County police chief will no longer be a county employee

Jun. 18—The new Glynn County police chief will not be a county employee.

During Thursday's Glynn County Commission meeting, a new employee flow chart was unveiled. The only change was to make the police chief a contracted employee who meets daily with the county administrator.

Commissioners also presided over five land use public hearings at the meeting, with the proposal to rezone property at the old Coastal Pines Golf Course creating the long public hearing. Dozens of opponents from surrounding subdivisions attended the meeting to voice opposition to the request. The main source of contention was a proposal to build 16 units per acre.

Peter Jones, a resident living in the Gallery Way development said density was the main concern.

"We're a family community," he said. "The only way to go with 16 units per acre is up. We're in the family sector of the county, and we want to stay that way."

Another issue is the potential impact the development will have on county schools. With a density of 16 units per acre, the school district would likely have to draw new district lines and possibly have to build another school.

Residents from the Sweetwater development also voiced concerns, presenting a petition of opposition to commissioners.

Commission chairman Wayne Neal thanked the opponents who spoke for their civility.

Some opponents expressed concerns that the development will be government subsidized housing and bring potential crime to the area, but the developer Wayne Moxley said that was not the case.

"We have zero plans for Section 8 housing," he said.

Commissioner Allen Booker took exception to the concerns about Section 8 housing. He said people living in those developments are families who work everyday.

"What they want for their children is the same as everyone else," he said. "I live around Section 8 housing and I can leave my door unlocked."

But Booker also conceded residents should be concerned about the number of proposed units at the development.

Commissioner Walter Rafolski said he had an issue with the density.

"I can support 10; I can't support 16," he said.

Despite assurances the homes will be affordable but not subsidized, commissioners rejected the request 6-0, with Neal abstaining.

In other business, commissioners approved a request, with Neal abstaining, to reduce the width of lots at a planned development off Harry Driggers Boulevard from the required 60 feet in width to 50 feet, without reducing the required square footage of 6,000 feet.

The development off Harry Driggers Boulevard, called Golden Isles Gateway, is on an 80 acre site will have 279 single family lots. Commissioners discussed requiring a second entrance before choosing to require an unpaved emergency access road that will not be used by residents.

Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a mixed commercial use for planned The Fox and The Hive business off New Jesup Highway for commercial building with a residence on the second floor.

A rezoning request from forest agriculture to general commercial was unanimously approved. A new 10,640-square-foot Dollar General store is planned. An an amendment to a planned development was unanimously approved off Canal Road, which will enable the owner to build a self storage complex capable of storing recreational vehicles and boats.

An amendment to the airport authority's code of ordinances was unanimously approved. A proposal to manage airports outside of the county was removed from the request. It was mistakenly included in the packet sent to commissioners, but it was supposed to be removed before commissioners considered the request.

A traffic study at the intersection of Frederica and Sea Island roads costing $18,000 was also unanimously approved. The study will give commissioners two options to improve the intersection, with one being a roundabout.

Commissioners also unanimously approve a 91-day moratorium on accepting applications or granting permits on substandard lots of record. Those lots, mostly at the south end of St. Simons Island, were built on undersized lots before zoning ordinances on the island were established in 1966.

Because the lots are grandfathered in, people can buy those homes, demolish them and build something more substantial. The moratorium ends Sept. 16.