seeing none, hearing none, and we're getting down to just us home folk, so we'll close the public hearing, and commissioners, we're back to you. chairman i'd like to make a motion to approve zm dash twenty six dash six as presented second all right we have a motion by commissioner clark a second by commissioner booker to approve zm dash two six dash six any other discussion all in favor please raise your right hand that's five zero thank you all right uh... catching up here just a second. All right. Item number 25 is a public hearing for TA-26-2. This is zoning ordinance text amendments. And I believe, Mr. Attorney, we agreed that we don't need to read that entire narrative?

Correct.

All right. So this is the second public hearing for our zoning text amendment. If there is anyone here who wishes to speak... Do we need Ms. Wright to give a short narrative?

Only if the board needs that.

You don't think so?

If you want to, if the board needs it, it wouldn't hurt to have a very short, brief one.

OK. And I couldn't understand anything he said, so you might want to change it.

A short, brief one would be in order, Mr. Chairman.

All right.

OK, thank you. Once again. All right.

Thank you. Anyone who wishes to speak on this text ordinance amendment, please come forward. State your name for the record.

She didn't have to, but if the board wanted her to go into it again, that would be fine as well. I'm good either way.

If you feel that you need clarification,

I'm sorry. I wanted to make sure the procedurals were going correctly. But hello. Good evening. Thank you so much for being here tonight. I talked with you all at the last comment. And you might know me by now. I'm Kat Montgomery. I'm a St. Simons resident, but I'm also advocate for Coastal Conservation Organization 100 Miles. And yeah, here to just talk tonight about these proposed changes. So 100 Miles, we did submit pretty substantive comments. That would take longer than five minutes to read to you. So we sent that over email earlier this week. But tonight, I'd really like us all to reflect on a quote from our own commissioner, Mr. Tostenson, so he can be here in spirit tonight. But at a previous meeting, Mr. Tostenson said of the commission, we quote, we can't control growth, we can only manage it. So I'm really interested in hearing your discussion tonight about how the county plans to manage stormwater runoff on the mainland if these two protections, the site coverage limits and the marsh buffer, are eliminated from our zoning codes. Implementing site coverage limits countywide is how you manage growth. Retaining a county-mandated marsh buffer is also a tool for managing growth. So removing these things doesn't seem like you're managing growth. It seems like you're just saying, go on. Grow. But there's issues that come with growth that need to be managed. You see, that's why we brought the quote up. So each proposal that is packed into this one agenda item places development desires over best management practices that ensure Glynn County grows sustainably. At the September 3 public hearing, I mentioned the Coastal Stormwater Supplement Plan from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division. This guideline states clearly that Glynn County should be practicing proactive stormwater management. The CSS provides comprehensive guidance for stormwater management to protect the coast and its residents from the negative impacts of land development and nonpoint source pollution. As soon as you do anything to a parcel of land, clearing trees, that immediately degrades the quality of the runoff that comes from that land. You get less rainfall. Because rain soaks into the ground. But if there's concrete, if there's more rooftops, that kind of thing, it doesn't turn into rainfall. It turns into runoff, which is full of pollutants. So yeah, I already discussed that with y'all. And again, I hope you had a chance to read the letter that I sent in. Yeah, so I'll just close with saying that managing stormwater is not only about mitigating flooding and controlling drainage, which was discussed by the planning boards, but it's also about maintaining the water quality. Again, the pollution I mentioned. Limiting the amount of impervious surface reduces the amount of the sediment chemicals that are in stormwater runoff that pollute the water that we all use every day. So removing these important protections from our zoning codes decreases the quality of life for all Glen County residents. So I'm really curious to hear your thoughts tonight as it pertains to stormwater management solutions rather than just making things easier for developers. Thank you so much.

Mr. Montgomery, you know that we do not respond to public comment in that manner. These items have been discussed. Is there anyone else to speak against or for the zoning ordinance text amendments? All right. Seeing none, hearing none, we will close the public hearing. This was the second public hearing for this matter, and it now comes to us for a vote. Can I entertain a motion?

We vote tonight or next meeting?

Tonight.

Yes. Mr. Chairman, since I don't have a motion to read, I'm going to give it my best shot. I move to approve TA-26-2. The 15-foot marsh buffer is already something that was in place by the DNR, so there's no need in being redundant.

Have a motion by Commissioner Rafalski. Second. Second by Commissioner Booker. Any other discussion? All in favor, please raise your right hand. And that is 5-0. We have no items coming tonight under general business. We have no one signed up, Madam Clerk, for a public comment.

How about executive session?

We have no items tonight for executive session.

Mr. Chairman, since it's my wife's birthday, I make a motion to adjourn.

Second.

All right. We have a motion by Commissioner Rafalski, a second by Commissioner Swinn, Clark, Booker, and Neal to adjourn. Any discussion? All in favor, please raise your right hand. That is unanimous. Thank you for attending.