The
Franklin County Commission will hold a final public hearing on
September the 5th on a possible moratorium on all new development in
the St. George Island commercial district while the county decides
how they would like to see the area developed.
The
commission held its first public hearing last week.
The
moratorium cannot take effect until the second public hearing so at
this time the county is operating under a “Zoning in Progress”
Resolution which instructs county Planning and Zoning staff not to
accept any new development applications for the St. George Island
commercial district until the moratorium has been decided.
If
approved the 6 month moratorium would impact new development between
3rd street east and 3rd street west on St.
George Island.
The
moratorium will give the county time to develop a St. George Island
Corridor Zoning Overlay District which will better define the types
of development that will be allowed in the commercial district.
There
was plenty of public support for the move, most of whom felt that
planning is needed to help protect the nature of the island and keep
it attractive for residents and the thousands of visitors that come
to the island every year.
Island
resident Mason Bean said he hoped the county will use the opportunity
to rewrite the c4 zoning rules which some people have used to build
homes on commercial property.
There
were some concerns raised that the county should allow maintenance
work requiring a permit to continue during the moratorium.
Island
business owners tend to wait till after the busy summer tourist
season before doing maintenance to their buildings and they don't
want to have to wait another year to get the work done.
The
commission did agree to amend the wording a little to allow business
owners to apply for permits for maintenance work during the
moratorium period.
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