About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 20, 2018)
THE ^ISLANDER Published by Permar Publications www.theislanderonline.com ssislander@bellsouth.net August 20, 2018 Established in 1972 Vol 46 Issue 34 Hwy. 17 corridor Above: The Hwy. 17 / Glynn Ave. corridor has been the subject of several studies looking for ways to improve it. The latest was deferred by the Brunswick City Commission last week. This photo, facing south, was taken at the northern boundary of the the study area near the SPUR 25 intersection. Bottom: Also facing south, this photo shows Glynn Ave. from the Hopkins Ave. intersection. Islander Staff Photos - Permar 7 ■ ■ i/ -A: City Commission defers vote on Glynn Avenue Design Framework BOC reverses IPC denial of event venue By Matthew J. Permar Within the last several months the Glynn County Board of Commissioners (BOC) amended their Zoning Ordinance to include a section to allow a property owner to appeal the denial of a site plan by one of the county’s plan ning commissions. Last Thursday night (Aug. 17) the BOC heard their first site plan appeal and reversed the Island Planning Commis sion’s (IPC) July 17 denial of the special event venue at 2610 Lawrence Road on St. Simons Island. The vote was 4 - 1 with Commissioner Bob Coleman (At Large #2) the lone no vote. Commissioners Mike Brown ing (Dist. 1) and Peter Mur phy (Dist. 2) were absent. Commission chairman Bill Brunson (Dist. 4) first read the rules for the site plan ap peal process: 1. ) the hearing shall be con fined to a review of the record of the preceding before the planning commission; 2. ) no new evidence will be admitted or considered; 3. ) the Board (BOC) shall review the record for error based on procedural irregu larity and / or error based on the sufficiency or insufficiency of the evidence to support the findings and conclusions of the planning commission that the applicable criteria were not met; 4. ) the BOC will hear from the appellant and from staff of the Community Development Department, each of whom will have up to 10 minutes to address the BOC; 5. ) after hearing from the appellant and from county staff, the BOC may ask ques tions of the individuals and parties involved, as may be necessary to assist in rending Turn to Page 5 Site plan appeal At their meeting last week (Aug. 15) in anticipation of voting on the ordinance that would incorporate the Glynn Avenue Design Framework regulations, the Brunswick City Commission heard anoth er presentation of the design plan from Denise Grabowski, owner of Symbioscity, the Sa vannah consulting firm hired to create the Glynn Avenue plan. Symbioscity was hired in November of 2015 to create By Pamela Permar Shierling the design plan for the High way 17 corridor at a budget of $76,100. All but $465 of that contract has been paid by the city. Two people who own prop erty fronting along Highway 17 included in the design plan spoke to the commission dur ing the public comment period of the meeting last week. Ron Adams, who along with his brother Doug Adams, owns the old paint factory property on the east side of Highway 17, told the commission that the plan was inconsistent. Adams pointed out the fol lowing inconsistencies: • the four plus acres owned by Glynn Iron and Metal, Inc. along with five other proper ties fronting on Lanier Blvd. are included in the overlay. All these properties are sepa rated from Highway 17 by Lanier Blvd. and marsh, Ad ams pointed out. Turn to Page 8 Glynn Ave. JWSC approves funding to get sewer closer to Ellis Point By Pamela Permar Shierling During their Thursday, August 16 meeting the Glynn- Brunswick Joint Water and Sewer Commission (JWSC) approved capital funding which will extend the system and ultimately bring water and sewer closer to Ellis Point and Picket Landing subdivi sions, and Island View, Live Oak, Pine View and Altamaha apartment complexes. The JWSC will spend $161,628 from the capital improvement fund to extend the system’s infrastructure in conjunction with the exten sions paid for by the Friendly Express on the corner of High way 341 and Highway 303. Turn to Page 2 JWSC - Ellis Point Jekyll Creek dredging to start end of October By Pamela Permar Shierling The Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has $4.6 million of federal funding on hand to begin the pilot project of dredging Jekyll Creek by the end of October or early November, according to Russell Wicke, Chief, Corpo rate Communications Office Savannah District. A pre-solicitation notice was issued on August 7 for the maintenance dredging of Jekyll Creek and other areas of the AIWW (Atlantic Intra coastal Water Way). An invi tation for bid is scheduled to be issued later this month. One half of the 150 foot channel will be dredged to a depth of 10 feet and a width of 75 feet. Dredging will be Turn to Page 2 Jekyll Creek County-Wide News - Read County-Wide Page 2 -BOE tribunal policy to change Page 6- Lord of Life honors graduates Page 3 - SGHS adds second valet Page 10 - Pew News parking location Page 11 - Sounds by the Sea Page 4 - Letters to the Editor Page 12 - Back Talk 0 94922 29970 3