About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2019)
SSI McKinnon Airport Continued from Page 1 “I am opposed to that,” said Gusman. Also speaking in opposition, Julian Smith said he was not sure that the airport is what the taxpayers need or want as it is now. Smith commented on a site plan that had come before the IPC at the May meeting that did not comply with zoning regulations. Smith said, “That was a bad project. It was too much on too little land.” Willis noted that that particular application had been withdrawn. Note: Smith and Willis were refer ring to the site plan for Seaside Main tenance that came to the IPC in May. It was for a new 4,600 sq. ft commer cial building for administrative and sales offices, repair shop, and storage for Seaside Maintenance at 104 Sky- lane Court near the airport. Appar ently it came out during the meeting that in order to make the building fit the property the buffer area would be located in county-owned right-of-way. Regarding the airport’s request last week, Smith said, “This has to do with whether we can trust the airport com mission to come up with good projects. Why add all these new uses after all these years? Do we need more of these businesses? They are of no use to the residents. The government is going into competition with private land owners. Isn’t there enough private commercial property on the island?” He suggested that the airport was turning this portion of Demere Rd. into a strip mall. Representing Donnie McCaskill, at torney Mary Helen Moses also spoke in opposition to the airport request. Moses said that McCaskill was the largest property owner in Tract B of the airport property, he owns the St. Simons Trailer Park. Saying they re ceived a late notice about the airport’s request on Friday morning (June 14), she asked the IPC to defer the issue. “This isn’t enough time for people to research,” said Moses, “I’m asking for a deferral, or you could just cut to the chase and deny it.” Referencing a comment by Airport Commission Executive Director Rob Burr about allowing a restaurant at the airport, Moses pointed out that the IPC’s concern should be whether it would be compatible with the nearby neighborhood. Moses said this was the third time in five years there has been a request to put a restaurant here. She said res taurants have not allowed in Tracts B and C. Pointing out that the airport com mission’s request was now “a broader plan for restaurants,” Moses cited a comment from former IPC member Stan Humphries regarding increased traffic. She said the change only serves the airport commission, not the public. Miriam Lancaster also spoke in op position saying she had three issues with the request. “First, the amendments proposed are overly broad and vague,” said Lancaster, “the text as written ap pears to allow conditional and special uses without the necessity of obtain ing a conditional use permit or special use permit as currently defined in the Zoning Ordinance. Surely this was not the intent or intended result, but that would be the interpretation. Changes to the PD text that will allow condi tionals uses and special uses without independently meeting the current requirements for such uses should be deleted.” Lancaster also pointed out that the request exempts Tract A from the Tree Ordinance. “The Airport already has an exemp tion in the tree ordinance for anything related to the operation of the air port,” said Lancaster, “including tree removal, to meet Federal Aviation Administration requirements. No ex emption in the PD text is required to satisfy operational requirements.” “If general commercial activity is developed in Tract A, it should be sub ject to the requirements of the tree or dinance,” said Lancaster, “This is only fair to other commercial developers who are developing on private prop erty. The changes to the PD text with respect to the tree ordinance are un necessary and should be deleted.” “Finally, the broad amendment of a Planned Development text with out any accompanying site plan is an abuse of the PD zoning classification,” said Lancaster. “Good land use planning princi pals call for the utilization of PD as a method for cohesive development of a parcel of land,” Lancaster continued, Country Cooking, Lunch Specials, Monday thru Friday 11 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. $8.95 ©US tripadvisor MARSHSIDE Pepper Steak Fried or Baked Beef Liver with Onions Fried or Grilled Pork Chops Meat /THURSDAY Loaf Roast Fried Fried or or Baked Smothered Chicken Chicken Country Fried Steak ^Seafood Gumbo with White Rice & Cornbread Marshside Lunch Specials Come With Your Choice of 2 Sides. 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It is the IPC’s responsibility to protect these established neighborhoods.” “There is a big difference between a restaurant being developed on prop erty adjacent to the airfield and a res taurant being developed on the prop erty abutting the St. Simons Heights neighborhood,” she said. “What should happen is when a specific use is identified - like a res taurant - it should come before the IPC with a site plan, public hearing and notice to adjacent property own ers to properly evaluate the specific proposed use.” “This amendment affects over 300 acres of prime real estate at one of the Island’s busiest intersections, without any plan or proposed use for the pub lic or this body to consider. There is no legal or logical justification for this amendment and it should be rejected,” Lancaster concluded. A resident of the Island Townhouse condominiums on Demere Rd. also spoke in opposition. Speaking in favor were Brad Brum- bach, who developed Aviator Plaza and wants to include a coffee shop in June 24, 2019, The Islander, Page 5 his commercial area. Brumbach called the airports re quest “controlled growth.” “This is clearly a commercial area,” he said, “and there’s not a lot of places here for a restaurant.” “Some of the people who objected to my building are objecting again to day,” said Brumbach, “They said my building would bring traffic, but that has not happened.” Martin McCormack also spoke in favor of the request saying the airport commission has been good stewards of the property and would not do any thing “nefarious.” After some brief rebuttal comments from Burr, Moses asked if a site plan would be required if an existing build ing was turned into a restaurant? County Planning Manager Stefanie Lief said no site plan was required if the use of an existing building was changed. Site plans are only required for new buildings. IPC member George Ragsdale was concerned that the commercial “char acter” of the area should be for “higher end jobs” other than restaurants. He said he’d like to see light industrial uses come to the airport. “More res taurants is the wrong focus,” he said. Burr did say there was a possibility of a restaurant at the location of the Turn to Page 6 SSI McKinnon Airport 24 hour towing Mon - Friday 8 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Proudly serving S.E. Georgia Since 1980 We specialize in larger vehicle repair. • Roof repair , -- • Complete panels 155 Newman Drive Brunswick, Ga. 31520 • 912-264-3230 office •www.thebodyshopbwkga.com hartridgeJLrealty Connecting with Community Give where you live Trace Hartridge Owner/Agent 912-223-3740 Call/Text trace@hartridgerealty.com Terri Hartridge Owner/Broker 912-258-1004 Call/Text terri@hartridgerealty.com A full service local real estate company founded on honesty & integrity. We Donate 25% of our Commission to a Charity of Our Clients’ Choice
