About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 22, 2019)
Page 12, July 22, 2019, The Islander Residential areas losing in Glynn By Pamela Permar-Shierling As I see it the Comity Commission had two choices last Thursday. They could protect a neighborhood or not. It was just that simple. Five commissioners chose to not pro tect possibly the oldest neighborhood - German Village - on St. Simons Island. And it’s all because county staff and the commission, except for two commis sioners, refused to look at the whole pic ture of the Guale Preserve development owned by the St. Simons Land Trust. I have never heard so many specious ar guments in one place. Now German Village residents, who do occupy houses on both sides of Vil lage Drive, will have boaters, hikers, bikers, walkers, traipsing down their narrow, two lane, barely paved road, to the Guale Preserve waterfront. Why wasn’t the Land Trust required to use another road off their mile of frontage off of Lawrence Road? And it’s not just German Village who is taking a beating over neighborhood intrusion. Recently on Highway 303 the com mission approved the rezoning of a piece of property from residential to highway commercial. Half of the property was already zoned highway commercial; the other half remained zoned residential. I have no idea how that weird zoning happened. But the property owner was using the residential half for a commer cial use. Instead of making the property owner cease the wrong use, the comity was gracious enough to bring the prop erty owner into compliance by rezoning the property. They should have left the residential half of the property residential and cited the property owner for an incorrect use. If left residential, it would have protect ed the adjacent Ellis Point neighbor hood somewhat from highway commer cial encroachment. My question: did the rezoning lower the property value of the adjacent resi dential property? In last Thursday’s rezoning amend ment to the Planned Development text for McKinnon St. Simons Airport, the Druid Oaks homeowners did a little better than German Village or the Ellis Point residents. The Glynn Comity Airport Commis sion has been trying for several years to include restaurants as a use in their PD text. The homeowners adjacent to Tract B, which adjoins Druid Oaks subdivi sion and the trailer park on St. Simons, have fought this and won several times in the past. This time restaurant use was added to the PD text but only a coffee shop was allowed in Tract B. But restaurants will be allowed now in Tract C which adjoins the Sandcas- tle Subdivision. However, a restaurant is only allowed as a conditional use in Tract C which means it must go to the Islands Planning Commission then on Pam Shierling Editor The Islander EDITORIAL to the Comity Commission for approval. So somewhat of a victory for residents. In another battle of residents vs com mercial, Sandcastle and the Airport Commission, the Commission approved a building on Airport Tract C property on Skylane Dr. that was frankly not big enough to accommodate the size of the building. Sandcastle residents didn’t mind the building just the loss of the buffer that came with it. That project was with drawn by the applicant from the IPC agenda recently. But projects have a way of resurfacing around here. Then there’s the Jewtown residents who live along Demere Road on St. Si mons who have been fighting commer cial encroachment for years. There are still some pockets of single family residences on that portion of De mere but it’s probably just a matter of time before multi-family or commercial take them over. Back to German Village. I have never, even in Glynn Comity, seen a development such as Guale Preserve be developed in a vacumn. County officials refused to look at the overall picture of the 258 acre site and what the St. Si mons Land Trust has publicly stated is planned for the site. They refused to look at any impact to the adjacent Ger man Village neighborhood. Except at the Zoning Board of Ap peals hearing on June 6, the plans for the preserve have not been discussed at any public meeting. Why not? It’s the Is land’s largest privately owned park. There has never been a public site plan review, and there isn’t a park man agement plan yet according to the SSLT executive director. But the preserve is already open to the public. I asked a commissioner prior to Thursday’s vote how he planned to vote. While he wouldn’t tell me directly, he did say the German Village residents had annoyed him with all their pushy efforts. Hinminm. I wonder how he’d like the general public using his only subdivi sion road as a pass through to a park. This should be a warning to those of you who live in Glynn, whether it be the mainland or on St. Simons, if you live near the water, this could happen to you. The new Glynn County Comprehen sive Plan adopted last October has two interesting action items. The first is a new “County Greens- pace Plan” to be developed in close part nership with the SSLT and Dept, of Natural Resources that will identify ad ditional lands for future acquisition and conservation (Action Item #31). The second is a county wide study to identify more sites for recreational water access and boat launches (Action Item #51). Coming soon...through your neighborhood. We Know YOU’RE READY. but it’s never too early to start planning. Independent Living • Assisted Living • Memory Care • Skilled Nursing • Rehab MARSH’S EDGE ON ST. SIMONS ISLAND 136 Marsh’s Edge Lane • St. Simons Island, GA 31522 (912) 324-3028 • Marshs-Edge.com m b.
