Newspaper Page Text
Page 16, July 29, 2019, The Islander
Is it a public road or
is it... a public road?
On Thursday, July 18 the Glynn
County Board of Commissioners
(BOC) told the Zoning Board of Ap
peals (ZBA), a board they appointed
themselves, that the ZBA did not have
the authority to prohibit the St. Si
mons Land Trust from using Village
Dr. to access their new park.
In a case that turned into some
thing of a 4-ring circus, the ZBA and
the residents of German Village were
told the Land Trust could use Village
Dr., the only road into the German vil
lage neighborhood, because it was “a
public road.”
In defense of their position that the
Land Trust should not use Village Dr.,
the ZBA cited sections of the Glynn
County Zoning Ordinance supporting
that position.
In response to the ZBA denying the
use of Village Dr., the ‘public road de
fense’ was the only defense the Land
Trust representatives and attorney of
fered on their behalf - and 5 of 7 BOC
members agreed.
Ironically, almost the exact same
Glynn County Board of Commission
ers took a 180 degree, diametrically
opposed stance on Thursday, Septem
ber 20, 2018 when they told Stewart
Tate that he could NOT use a public
road - Harry Driggers Blvd. - to access
his client’s property.
Tate was the agent representing
RLF Kingsland Properties, LLC, a de
veloper who was denied use of a public
road.
To be more specific, RLF was grant
ed temporary use of Driggers Blvd. for
his dump trucks, but not permanent
use.
RLF plans to develop a tract of land
in the northwest quadrant of Driggers
Blvd. and Hwy. 17 as a residential
subdivision.
He wants to dig a lake on the prop
erty, but he doesn’t need the dirt, so he
intends to sell it.
So, in all our government’s infinite
bureaucratic wisdom, the sale of the
dirt requires a permit. No permit is re
quired to dig the lake, just to sell the
dirt.
So RLF applied for a permit, it’s
called an LDA (Land Disturbing Activ
ity permit), from the Georgia Dept, of
Natural Resources and got it.
The next step was to come to the
Glynn County BOC to ask for an
amendment to the Planned Develop
ment (PD) Zoning Text that applies to
the property where he wants to build
houses.
Now let’s keep in mind that Harry
Driggers Blvd. is a major road con
necting Hwy. 17 on the east end to
the Glynco Parkway near Canal Rd.
on the west end. There are currently
a half dozen or more neighborhoods
off of Driggers Blvd. whose residents
drive on it every day. There are also
two schools and a huge Glynn County
Publisher The Islander editorial
recreational park with multiple ball-
fields off of Driggers Blvd.
When Stewart Tate applied for the
PD text amendment, on behalf of RLF,
the approval came with a list of 12
conditions, many of which related to
the company being allowed temporary
use of a public road to haul dirt off the
property.
A group of people attended the meet
ing to oppose the use of Driggers Blvd.
by the dmnp trucks. Not as many as
turned out to oppose the use of Village
Dr. by the Land Trust, but a few.
When the BOC told Tate his client’s
dump trucks couldn’t use Driggers
Blvd., Tate told the BOC the access
road to Driggers Blvd. was the only
way in and out of his client’s proper
ty - just like Village Dr. is to German
Village.
In response the BOC said, “Okay.
Well, he’ll just have to build a new
road and connect it to Hwy. 17.”
To which Tate said, “To do that he’ll
have to build the road through juris
dictional wetlands.”
Now hold on, here’s the real shock
er... the Glynn County Commission
said, “In that case, RLF will have to
go back to the Georgia Department
of Natural Resources and to the U.S
Army Corps of Engineers and to the
Georgia Department of Transporta
tion to get the three permits needed
to build the new road across wetlands
and connect it to Hwy. 17.”
And we haven’t even touched on the
cost of building this new road. Not to
mention the cost of the permitting pro
cess for three separate state and feder
al agencies, nor the time it would take
to go through that process. I promise
you the Army Corps and the DOT are
not in any hurry.
Also, the DNR’s LDA permit is not a
‘forever permit,’ it’s has an expiration
date, along with a hefty price tag.
The St. Simons Land Trust owns
hundreds of acres adjacent to German
Village complete with a road that could
be restored and used to access their
new park. But they say there are wet
lands involved and it can’t be restored.
Why didn’t the BOC tell the Land
Trust the same thing they told Stew
art Tate and RLF Kingsland Proper
ties, “Go to the DNR and get a permit
and fix the road.”
I find it interesting that the County
Commission busted the chops of a de
veloper who wants to build homes in
a wide open, rural area of the county,
which would add greatly to their tax
base, and yet turned their back on a
property tax paying neighborhood in
favor of a special interest organization
that actually takes property off the tax
rolls.
So... is it a public road, or is it a pub
lic road? I guess it depends on who you
are.
Ill HU 91
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