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Planning Board recommends denial of rezoning for Clio Shawnee Road parcel after neighbors raise access concerns
Summary
The Effingham County Planning Board voted 4–1 to recommend denial of a request to rezone about 5 acres at 200 Clio Shawnee Road from AR-1 to AR-2 that would have allowed five one-acre lots; neighbors cited safety and road-condition concerns on Old Dixie Highway South and a blind curve on Clio Shawnee Road.
The Effingham County Planning Board recommended denial, by a 4–1 vote, of a rezoning request by Justin Webb to rezone roughly 5 acres at 200 Clio Shawnee Road (map 313, parcel 3) from AR-1 to AR-2 so the parcel could be subdivided into five one-acre lots.
Staff described the proposal as a request to create five one-acre parcels; staff noted adjacent AR-2 parcels and recommended conditions about access: two parcels with frontage along Springfield Road would access Springfield Road, and the remaining lots would alternate access between Clio Shawnee Road and Old Dixie Highway South. The staff report said the proposal aligns with Chapter 2 of the county comprehensive plan and that the application is complete, subject to plat review and recording.
Landowner Walt Lawson and resident/former planning-board member Dave Burns spoke in opposition, citing existing road conditions and safety. Lawson showed photographs taken after rain and said Old Dixie Highway South— a county-maintained dirt road serving only four households—becomes nearly impassable after heavy rain and adding multiple new households would increase wear and daily traffic. “You add 5 homes to that, and some of them is going to be driving on that daily,” Lawson said. He also noted vehicle sightline problems at the intersection and said the parcel’s triangular shape makes the proposed five-lot layout ill-suited to the site.
Dave Burns, identified himself as a former board member, urged the board to consider broader policy discussions about preserving larger-lot rural character in the county’s northern area. “I don’t think 1-acre lots are fitting for the minimum for what North Effingham is going to look like,” Burns said, citing past town-hall conversations about larger minimum lot sizes in that part of the county.
Board members debated options, including tabling the application to allow the applicant to appear, but a motion to recommend denial was made by the district board member and seconded. The board chair recorded a 4–1 vote recommending denial. The board’s recommendation will be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners, which will take the final vote at its April 1 public hearing.
The staff conditions noted by planning staff remain in the record; the planning board’s recommendation denied the rezoning request and did not impose alternate conditions.
