Mobile home park request rebuffed
Feb. 9—The Glynn County Mainland Planning Commission was asked to consider a rezone request that would allow the first new mobile home park in the county in decades.
They were not enthusiastic.
The developer said 38 acres on the site near Shady Acres Mobile Home Park were already zoned to allow mobile homes. Individual mobile homes are allowed on the property, but not a mobile home park with a higher density.
Representatives for the property owner, Executive Real Estate, said plans are for 110 units on the tract. The homes would be new, three-bedroom, two bath manufactured homes, renting for $1,500 a month.
Commission member Neil Boatright, a developer, said he tried to build a mobile home park years ago and was firmly rejected. He estimated it's been at least 30 years since a new mobile home park has been permitted in Glynn County.
Boatright said he drove through Shady Acres recently and said code enforcement officials need to inspect the site. He claimed here are many violations. It's also a place where he said he felt "like I could get shot" for simply driving through the trailer park.
There's no guarantee the proposed trailer park next door won't generate the same problems with loud noise, gun shots at night, drug deals and dilapidated structures, he said.
"There are people living there in homes that should be condemned," Boatright said. "I was shocked at what I saw."
Despite assurances the proposed mobile home park would be a "first-class operation," residents living nearby were not convinced.
John McCollum, a resident who lives near Shady Acres, said he sees beer cans and bottles and needles coming from the trailer park when it rains and a nearby ditch floods.
"I don't think we need another trailer park in Sterling," he said. "I think it's a bad idea."
Larry Daughtry, senior pastor at Sterling Church of God, said people living in the area are concerned about Shady Acres and the potential impact another trailer park in the area could have. He said there are occupied structures in Shady Acres with no siding and rotting frames.
He called the trailer park "an embarrassment."
"I would like to see a development better than a mobile home park," he said.
Others voiced similar concerns.
Only the developer and his representative spoke in support of the proposal.
Wesley Franks, a representative for the applicant from Roberts Civil Engineering, asked commission members for a deferral on the vote until the March 6 meeting. Some commission members opposed to the deferral said they won't change their minds on a request for a mobile home park.
The deferral is to give the developer a chance to modify the motion and perhaps change directions to something more agreeable such as townhomes.
"I think they deserve a deferral," Commissioner Missy Neu said. "Let them regroup and talk to these folks."
Commission members voted unanimously to defer a vote until the March 7 meeting.
An amendment to a planned development district was approved which will allow construction of a new Chick-fil-A in Brunswick. The existing store will be demolished and a larger one built. The amendment was needed for a smaller setback to accommodate the design for new parking and driveway. The request was approved unanimously without comment from the audience.
The Verandas planned development district was unanimously approved after a discussion about access on Yacht Road and U.S. 17.
Developers said they preferred an access road on U.S. 17, but there is no guarantee the Georgia Department of Transportation will agree.
Residents living nearby were concerned about potential flooding and the additional traffic a new development could create.
The developer will have to return to the commission with a site plan for approval.
The property, which includes the site of the old SeaHarvest building and a pond, is owned by Charles Wells.
