The regularly scheduled meeting of the Pooler Planning and Zoning Commission was held on Monday, June 27, 2005 at 6 p.m. Members present were: Charles Archer, Wilson Roberts and Jim McQueeney. Councilwoman Rebecca Benton, Councilman Bruce Allen and Zoning Administrator Jackie Carver were also in attendance. In the absence of Chairman Debbie Ryan Watts, Commissioner Wilson Roberts called the meeting to order.
Charles Archer gave the invocation and Jim McQueeney led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Commissioner Wilson Roberts introduced Elinor Minshew as our newly appointed alternate on the Planning and Zoning Commission. Councilwoman Rebecca Benton administered the Oath of Office.
The minutes of the previous meeting were approved upon a motion made by Charles Archer. Motion was seconded by Jim McQueeney and passed without opposition.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
1. Jabot PUD Master Plan Amendment # 4. Jeff Halliburton of Thomas & Hutton Engineering Company presented a brief summary of the amendment # 4 of the Jabot .PUD Master Plan to the board for their review and recommendation. Christy Lawrence of Thomas & Hutton, property owner Rick Fitzer, Brooks Stillwell and Bo Carnell of Memorial Health were also present to answer any questions the board may have regarding the proposed amendment. Some changes were made in the definitions to clarify uses allowed within the Jabot PUD. Tract A is proposed to change land use from single family town-homes to a health care campus use and development standards are proposed. Memorial Health is looking at developing tract A as an all inclusive Medical Campus. Within the Harmony project, Tracts B, C, and D are now designated as town-home land uses. The development standards for town-homes have been modified to meet market conditions. A small, one (1) acre upland adjacent to I-95 labeled as Parcel D-D is proposed as heavy commercial restricted for signage use only. Also, development standards for signs and entrance features have been added along with detailed drawings of specific sign types proposed. Excluding the 32 acre Health Care Campus (HCC), the remaining 261 acres for the Harmony project would have an allowable density of 1044 dwelling units. The proposed project will have approximately 871 units with a gross development density of 3.3 dwelling units per acre. In the residential development standards for townhomes on page 7, the following changes are proposed in bold print: The number of dwelling units per building was changed to an average of five units per building, unit width was changed to average unit width of 20 feet and minimum setback distance for each residential building shall be 25 feet for the front yard (from edge of nearest travel lane) for clarification. It was recommended by the PUD Review Board prior to this meeting that the following changes are made under conditional uses in the Commercial Professional Zoning section of the development standards on page 4: delete nightclubs from item 2 and delete item # 4 (liquor, beer and wine package shops). Following some discussion, Charles Archer made a motion to recommend approval of Amendment # 4 to the Jabot PUD Master Plan subject to the following changes: delete nightclubs from item # 2 and delete item # 4 (liquor, beer and wine package shops) from conditional uses in the Commercial Professional Zoning in the Jabot PUD. Motion was seconded by Elinor Minshew and passed without opposition.
NEW BUSINESS:
2. Review of Minor Subdivision/Recombination Plat for Ronnie & Jeri King at 532 Winskie Road. Holly Young, agent for Blakewood Ryals presented the plat to the board for their review and approval. Ronnie and Jeri King are purchasing some additional land from Blakewood Ryals to add to their lot on Winskie Road. With no public comments, a motion was made by Elinor Minshew to recommend approval of the minor subdivision/recombination plat for Ronnie & Jeri King. Motion was seconded by Jim McQueeney and passed without opposition.
3. Review of Recombination plat of Shearouse Lumber Company for Holly Young.
Shearouse Lumber Company is located at 833 West Highway 80 and is owned and operated by Holly Young. Mrs. Young is requesting a recombination of three tracts of land at this location into two tracts for accounting purposes. She assured the board that she has no plans to sell the back lot without selling the entire Shearouse Lumber Company. With no public comment, Charles Archer made a motion to recommend approval of the recombination plat of lands of Shearouse Lumber Company. Motion was seconded by Jim McQueeney and passed without opposition.
4. Review of minor subdivision Plat of Tract “A” in Godley Station for Gimelstob Foxfield, LC. Steve Wohlfeil of HGB&D presented the minor subdivision plat of Tract “A” to the board for their review and recommendation. The tract is bounded by Godley Station Boulevard, Godley Station Boulevard north, Medical Park Drive and Pooler Parkway. The total acreage of tract A is 14.73 acres. Once subdivided, tract A-1 will be 12.33 acres and tract A-2 will be 2.40 acres. The tract will be used for commercial/retail use. Construction plans have been submitted to extend Traders Way over to Godley Station Boulevard along with infrastructure in order to further subdivide this tract at a later date. The proposed lots have access and utilities to meet the subdivision regulations. Therefore, a motion was made by Charles Archer to recommend approval of the minor subdivision of Tract “A. Motion was seconded by Elinor Minshew and passed without opposition.
5. Preliminary construction plan/landscape plan review of Pooler Business Development Park on east Highway 80. Pat Livingston of EMC Engineering Company presented the construction plans for Pooler Business Development Park to the board for their review and recommendation. The Pooler Business Development Park is 16.22 acres located on east Highway 80 between Sharon Court and Pine Barren Road. This will be an 8-lot commercial subdivision that will be marketed for restaurant, office and retail use. Three curb-cuts are proposed off U. S. Highway 80 to provide access to the commercial subdivision. There is a 25’ access easement along the front of the proposed lots to extend the frontage road along highway 80. All lots in the commercial subdivision will drain to the detention area in the rear of the subdivision. Plans have been resubmitted to Bill Nicholson addressing all of the engineer’s comments. With no public comments, a motion was made by Charles Archer to recommend approval of the preliminary construction plans for the Pooler Business Development Park subject to all of the engineer’s comments being addressed Motion was seconded by Elinor Minshew and passed without opposition. Regarding the tree ordinance, it is the intent to add a notation on the recorded plat to hold each individual property owner responsible for providing 15 preferred trees per acre, plus 3 additional trees to each lot to cover clearing of the right-of-way. Commissioner Charles Archer questioned the removal of significant trees left on the tract. It was recommended that an additional note be added to the recorded plat that would hold each individual property owner responsible for obtaining approval from the Planning and Zoning Board to remove any large significant trees from each lot. With no public comments, a motion was made by Jim McQueeney to approve the landscape plan for tree ordinance compliance with the stipulation that it would be noted on the recorded plat that each individual property owner is responsible for providing 15 preferred trees per acres, plus 3 additional trees to each lot for clearing of the right-of-way and removal of any significant trees needs the approval of the Planning and Zoning Board for the City of Pooler. Motion was seconded by Charles Archer and passed without opposition.
6. Preliminary construction plan/landscape plan review of Towne Park Pooler located at the end of Governor Treutlen Road. Adam Ragsdale with D. J. Development presented the preliminary construction plans for Towne Park Pooler to the board for their review and recommendation. This tract was rezoned on November 1, 2004 to R-4, a newly adopted zoning for town homes and condominiums. The sketch plan for this project was approved by council in February of this year. The proposed project consists of 212 town homes with amenities located in the southwest quadrant of U. S. Highway 80 and I-95 at the end of Governor Treutlen Road. Town Park is a gated community with private roads and utilities will be held in a 15’ utility easement at the request of the City of Pooler. The units will be sold fee simple to the ground and will own none of the common space around the unit. There are some lift station issues that have to be resolved with the City of Pooler. A Nationwide Wetland Permit has been issued for the project that includes a 25’ buffer around the wetlands. Plans have been revised and will be resubmitted by Wednesday of this week. There was some discussion regarding the condition of the existing maintenance road that is adjacent to this tract and the need to contact the City Manager to possibly purchase this easement or coordinate any improvements. Commissioner Elinor Minshew expressed her concern about how the noise from I-95 would affect the marketing of this development. George Weeks of D. J. Development stated that they may need to place a berm with vegetation if noise becomes an issue. Mr. Weeks further stated that they have adequate room for a berm, if needed.
With no public comments, Charles Archer made a motion to recommend approval of the preliminary construction plans for Town Park Pooler subject to all of the engineering comments being addressed. Motion was seconded by Elinor Minshew and passed without opposition. Regarding the landscape plan, some timber harvesting is proposed because the tract is so dense it would be difficult to perform a tree survey at this point. Tree protection will be placed around all specimen trees under direct supervision of Adam Ragsdale. Therefore, a motion was made by Charles Archer to approve the landscape plan subject to Adam Ragsdale, a registered Georgia Landscape Architect providing onsite management to provide for implementation of our tree ordinance. Motion was seconded by Jim McQueeney and passed without opposition.
Commissioner Wilson Roberts is concerned about the fact that the City is not inspecting tree barriers prior to land being cleared. Root systems are being damaged during this process. Mr. Roberts stated, case in fact, that several of the large trees saved at the Fortune Plaza site will eventually die because the root systems have been damaged. He would suggest that the inspections department monitor tree protection barriers more closely.
7. Review of Minor Subdivision of the Roberts Tract on Jimmy DeLoach Parkway.
Michael Fell of Kern-Coleman & Company presented the minor subdivision to the board for their review and recommendation. The Roberts tract is located on the north side of Jimmy DeLoach Parkway, west of I-95. The owner is requesting that the lot be divided into Tracts 1 & 2. Tract 1 is zoned for single family residential and tract 2 is commercially zoned. As a condition to the rezoning of this tract, the thirty (30) foot prescriptive right-of-way known as Triple B Trail has a sixty (60) foot proposed right-of-way. The board suggested referencing the line drawn thru the wetlands as an old lot line and combine both parcels to form tract l. With no public comment, a motion was made by Elinor Minshew to recommend approval of the minor subdivision of the Roberts Tract into Tracts 1 and 2 subject to the line drawn thru the wetlands being designated as an old lot line. Motion was seconded by Jim McQueeney and passed without opposition.
There being no further business to come before the board, a motion of adjournment was made by Charles Archer and seconded by Elinor Minshew. Motion passed.