The Glynn County Board of Commissioners voted 5–2 on Dec. 18 to approve ZM-2531, a rezoning request that changes roughly 47.5 acres near Exit 29 from Forest Agricultural and Highway Commercial to General Residential, a zoning district that permits up to 10 units per acre.

The approval included conditions drafted by staff and the applicant that limit building height to 25 feet on the property and aim to prevent vertically stacked, multistory attached flats that would function as apartment complexes. The applicants and county staff said detailed site plans, traffic studies and GDOT access approvals will be required at later stages.

The Planning & Zoning Director, Stephanie Lee, told commissioners the sketch plan presented by the applicant shows 169 lots but cautioned that a conceptual rezoning to GR could allow as many as about 470 units at the district’s maximum density. She said the Mainland Planning Commission recommended approval, voting 6–0 with one commissioner absent.

Neighbors and community advocates spoke strongly against the rezoning during the public-hearing portion. Anna Millison, a nearby resident, said the intersection at Highway 17 had become “a nightmare” for motorists and added that drainage and retention-pond maintenance were concerns for households adjacent to the site. Elmer Millison and others raised similar worries about runoff, pond capacity and the prospect that a conceptual rezoning could allow many more homes in the future.

The county’s fire chief, Vandy Cristo, told the commission that fire code requires two means of ingress and egress when a development exceeds certain unit thresholds and that the department’s current station footprint limits internal circulation; he recommended keeping the southern entrance shown on the plan and noted a future signal could be considered as development increases.

Attorney Zach Harris, representing the property owners, said his clients are seeking flexibility at the rezoning stage but agreed to remove vertically stacked apartment buildings from the project’s allowable uses. “Vertically stacked apartments, like the apartments that are immediately next door ... are not even, from our standpoint, on the table for this project,” Harris said, adding the applicants were willing to accept the commission’s proposed conditions to move forward.

Commissioners debated whether a 25‑foot blanket height limit should apply to all single‑family detached homes within the rezoned area. One commissioner argued the restriction was appropriate to protect adjacent homeowners from structures that would overlook backyards; another expressed concern about limiting single‑family detached dwellings on this parcel when countywide standards can allow taller homes. The motion to approve with the conditions on height and unit type carried 5–2.

Because the application was a rezoning (a change in permitted land use and district standards), staff and the applicants said more detailed technical studies — including a traffic study coordinated with the Georgia Department of Transportation and a final drainage/retention plan — will be completed at the site‑plan or preliminary‑plat stage before construction permits are issued.

Next steps: the rezoning ordinance will be processed in county records; applicants must submit site‑level engineering, a traffic report and obtain any necessary state and county permits before construction. The commission later recessed into an executive session for personnel matters and adjourned.