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Statesboro council approves mixed‑use rezoning with condition to protect Whispering Pines residents
Summary
The council approved two rezoning petitions from Southeastern Property Acquisitions (about 28.37 acres total) to MX (mixed use) while adding a condition that the area bordering Whispering Pines follow the UDC's mixed‑use concurrency rule to limit commercial build‑out and preserve residential buffering.
Statesboro City Council approved a zoning map amendment for two parcels proposed by Southeastern Property Acquisitions — roughly 23.15 acres at 6850 Cypress Road (Parcel MS3300023002) and about 5.22 acres at 7406 Veterans Memorial Parkway (Parcel 42000448000) — after adding a condition aimed at protecting the adjacent Whispering Pines neighborhood.
The council tied approval to section 2.2.0.12(f) of the Unified Development Code, the city’s mixed‑use concurrency rule, so commercial development on the border area will be capped and the developer must provide corresponding residential development. Planning staff explained the requirement “basically caps the amount of commercial development in a hood. You have to have at least 20 residential,” a planning staffer said.
Why it matters: The rezoning moves the parcels from medium‑density multi‑family residential to MX (mixed use), allowing commercial uses such as a grocery anchor to locate on the tract. Neighbors and council members pressed for conditions on lighting, buffers and the location of commercial uses so that single‑family yards in Whispering Pines would not face back‑of‑store lighting or unbuffered commercial development.
Council discussion centered on preserving trees and buffering. One council member told developers: “We need trees, lots of trees.” Developers and their representatives pointed to prior projects and existing ordinance standards, saying they would try to be sensitive to neighbors: “We’ve done this around neighborhoods before. We did Richmond Hill. We did the same thing,” developer Chris Sen said, adding the team is “open to any suggestions” to ease neighborhood impacts.
Staff and council also noted the difference between the concept plan shown to council and what a future site plan may reflect. Council discussed using a conditional‑use tie or the mixed‑use concurrency condition to ensure the residential portion remains where shown on the concept plan.
Public concerns included traffic and buffering. A resident who identified himself as Jordan Gray asked why the rezoning was being considered while a traffic study was still pending: “How can a fully informed decision be made whether to rezone this tract with full knowledge of the intended plans for it without understanding the impacts on traffic flow, congestion, and roadway safety?” The city’s planning staff said zoning (land‑use) is the threshold decision and traffic impact and engineering work typically follow zoning approval.
The council made a motion to approve the rezoning with the added mixed‑use concurrency condition; the motion received a second and passed by voice vote. The mayor returned the gavel after the vote, indicating the council’s action.
