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Board recommends approval for two Veterans Memorial Parkway rezonings with modified conditions
Summary
The Planning & Zoning Board recommended rezonings for two adjoining parcels near Veterans Memorial Parkway to Highway Commercial, asking to remove a sidewalk requirement, allow Hardie (engineered fiber cement) as a primary material, and modify a visibility screening condition; developer said the parcels are outparcels for a Kroger-anchored development.
The Bulloch County Planning & Zoning Board voted unanimously to recommend approval of two separate rezonings — approximately 1.7 acres and 1.13 acres — from R-25 to Highway Commercial for parcels on Veterans Memorial Parkway owned by Southeastern Property Acquisitions LLC.
Agent Steven Rushing said the two parcels are part of a larger, roughly 33-acre development anchored by a Kroger grocery store and intended to contain outparcels for national franchise businesses. "We don't have a particular business on this out parcel yet but we have Kroger as our anchor," Rushing said, adding the site will be connected to City of Statesboro water, sewer and gas infrastructure.
Staff recommended approval with 18 conditions; the applicant requested modification of four conditions. The board approved a motion to recommend approval with the following amendments: delete the sidewalk requirement in item 2, add engineered fiber cement (Hardie board) to the list of acceptable primary materials in item 3, and remove the phrase that screening "cannot be visible from a public right of way" in item 10 to allow screening that might be visible from one of several adjacent rights-of-way. Board members discussed that sidewalks do not currently exist along most of Veterans Memorial Parkway and that required sidewalks should not be placed in Georgia Department of Transportation right-of-way.
The developer and the board also discussed fire service and an intergovernmental agreement for emergency response; staff said issuance of any building permit should be restricted until any required intergovernmental agreements are in place. The board recommended both rezonings be sent to the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners for final action on January 6.
The board’s action modifies the staff-suggested conditions to give the developer flexibility on design and to reflect the parcel’s context as outparcels for a larger commercial development.
