About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 14, 2019)
Page 6, January 14, 2019, The Islander Town Hall Continued from Page 1 Murphy mentioned speed limits on some island roads that are incorrectly posted. Referring to an October 29, 2018 ar ticle in The Islander, Murphy said the newspaper was correct, that there were roads on St. Simons with incorrectly posted speed limits. Murphy confirmed, as was noted in the article, that the incorrect speed lim its were the actions of a county commis sion many years ago. He also confirmed that there are state regulations regard ing speed limits on local roads. Murphy said the issue is being han dled “in-house” by the county. The last time The Islander checked, the incorrect speed limit signs have not been changed to reflect the correct speed limits. After the power point presentation, Murphy opened the floor for questions from the audience. Islander Frank Cullen was concerned about island residents having more con trol over the future growth and develop ment on the island. Cullen said he was worried that the rest of the Glynn County Board of Commissioners (BOC) did not agree with Murphy’s concern for island development. Cullen cited Community Develop ment Director Pamela Thompson as saying zoning issues could result in law suits over property rights. “In the past,” said Cullen, “we couldn’t be sure the county commission would fight the lawsuits. But if people on the island had control of the zoning, it would be better for us.” Cullen continued suggesting that by incorporating St. Simons, it would be a way for island residents to control devel opment and growth. “We need a vote on incorporation,” said Cullen, “The local legislative del egation will have to agree to a vote. Peter (Murphy), you were in favor of a vote on incorporation, will you ask the local legislators to drop a bill (in the General Assembly) to allow a vote on incorporation?” Murphy said he doesn’t “promote” in corporation of the island. “It will create chaos,” said Murphy, “It’s not going to happen, we don’t have the support from the local legislators, so it’s a moot point, but I will talk to them again.” Bringing island development to the forefront again, Julian Smith asked a series of questions about restoring sole authority for preliminary plats and site plans to the Island Planning Commis sion (IPC). Last year the BOC amended the zon ing ordinance to make decisions on pre liminary plats an administrative task for the Community Development De partment staff. The plats no longer go to either planning commission. They also amended the zoning ordi nance to allow a property owner whose site plan is denied by the IPC to appeal it to the BOC, instead of having to go straight to court. In addition to asking that prelimi nary plat and site plan authority be giv en back to the IPC, Smith asked Murphy to support public site walks for items on the IPC agenda. He asked for Murphy to support an open comment period at IPC meetings at which people could talk about items that were not on the agenda. He also asked to have alternate, non voting members be appointed to the IPC. Murphy said he was opposed to the removal of the IPC’s preliminary plat and site plan authority. He added that he was pragmatic and not Don Quixote. “Fm not going to fight battles I can’t win,” said Murphy. He asked other commissioners at the meet ing to weigh in. Commissioner Bill Brunson (Dist. 4) said, “We talked about this at the last town hall meeting. Every county in the state has their staffs deal with prelimi nary plats. You can’t control zoning with preliminary plats. I don’t believe this is a monumental issue. Preliminary plats are just information, they don’t allow construction. Commissioner Mike Browning (Dist. 1) who is the BOC chairman for 2019, said, “It was a tough decision, but I agree with Commissioner Brunson. It’s just in formation and yes, sometimes some of it is incorrect. We can have a class for the public on preliminary plats if you’d like.” Browning said he had been amazed in the past at some of the tangents people go off on when discussing preliminary plats. ‘The process has to be fair,” said Browning, “and it got to the point where it wasn’t fair.” For an example, Browning said it got to the point where people whose plats and site plans were denied and they were not given a reason for the denial. They have to be given a reason and a chance to go back and correct it, said Browning. ‘We have to tell people why they were turned down,” said Browning, “There were too many cases where people were not being told why they were denied.” New At Large Post 1 Commissioner David O’Quinn said he had talked with Murphy and Murphy does want what is best for the community. But, he said, the changes regarding the plats and site plans was recent and won’t be changed back anytime soon. “I think we need to work on the ordi nances first,” said O’Quinn, “and make them more applicable to St. Simons.” Other audience questions included possible regulations regarding outdoor burning in developed areas. Browning agreed it was a problem across the comity and he received calls about it. He said he’d like the comity to take a look at the issue. A woman asked about the comity’s shore protection issue. Assistant Comity Manager Kathryn Downs said there were two tilings going on in that regard. One is the $2.5 million grant from the state for shoreline protection. Downs said the county has hired a consultant to determine where the weak areas are in the existing rock seawall. Once that’s done, staff will work with the consultant to determine how to proceed. The first year will be a comprehensive study of the shoreline, said Downs, that will include St. Simons, Jekyll Island and Brunswick. The second year they will look at sea level rise. “We will look at all this to develop a plan for what to do about shore restora tion,” said Downs. Save Village from 0 The Land Trust andDNR Find us on FB at Save German Village THANK YOU 2018 PARTNERS As Keep Golden Isles Beautiful enters our 40 th year, we recognize the following partners that contributed to a cleaner and greener 2018 in the Golden Isles. We would not be here without your help. $1,200 & up: Core Partner BR.UNSW1CK.& GLYNN COUNTY DLD Davis Love Foundation #GP ^ Cellulose' PATE & JOHNSON sn jt m fiifes •—— -*|| "(burch $500 & up: Sustaining Partner Michelle Albright Barbara Browne Brunswick Country Club DiPreta Dermatology Epworth by the Sea, Inc. Georgia Sea Grill Glynn Iron & Metal, Inc. Golden Isles Dental Associates Golden Isles Wood Products, Inc. Michael & Judy Hartley International Auto Logistics, LLC Island Ace Hardware, Inc. & Ace Garden Center Jacobs, Coolidge & Company, LLC Little SSI & Hampton River Marina Loehle Photography Marsh's Edge LLC Overhead Door Company of Brunswick Paradigm Labs, LLC Parker's Convenience Stores Ann Pequigney Southeast Georgia Health System Westin Jekyll Island $251 & up: Stewardship Partner Family Health Chiropractic / Hartnett & Sasser General Dentistry Mercedes Benz USA / Monkeywrench Bicycle Services Inc. Publix Super Markets Charities / J. Dennis Silva, CPA/Tibi, LLC $25 & up: Pioneer Partner Visit this site for all other partners and to become one yourself! http://www.kaib.ora/join-us/ Not all hearing loss requires a hearing aid. If you thinkyou are experiencing hearing loss, see Southeast Georgia's only licensed Doctors of Audiology. we went to a hearing doctor. Trust the Doctors at Advanced Hearing & Balance Center for: - Functional Communication Assessments -Vestibular Testing - Hearing Aid Fittings -Trial Options Available Make an Appointment: (912) 267-1569 Physician-Referred ADVANCED HEARING &. BALANCE CENTER Southeast Georgia Health System, Brunswick Campus 3025 Shrine Rd, Suite 490, Brunswick, GA 31520
