Council approves rezoning for 500-unit multifamily project on Old Register Road

The Statesboro City Council approved a zoning map amendment for application RZ390605 to allow development of a 500-unit multifamily student housing complex and three retail spaces at 2457 Old Register Road (parcel O76501000). The rezoning, approved at first reading by council vote, covers the first phase of a larger planned development and is limited to property currently inside the city limits and the Tax Allocation District (TAD). Planning staff said the applicant expects roughly 800 beds in the planned 500 units and submitted a traffic impact analysis that recommends signal-timing changes at nearby intersections. Staff and the Planning Commission recommended approval with conditions, including a wetland plan to satisfy the Ogeechee (Okeechi) Riverkeeper recommendations and tree-canopy plans that meet the Unified Development Code requirements. The council approved the request with those conditions attached. City staff identified the site as within an activity/regional center on the comprehensive plan’s future land-use map, a designation intended for higher-intensity, mixed commercial and multifamily development anchored by large retailers. The applicant and its attorney said the parcel sits across from a Publix and that some of the broader project will require annexation in a later phase; those annexation pieces are not before council tonight. Attorney Chris Gohagen of Talby Rushing, representing VSB Development, told council the developer accepts the staff conditions and that phase one focuses on about 64 acres west of Old Register Road. He said approximately 20 acres are planned for residential uses and 16.5 acres for commercial development. City staff noted the annexation the developer had proposed previously was withdrawn by the county, so the current approval applies only to property already in the city. The approval requires standard plan submissions and the two site-specific conditions before issuance of a land-disturbance permit; council will later act on related annexation matters and remaining project approvals. The council’s action tonight was limited to the zoning map amendment; additional approvals (annexation, infrastructure, permits) were described by staff as future steps. For clarity: the council’s approval was for the zoning amendment; specific building plans, final traffic mitigation measures and annexation of additional parcels will return to council in later agenda items.