Condo residents worry about addition to U.S. 17 apartment complex

Jun. 1—An apartment complex going up on U.S. 17 in the Brunswick city limits is getting an additional building and parking lot space that wasn't part of the original plan presented to city authorities.

Residents of the adjacent Marshview condo complex are worried about the addition's impact on the small community.

Per a report filed by the city Planning, Development and Codes Department, "Maritime Homes LLC proposes the construction of 204 apartment units comprised of seven three-story, 24-unit buildings; one three-story 36-unit building; an office; a fitness center and pool; and associated parking on 13.98 acres."

The apartment complex is the first phase of a two-part development at 3302 and 3210 Glynn Ave. The second part includes townhouses and three commercial units.

Not part of that plan was another 24-unit building and several dozen parking spaces immediately adjacent to the Marshview complex and situated between the planned apartment at 3302 Glynn Ave. and the marsh.

A fence installed on Tuesday sits less than 3 feet from the back porch of Helen Stapleton, a resident of one of the condos. She is worried that the fence's proximity to her home will impede the Brunswick Fire Department's access to her building in the event of a fire or medical emergency.

The city fire marshal told her it wouldn't, that the fence could be torn down quickly and a bucket truck slated for delivery in two months make it a non-issue.

Stapleton disagrees.

While preliminary plans for the main part of the project had to receive approval from the Brunswick City Commission and city Planning and Appeals Commission, the addition adjacent to Marshview will not, said city Planning, Development and Codes Director John Hunter.

The parcel is zoned such that the additional parking and apartment building will be evaluated through internal processes at City Hall rather than going before government officials at public meetings, Hunter said. He also noted that developer Vassa Cate, owner of Maritime Homes LLC, willingly submitted to the public review process for the first two phases of the project when he didn't need to do so.

Marshview residents Stapleton and Mary McFadden, among others, are worried about the impact the development will have on drainage. When it was built decades ago, the condo community's drainage system relied on infrastructure on the land now slated to become an apartment complex.

Much of that infrastructure has been "deleted," said McFadden. Ditches have been filled in and drain lines dug up. When the land is raised and graded, she is worried it will be worse.

Hunter said stormwater management laws prohibit the developer from allowing rainwater to drain onto adjacent properties, but the Marshview residents are more worried about where the water that falls on their property will go now.

McFadden said the community of 32 condos isn't very wealthy and will have a hard time creating a new drainage system if it can at all.

"I'm going to flood, I know it," Stapleton said.

McFadden said she is worried about the impact on the complex's fire and flood insurance rates.

The City Commission voted to give a thumbs up to the plans earlier this month over the objection of the Planning and Appeals Commission.

It also granted the developer's request to reduce the parking requirements for the complex by nearly 100 parking spaces. Cate told city officials at a past meeting that the complex is entirely one- and two-bedroom apartments, and he didn't believe it necessitated the city's required two spaces per unit. Instead, he suggested 1.5 spaces per unit.

That approval came with the understanding that phase one of the complex would share parking with the townhouses and phase two with the commercial units.

The additional parking adjacent to Marshview gets the total parking very close to the city's requirement, Hunter said, which would have made it unnecessary.

Cate has maintained at city meetings that this project is good for the community. In preparation, he had a derelict hotel and a mobile home park demolished, a move none have disputed as a good one.

When asked Wednesday, Cate declined to comment on the details of the addition.