The Statesboro City Council voted Tuesday morning to approve two zoning applications for a development which currently outlines plans for a Kroger and some residential development.
Council voted unanimously after a short Q&A with developer Southeastern Property Acquisitions LLC in Augusta, which is seeking to build at Cypress Lake Road and Veterans Memorial Parkway. On the current plan is a nearly 100,000 square foot Kroger grocery store with the possibility of four potential outparcels for restaurants and other commercial activity, as well as 75 residences.
From the City Council agenda:
a. APPLICATION RZ 25-10-07 – Southeastern Property Acquisitions is requesting a Zoning Map Amendment of approximately 23.15-acres from R-3 (Medium Density MultiHousehold Residential District) to MX (Mixe Used District) of property located at 6850 Cypress Lake Road (Tax Parcel # MS33 000023 002)
b. APPLICATION RZ 25-10-08 – Southeastern Property Acquisitions is requesting a Zoning Map Amendment of approximately 5.22-acres from R-3 (Medium Density MultiHousehold Residential) to MX (Mixed Use District) of property located 7406 Veterans Memorial Parkway (Tax Parcel # MS42000004A000).
Planning Commission recommended approval of the Zoning Map Amendments and staff conditions with a 7-0 vote. City Council had a public hearing on the matter during the last meeting and deferred making a decision at that time.
Mayor Jonathan McCollar turned the meeting over to Councilwoman Shari Barr to govern the meeting, but he did not state a reason for the pass off or leave the council lectern.
Councilman John Riggs said he had questions for the developer and that he wished they could “get Kroger to go somewhere else…in the middle of town,” but the council doesn’t get to decide who owns the property or what they do with their property. He said he’d been weighing it, but he’s going to fall down on the side of approving because “it’s just more appropriate for the City of Statesboro. It’s not good for Whispering Pines, I know it’s not the greatest thing, but to alleviate any kind of light pollution and noise pollution and that’s what I want to ask the developers about. We need trees. Lots of trees.”
Regarding light pollution, he said he wants all lights pointing inward. “I don’t want anyone to ever walk out of their backyard of Whispering Pines and you can see the back of the lights. I want them to still look at that way and see the same things they see today. Can somebody do that?”
Attorney Steve Rushing, who is representing the developer, said the zoning they’re seeking – MX- already has stringent lighting restrictions in the ordinance, including direction and candlelight powers. He said it’s already in the zoning ordinance, so it wouldn’t be necessary for a condition.
Riggs said that as completion gets closer, problems are going to arise and he wants to know those are going to be taken care of.
A representative from the developer said they would be sensitive to the neighbors and they were open to suggestions on how to appease the neighborhood.
Councilwoman Ginny Hendley said she wanted to see the city and community work together and they can’t control where it is because it’s a zoning matter. “I think it’s a great thing,” she said. “I think if you all work together, I think for the greater good, I’m leaning toward approval as well.”
Councilwoman Shari Barr said she was looking for “a little more understanding” by the developer in doing more than just replacing the trees they cut down, as permitted by the ordinance.
City Manager Charles Penny said he wasn’t trying to have last minute surprises for the developer, but one issue was resonating with him was that the MX zoning is for the entire parcel, so if the zoning is approved, the concept plan as presented is not what has to be adhered to in the long run. He said an alternative is a conditional use permit.
“We do need to, where the residential development is on that plan, we need to ensure, if council so desires, that that development stays that way, so Kroger is not sitting on Whispering Pine Boulevard or any other commercial development is not sitting on Whispering Pines Boulevard. It’s going into a neighborhood. Right now, it shows townhouses, that would be development. But again, the developer is not, that’s not a….and I’m not saying anything about the developer, I’m not saying they are true to their word, this is a development. Once you approve the zoning, they don’t really have to build to that plan,” Penny said.
A conditional use permit, he said would have the developer making a commitment to what is on the plan is going to be there.
Councilwoman Shari Barr replied that she’s learned in her six years on council that once council approves something, the pretty pictures go out the window. “Even with we’re OK with Kroger, or trying to be OK with Kroger, we still have concerns.”
City Planning Director Justin Williams said he recommended following part of PUD requirements (Section 2.2.12(f)) on mixed use development, which would box in the developer on some aspects. The mixed use concurrency would cap the amount of commercial development and require 20% residential in the abutting area. He said it would clean up the issues, but would be a condition that council would have to impose.
Attorney Steve Rushing said they’re having to fly by the seat of their pants because they weren’t prepared for that proposal by council, but the plan is just that as they still have testing on soils and the property to be completed before they move forward. “As long as we’re not tied to the exact layout of the plan, we can do residential. I mean, that part, we plan to do.” We’d still like the same density proposed.”
Councilwoman Tangie Johnson made a motion for approval “with the conditions,” though she did not list the specific conditions in her motion. Penny asked Williams to return to the podium to list the conditions.
- “The first 3 conditions from the public hearing”
- Williams did not list the 3 previously discussed conditions, but those include:
- The applicant must provide a wetland plan to ensure the mitigations of substantial issues before the issuance of a LDAP.
- The applicant must submit a traffic study in accordance with requested site development before issuance of a LDAP.
- To reduce the potential of negative environmental impacts on the site, the property owner must utilize standards from the GSMM to provide stormwater detention TSS removal overbank protection and extreme flood protection in submitting engineering plans for this project.
- Williams did not list the 3 previously discussed conditions, but those include:
- They must follow Section 2.2.12(f) from the Unified Development Code
Barr called for a second of the motion which was made by Councilwoman Johnson and Staff Member Justin Williams and it was approved unanimously 5-0 without further discussion.
Though there were two separate zoning applications, the City Council only voted once. It was not announced that they would be voting on the matter separately.
During public comment, which occurred after the vote by council, Jordan Gray addressed council. He spoke about buffers on the zoning matters, specifically to the subjectivity. He asked what the city’s mandatory buffer is for a project like the one proposed. He also brought up the fact that the council is going to act on the development while the traffic study is still underway. He asked how the council could make a fully-informed decision.
Council packet on this agenda item
