Commission approves smaller side-yard setbacks for Harry Driggers development amid resident drainage concerns

The Glynn County Mainland Planning Commission voted to recommend an amendment to the PD text that reduces required side-yard setbacks from 7 feet to 5 feet for lots smaller than a quarter acre on three parcels near Harry Driggers Boulevard. The amendment, limited to the named parcels in the motion, passed with six votes in favor and one opposed.

Planning staff Stephanie Leaf described the change as a targeted reduction that does not alter lot sizes or overall density. She said the amendment applies to lots under a quarter acre and that the majority of phase-one lots are roughly 6,000 square feet. "So there's 3 different parcels...the only thing we're asking is to go from a 7 foot side yard to a 5 foot side yard, density is staying the same," Leaf said.

Jake Lemmings of Robert Civil Engineering, representing developer D.R. Horton and agents on the project, said the request is intended primarily to give builders the ability to provide two-car garages on 50-foot-wide lots without increasing lot widths. Lemmings said the amendment would not increase density and that several design examples were submitted to show how a 2-car garage could be accommodated with a 5-foot setback. He noted the PD had earlier approvals for 50-foot-wide lots and that the change would mainly affect phase 1; staff said the pending final plat for phase 1 shows 77 lots.

Residents who spoke during the public hearing expressed concerns about drainage, sidewalk repairs, road capacity and school turning lanes. Cornell Osborne (Shell Point) asked how reduced setbacks might affect property values. Walton Test (118 Shellpoint Drive) said recent sidewalk and drainage work had been inadequate and warned that adding more homes without road and drainage upgrades could worsen conditions. "You add a thousand houses out there...you got 2 schools out there that do not have a turning lane either way," Test said, describing traffic and drainage worries.

County staff and the agent responded that grading and lot-level drainage design would be part of construction plans and that the subdivision includes multiple retention ponds; staff said the project shows several ponds and that engineering is designed to meet pre/post runoff requirements. "We try to make our water run to the streets because that's where all the curb and gutter's at and that's where all the infrastructure to take the water to the retention ponds," a county speaker said.

Commissioners debated whether the amendment should be square-foot driven (lots under a quarter acre) rather than lot-width driven; the approved motion included a condition to update the PD text so the change applies only to the three parcels listed in the motion and to correct any internal PD text conflicts. The Commission voted 6-1 to recommend approval with that condition.