About The Islander. (St. Simons Island, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 23, 2024)
Page 4, December 23, 2024, The Islander Controversial 2280 Demere rezone deferred By Matthew J. Permar Publisher's Statement THE ISLANDER (USPS 002430), A member of the Georgia Press Associa tion and Glynn County’s only weekly newspa- per is published 51 weeks a year for $43 per year in Glynn County and $53 per year in the United States outside Glynn Comity by Permar Pub lications, Inc., 1604 B Newcastle Street, Brunswick, GA 31525. Periodicals post age paid at Brunswick, GA. The Island er is also available to subscribers onhne at theislanderonline.com. Contents of The Islander, including advertising, may not he reprinted or re produced in any form without written permission of the publishers. POST MASTER send address change to The Islander, P.O. Box 20539, St. Simons Island, GA 31522. Publication Deadline Publication Date: Every Monday Deadline: Thursdays, 12 PM for ads and news copy for the following Mon day’s edition. Holiday Schedule On Monday Post Office holidays, The Islander is mailed on Tuesday. 2023 Postal Holidays January 2 Monday New Year’s Day January 16 Monday MLK Jr. birthday February 20 Monday President’s Day May 29 Monday Memorial Day June 19 Monday Juneteenth July 4 Tuesday Independence Day September 4 Monday Labor Day October 9 Monday Columbus Day November 11 Saturday Veterans’ Day November 23 Thursday Thanksgiving Day December 25 Monday Christmas Day Holiday Deadline: Thursdays, 12 PM for ads and news copy for the following Monday’s edition. Mission Statement: to publish the truth without fear or favor. Matthew J. Permar - Publisher Elise J. Permar - Publisher 1972-2003 Gertrude Bradshaw - Co-Editor 1972-1991 Managing Editor & Advertising Manager Pamela P. Shierling 912-265-9654 Pew News Patty Gibson - 912-638-8844 Contributors Dr. Diane Bowen MD Ginny Johnson D.A. King Phone Number 912-265-9654 email: ssislander@bellsouth.net Web: theislanderonbne.com Award Winning Newspaper 1975 1980 1985 • 1976 19811992 1977 1982 1999 1978 1983 2002 1979 1984 2008 2012, 2016 Ord change allows service on multiple county boards By Matthew J. Permar About a decade ago, at the sugges tion of former Commissioner Mary Hunt, the Glynn County Board of Commissioners (BOC) passed an ordi nance limiting the number of boards or commissions on which a citizen could serve to one at a time. Apparently at the time there was some concern about individuals serv ing on multiple county-appointed boards. That changed during last week’s BOC regular meeting (Thursday, Dec. 19) with an ordinance amendment removing the prohibition on citizens serving on multiple boards. According to Commissioner Walter Rafolski (At Large #2), he and other commissioners believe people serv ing on a board that only meets two or three times a year have the expertise to serve on planning commissions and other advisory boards. During the discussion, BOC Chair man Wayne Neal (Dist. 3) said one reason for the proposal is fewer peo ple are applying to serve on different boards. For example, earlier this year County Clerk Ronda Vakulich, who is responsible for placing the advertise ments for membership, had to run ads several different times for the Marsh es of Glynn Libraries Board of Trust ees to generate a response. Neal’s point was confirmed by Commissioner Cap Fendig (Dist. 2), who also said that it will likely get more difficult to find people. He noted that at times it was difficult to get a quorum in attendance. This is a par ticular problem with the planning commissions because, like the BOC, it requires four votes, as opposed to a simple majority, to approve or deny regardless of how many members are at the meeting. Commissioner Allen Booker (Dist. 5), currently the longest serving com missioner, who was on the BOC when the ordinance was originally passed said, there were concerns that a com missioner could consolidate a point of view by appointing the same person to multiple boards. He said there was the potential for conflicts of interest, and if one per son was appointed to several boards it could cause some chaos. He also agreed that at times it was difficult to find people willing to serve. Commissioner Bo Clark (At Large #1) made the motion to approve the ordinance amendment, Rafolski sec onded and it passed 7 - 0. Literary Guild Event Thursday, January 16 - Author Talk - Melissa Pritchard- 10:30 AM - St. Simons Casino (530 Beachview Dr), Room 108. The author will dis cuss her book, “Flight of the Wild Swan.” The event is free for Literary Guild members and $10 for non-members. For details and reservations: Lit- GuildSSI.org During their last meeting of the year (Wednesday, Dec. 18) Glynn County’s Island Planning Commis sion (IPC) was supposed to consider an application to rezone an unde veloped 1.2 acre tract of property at 2280 Demere Road. The property is next to the Waffle House on the north side of Demere a short distance west of the Frederica Rd. roundabout. The property to the west of 2280 is residential - MR and R-9. Property across the street on the southern side of Demere Road is zoned commercial / planned development district. 2280 is zoned Medium Residential (MR) and could be developed with 16 units per acre. The request is to rezone it to Local Commercial (LC). During the meeting Planning Director Stefanie Leif told the IPC that there was a “noticing error” and the Community Development Department had not met the legal requirements to have a public hear ing on the item that night. She said they have re-noticed the item and confirmed a meeting for January 8. The IPC unanimously deferred the item. After the vote and before moving on, IPC member Patrick Duncan commented and pointed out that three attempts have been made to rezone this particular lot over the years; two of them in the eight years he has spent on the IPC. Duncan said it was zoned MR be cause it is in between commercial property, the Waffle House, and the Jewtown residential neighborhood. He noted that MR is a good “tran sitional” property use for situations like this with single family residen tial on one side and commercial on the other. IPC chairman Robert Ussery sug gested they wait until the January meeting for further discussion. 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