Emma Griffin, Correspondent.
With the meeting room aptly decorated for the holidays, the last Richmond Hill City Council meeting of the year kicked off with a pinning ceremony for Sgt. David Royer in which Chief of Police Raymond Shores, gave Royer’s wife, Kim, a pin to give to her husband in celebration of his promotion to sergeant.
Royer joined the police force in 2017 and is now Richmond Hill Police Department’s lead sniper.
The council then voted on the approval of the budget resolution and proposed budgets for 2025, which was passed after all council members voted to approve except Councilwoman Kristi Cox.
The council also unanimously approved adding membership in the First Responder PTSD Program of Georgia Interlocal Risk Management Agency (GIRMA). This is due to House Bill 451, the Ashley Wilson Act, which requires local governments to offer a supplemental benefit program for first responders diagnosed with PTSD resulting from exposure to line of duty traumatic events. The cost of the program will be $10,360 per year.
The council voted on the petition by Josh Galbreath to revise the Richmond Hill PUD from single-family residential zoning to commercial within the Timber Trail area which was tabled at November’s meeting. The Director of Planning and Zoning, Brian Cooks, recommended the council approve the petition, given it complies with Gateway Overlay requirements which stipulate specific aesthetic requirements for buildings in the Timber Trail area.
Cox raised a concern about land use allowances with community commercial zoning, or C2 zoning, including microbreweries and ambulance services. Larry Galbreath, the applicant representing the petition, responded that he would be “more than happy” to exclude micro breweries and ambulance services if they were allowed to maintain the C2. In terms of the Gateway Overlay requirements, he responded that the front and sides of the buildings would comply but asked if they could modify requirements for the backs, saying “if you’re trying to do that all the way around a big building, that you could easily be half a million dollars a building creating those looks and nobody will ever see them.”
After agreeing to specific requirements, the council voted to approve the petition.
Port Royal Revision
The council held a public hearing for a petition filed by Coleman Company, Inc. on behalf of Hoyer Investment Company requesting a master plan revision to the Port Royal PUD. The applicant Scott Allison, Director of Planning & Development at Coleman Company, Inc., explained the petition as “a minor revision to the PUD document to allow for front loaded houses.” He stated that the pond on the property created problems with sideloaded houses, meaning a side driveway with a detached garage, which ended up with no backyards.
“This is more of a housekeeping exercise to make sure to shore that up within the documents,” Allison said.
Several residents came to vocalize their opposition to the petition.
First up was Chris Scott who lives on Fox Road adjacent to the property. Voicing concerns about drainage, he said that after the city annexed the property, there was confusion about who owned the drainage canal, causing it to not be maintained properly.
“When [Hurricane] Debby came through, ditches on Fox Road were at the very tip top about to run over when the rain finally stopped. We’ve been trying to find somebody to clean out this canal and have failed miserably.” Scott was also concerned about what would happen to the canal when building and development began on the property.
Mayor Russ Carpenter responded that this was the first he was hearing about the issue but assured Scott that if the canal was owned by the city, “you can have our assurances that it will be maintained.”
Scott’s wife, Kendra, also spoke about their troubles with the canal, stating: “This canal is not even a ditch. It used to be six feet deep, at least when I was a kid. It’s barely a foot and there’s trees going through it. My husband was there in the ditch during Debby to clean it out. That’s not supposed to happen.”
Allison responded that he was unsure of whether the canal was on the property under question, stating there was a portion of the property closest to Fox Road that their client did not purchase. However, he made sure to clarify that “there’s a significant amount of pond that’s being designed on this property to accommodate storm water, and we cannot have any storm water that comes through us that we don’t handle.” Carpenter then tasked Crooks with finding where the canal was located and whose responsibility it fell under.
Jacquesha Mack, who lives within 300 feet of the said subdivision, then spoke about her concerns with traffic surrounding the property.
Mack stated: “Port Royal is already very, very busy. I’m just wondering, is there a plan as it relates to traffic and getting in and out?”
Carpenter assured Mack that any new development was preceded by a traffic study and allowed Allison to respond. Allison confirmed a traffic assessment had occurred and Coleman Company, Inc. had been in communication with the county about potential changes to traffic. He said, “There’ll be improvements on Port Royal for those with left turn lanes and right turn [deceleration lanes], so pass through traffic can go through without being backed up.” Allison finished by saying, “The road’s gonna have to be improved, and we’re gonna have to pay our fair share.”
Finally, Kenneth Rushing approached the council voicing concerns about a lack of transparency.
“Now, we don’t know what’s coming here. I think you need to take people around the area in consideration also when you approve something, not just a blank check,” Rushing said.
The public hearing was then closed with plans to do a final vote during the January city council meeting.
The next item on the agenda was a petition by Coleman Company on behalf of Raydient Richmond Hill, LLC and Georgia Power Company to rezone 4557 acres from Unincorporated Bryan County A-5 to City of Richmond Hill PUD, Planned Unit Development. The area is encompassed between U.S. Highway 17, Interstate 95, Belfast Keller Road, and the Savannah South KOA Campground.
Mr. Crooks clarified that the PUD consists of three major land use components, comprising residential, including approximately 655 acres, mixed use, including approximately 558 acres, and industrial, including approximately 799 acres. The PUD is proposed for 2,500 total residential units between the residential and mixed use components together. Crooks recommended the council approve the petition.
Allison approached the council and stated that Raydient Richmond Hill, LLC had been in contact with the county school system, including a meeting with the school superintendent scheduled for December 4th, to ensure they could make accommodations for campus expansions. They did a traffic study to anticipate development and are working on a flood study to determine stormwater drainage patterns due to the number of wetlands on the property.
J.R. Gill’s family property is located across the street from the planned rezoning, and he voiced his opposition to the industrial development, saying “we don’t need smokestacks in Richmond Hill.” Arthur Harley, whose family lives off of Highway 17 approached the council to agree with Mr. Gill and ask for plans and layouts of development, which Carpenter confirmed would be available at the second reading of the petition.
Allison approached the council for the last time to clarify that the land reserved for industrial use was south of Belfast Keller Road. He said, “We specifically prohibited a number of uses that are of the heavy industrial variety that would cause odor, smell or smoke.” He also offered to show the attendants the layouts and plans he had brought.
The public hearing was then closed. For the final items on the agenda, the council voted to approve a resolution authorizing the city government’s participation in an Amicus Brief in the Chang v. City of Milton appeal. City Manager Chris Lovell, explained that the city of Milton was ordered to pay damages to a resident’s family after the resident, Joshua Chang, passed away from hitting a concrete planter in the city’s right-of-way. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia, and the resolution aims to support the appeal process and exclude the city’s right-of-way from liability. Lovell said, “We’re supporting the city of Milton, just from the precedent of this standpoint.”
Lastly, the council then voted to purchase SCADA controls from GoForth Williamson, Inc. in the amount of $35,709, which would allow the city to change the control point for the current SCADA controls for the water system.