Commissioners approve apartment complex plans amendment

Dec. 8—Brunswick City Commissioners met Wednesday to discuss, among other things a rezoning application adding 26 parking spaces to plans for a 170-unit apartment complex on Gloucester Street.

Located across from Howard Coffin Park, the lot at 2307 Gloucester St. was once a Days Inn hotel. Called Port City Apartments in city documents, the complex would be five stories tall. The rezoning request is for a quarter-acre parcel adjacent to the original Days Inn lot. If approved, the rezoning would place the adjacent lot under the same zoning as the hotel lot.

It will not change the plans for the apartment building, according to the application, but will make space for 26 more parking spaces than the original plan included.

"The building will consist of five floors which will include the ground floor garage parking area. Floors two through five will consist of apartment units of varying sizes and floor plan designs," the rezoning application states.

According to city documents, of the 170 units, 28 would be studio apartments, 89 would be one-bedroom and 53 two-bedroom.

At the Wednesday meeting, commissioners raised concerns about the project in general, ranging from traffic flow to drainage.

City Planning, Development and Codes Director John Hunter addressed their questions, saying the complex will have no access directly off Gloucester Street, instead exiting onto the surrounding sidestreets.

Mayor Pro Tem Felicia Harris said the area around the complex is already prone to flooding. If the addition of the smaller parcel is used for more paved parking, it will not help with stormwater runoff issues.

"I don't see that flooding is being adequately addressed with the acquisition of this additional parcel," Harris said.

Local attorney Jim Bishop responded to the commission on behalf of Port City Partners, the company behind the project. He responded to commissioners by noting plans for the complex had already been approved, and commissioners were considering an amendment to it adding 26 more parking spots.

"Y'all have approved what's out there already," Bishop said. "We could go out there and work with your chief planner ... and build what we're approved to build ... we bought this piece of property because we thought it would improve the value."

He added that his "client is not going to build a flooded parking lot."

Further, Bishop said the discussion of drainage was premature as the city already has stormwater drainage management ordinances that the developer will have to abide by before building the complex.

"We will not support or build a development that will not meet the standards that you will be proud of," Bishop said.

Commissioner Johnny Cason asked about the project's timeline and whether Port City Partners had already secured financing. He also suggested the housing market would not be improving soon, and that the developer might consider expediting it.

Bishop said the financial part of the project was not under this purview.

"If he couldn't afford this, I don't think he'd be spending money on me," Bishop said.\\

Mayor Cosby Johnson reiterated that the project plans had already been voted on in 2021 — prior to himself taking office — and that the commission was considering adding a fraction of an acre to the existing project space to include 26 parking spaces.

He asked Hunter whether the developer could build a parking lot on the site regardless of the commission's decision, to which Hunter responded that the lot's zoning would allow the construction of a parking lot.

Several residents of the Urbana-Perry Park neighborhood used the public hearing section of the meeting to share their own concerns.

Semona Holmes, who lives on Macon Avenue, said traffic is already "unbearable," and she could not imagine how much work it will be during construction and once new residents have moved it.

Another Macon Avenue resident, Vicki Greene, wanted to know more about the parking arrangement and whether the parking spaces included on the lot would accommodate all the residents of the complex.

Michael Lehman, who lives on Tillman Avenue said the plans were approved when the city was still following COVID-19 mitigation procedures, and as such citizens were not given proper opportunities to learn about the project or express their concerns.

The apartment complex would be at a higher elevation than surrounding homes and streets, said Alice Keyes, a Windsor Park resident and an environmental advocate with One Hundred Miles. Water flows downward, she noted, something for which she did not think the developer had adequately accounted. She asked the commission to approve the zoning amendment on the condition that the additional parcel is used to provide a drainage management system exceeding what the city requires by law.

Other residents expressed concerns more concerns about traffic, the impact on property values, lack of communication from the developer and that it would negatively impact the aesthetics of the street.

Following the public hearing, Mayor Johnson said he took four points from the conversation Wednesday evening: The city should stay on top of construction traffic to ensure it isn't overly burdening neighborhoods, that residential streets need to be repaired, that the developer was trying to mitigate any parking issues by adding 26 parking spaces and, finally, that Port City Partners should attend the next meeting of the Urbana-Perry Park Neighborhood Planning Assembly.

Following his comments, the commission voted 3-2 to approve the rezoning request. Mayor Pro Tem Felicia Harris and Commissioner Kendra Rolle dissented on the grounds that they still wanted more answers to citizens' concerns.

Bishop said Port City Partners would be glad to meet with the NPA as the owner of the company, Brad Piazza, is dedicated to doing right by the Brunswick community.

Commissioners also voted to approve changes to the rules governing the Commercial Property Enhancement Grant program. Via the program, businesses can apply for up to $25,000 to put toward "life safety, ADA compliance, sanitary requirements and critical building improvements." The program is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.

Currently, only businesses in the Downtown Development Authority's jurisdiction qualified, said Brunswick Economic Development Department Manager Aku Ntemo. Ntemo proposed Wednesday expanding the program by partnering with the Brunswick-Glynn County Development Authority to allow any business in city limits to qualify.

Commissioners approved the grant structure earlier this year, but Commissioner Cason and Mayor Pro Tem Harris did not like that the final approval of grant applications did not rest with the commissioners, given the amount of money involved. They approved Ntemo's proposal, but on the condition that any grant applications must be approved by commissioners before funding is awarded.

In other business, commissioners:

—Voted to approve an extension of the city's contract with Glynn County providing recreation and parks services in the city limits. Under the extension, the city will not take over recreation and parks services until Sept. 4, 2023. County commissioners will consider whether to agree to the extension at a meeting on Dec. 15.

—Granted a request from Glynn County Tax Commissioner Jeff Chapman to transfer $29,196.92 in proceeds from a property tax sale so the money can be properly distributed among the city, county and Glynn County School Board.

—Renewed six alcohol licenses for businesses in good standing — Buffalo Wild Wings, Jinright's Seafood House, Del Sur Cafe, Brunswick Landing Marina, Tropical Island Meat & Grocery and Sunoco at 4528 Altama Ave.

—Heard financial reports from October.