Liberty County commissioners table rezoning request for auto repair and RV storage on Leroy Cofer Highway

The Liberty County Board of Commissioners on the board's first meeting of 2025 tabled a rezoning petition by Donald E. Bowman to rezone roughly 6.161 acres on Leroy Cofer Highway from A-1/A-R-1 agricultural to C-3 highway commercial for an automotive repair shop and a fenced long-term storage area for boats, RVs and vehicles.

County planning staff presented maps, floodplain and wetlands overlays and a narrative describing a 30-by-80-foot, four-bay repair building with a separate office and a fenced storage area occupying the rear 4–5 acres. Planning staff said the Liberty County Comprehensive Plan designates the highway frontage as a mixed-use rural corridor and that the request is “consistent with the plan”; the Fort Stewart Joint Land Use Study was also cited as compatible with the proposal. The Planning Commission recommended approval with two special conditions: no outdoor storage of tires, junk vehicles, equipment, parts or supplies visible from the highway, and that the 6.161-acre parcel be deeded out of the larger parent tract.

Applicant Donald E. Bowman said the facility would provide automotive repair services to nearby residents and include secured storage “monitored with cameras.” Planning staff noted the site has about 367 feet of frontage on Highway 196/Leroy Cofer and only a small portion of wetlands or 100-year flood plain on the corner proposed for rezoning.

Several commissioners pressed safety and drainage concerns. Commissioners flagged heavy truck traffic and sand-mining truck movements at the nearby Rogers Pasture interchange, the presence of median dividers and limited acceleration/turn lanes, and the risk that RVs and boats pulling trailers could have to make dangerous maneuvers without an approved GDOT driveway or a designated decel/turn lane. One commissioner said, “If they require him to put in a decel lane, he’ll have to build a decel lane or not do the project,” and another noted the county’s site-plan review and GDOT driveway permitting process would apply if zoning were approved. Commissioners also discussed the project’s potential to encourage additional frontage rezoning along the corridor and characterized that as a likely “domino effect” and potential sprawl issue.

Because of those concerns, a commissioner moved to table the rezoning and asked staff and the applicant to prepare and circulate a preliminary site plan, seek GDOT review of driveway/access options, and allow the item to be reconsidered after review by county staff and the Liberty County Planning Commission. The motion passed. No final zoning action was taken.

The board’s tabling preserves the Planning Commission’s recommended special conditions as a starting point but requires additional technical work—engineered site plans and GDOT driveway approvals—before the matter returns for a final vote.