HomeMy Public PortalAbout110_070_Minutes_PC_20140318_Draft PLANNING COMMISSION CITY MANAGER
Demery Bishop, Vice Chair 1 Diane Schleicher
Tom Borkowski -gl
Marianne Bramble a' PLANNING &ZONING MANAGER
Julie Livingston I ; " I Dianne Otto, CFM
John Major
•
Tyler Marion, Chair \, ATTORNEY
David McNaughton .f ,` Edward M. Hughes
MINUTES
Planning Commission Meeting
March 18,2014-7:00 p.m.
Chair Tyler Marion called the March 18, 2014, Tybee Island Planning Commission meeting to order. Commissioners
present were Marianne Bramble, David McNaughton,John Major,Tyler Marion,and Tom Borkowski.
Mr. Marion -The first order of business is the minutes of the February 18, 2014, meeting. Do I have any discussion?
[There was none.] Do I have a motion? [Mr. McNaughton made a motion to approve as written; Mr. Major seconded.]
All those in favor please signify. [The vote was unanimous.]
Mr. Marion - Do we have any recusals or disclosures? [Mr. Marian stated he was not going to recuse himself but
wanted to note for the record that he is a member of St. Michael's Church and parish council. Ms. Bramble stated she is
a member of St. Michael's Church.]
Mr. Marion asked staff to include old business on future agendas for discussion.
Special Review&Site Plan Approval-Tybee Island Maritime Academy-714 Lovell Ave.&0 Eighth St.
Ms. Otto-The item before you is for the Tybee Island Maritime Academy is Special Review and Site Plan Approval. The
request is two modular buildings at the current Maritime Academy location. One will be at Lovell Avenue and one at
Eighth Street. The staff report and documents supporting it show that they are proposing one modular building to be
located adjacent to the current school building that has the gymnasium attached to it. The second modular building
would be kitty corner at the lower grade building with the playground. There is a requirement in the R-1 district,this is
zoned R-2 but you fall to the R-1 standards,which requires schools of general education to have Special Review. In
addition to the Site Plan requirement there is the Special Review requirement.
Mr. Major-In our ordinances there are a number of requirements for Special Review such as buffering plans, parking
plans, green space calculations, and architectural renderings that I didn't see in the packet. Are those being waived?
Ms. Otto-They are not being waived so much as being on an economic point of view seeking approval before moving
forward with those needed items that are expensive to obtain through engineering. As far as green space for the first
location, it is going onto a black top surface so there is no additional impact there. For the other location, green space
has not been calculated. Another aspect is the determination of what type of foundation is to be used to elevate these.
If it is an open foundation that drainage is going to flow under the buildings, it would not be as significant an impact as if
there is a solid foundation that the water couldn't flow under. We don't know yet how these are going to be set, if they
are going to be on permanent foundations or temporary structures that are remaining on their chassis and removable.
Until those questions are answered they were not put to the burden of providing that information.
Mr. Major-There is also parking and buffering. The architectural renderings that are required as part of the submittal,
if these are prefabricated it seems like we could see what they look like and I think that is an important consideration.
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Ms. Otto—The diagram in your packet is more of a floor plan.
Mr. Major—That doesn't tell me what it is going to look like from the street.
Ms. Otto—No, it doesn't.
Mr. Major—Nothing in the packet tells me what it is going to look like from the street. It seems like there are a lot of
things that aren't here. Is it our intent, if we go forward,that it would go to Council will all those things missing?
Ms. Otto—Yes, it is.
Mr. Major—Is that a variance of procedures?
Ms. Otto—It is more of an allowance to keep the costs to the applicants as low as possible seeking the approval prior to
having the expense of providing that information.
Mr. Marion—With the items that are not present,would we be safe in assuming that the Council members and the
Mayor would use discretion to close the gap or waive these requirements?
Ms. Otto—Yes, and certainly if you choose to move forward with this, your motion could include that you would prefer
those certain items be provided. The buffer, being probably the key one, and the renderings they could probably come
up with those as they are in contact with the manufacturer. I think we can get some additional information prior to the
Council meeting if it would be your desire.
Mr. Borkowski—Two of the classrooms have lavatory facilities and the other two don't. What is the reason for that?
Ms. Otto—The one without intends to use the facilities inside the permanent structure. The one by the playground,
those indoor facilities are not adequate for the number of students that are anticipated so they are providing that one
with their own restrooms.
Mr. Borkowski—The modular without the bathrooms, are those older children?
Ms. Otto—Yes.
Mr. Borkowski—I was concerned about little kids outside going in the wrong direction and not being protected.
Ms. Otto—I think one of the representatives here this evening should probably address that.
Mr. Marion—Is there someone from the public that would like to speak to this?
Perb Fortner came forward and introduced himself. I am the Chief Financial Officer volunteer at Tybee Island Maritime
Academy. We have Carolyn Jurick who is the President of the Tybee Island Maritime Academy. We have our principal,
Pat Rossiter, and our treasurer, Kay Fortner. Tammy Smith is in the room as well. I live on Tybee Island as everyone
does except Pat. I'm going to ask Carolyn to give you an overview of the Academy.
Carolyn Jurick came forward. We have pictures of the modular but we were afraid to put them in there in case we don't
use that contractor. We needed to get approval before we can move forward. The bathrooms, one will be a
kindergarten class and one will be a first grade class. It is basically the safety of children. We could have moved that
onto the other side and they would be able to come right in but for the safety of children, they need the bathrooms
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there. The other one will be either a fifth grade and a fourth grade or fifth grade and the art and music—that is to be
decided.
Mr. Marion—For the one that doesn't have facilities, how close is the closest restroom? Is it just a step out of the
building?
Ms.Jurick—Maximum fifty feet.
Mr. Major—Do they have to cross the street?
Ms.Jurick—No.
Mr. Fortner—The one without the restrooms,they can walk directly into the front of the building.
Mr. Marion—They are not leaving campus to any degree.
Ms.Jurick—No. The one with the facilities has to cross the street but they are always with a teacher. The reason we are
vague on who is going to be in there, we are trying to put classrooms in there that wouldn't be out there all day except
for fifth grade or fourth grade. These are really nice; I would rather be in it. We did plan for growth but when we
started redoing the building they had to put in handicapped bathrooms. We assumed they would put the handicapped
bathroom where the bathrooms are now but they had to put in a new one and that took up a classroom. Several years
ago, Mayor Buelterman came to me and said do you know anything about charter schools. I said I was the principal of
the first charter school in Georgia. He said we have lost the school and the school is closing. This was when it was
announced in 2010 and he said we really need a school. We first met with Dr. Lockamy and asked him if there was any
way he could let us have a school,just a regular public school. He said we didn't have the number of children to support
it. A state school is supported with 435 children. To have a charter school, you get your funding differently than you do
when you are a regular public school. Regular public schools are funded from an FTE,which is a full time equivalent. For
a Special Education student you would receive 7.2,just to give you an example. A fourth and fifth grade student would
receive 1.5 and a kindergarten student would receive 2.4. Actually a fifth grade child is a lot cheaper than a kindergarten
child to educate according to the way they weigh things. The way they give us money is a flat rate of$6,729 per child
and from that we buy textbooks, software, utilities, rent, pay the teachers and principal. We decided that it was
important to have high quality teachers and we would pay them what they would make if they were in Savannah
Chatham schools. We are offering them the same benefits; in fact it goes through Savannah Chatham schools. We have
to pay Savannah Chatham schools to pay our teachers, it is not much, but it is a percentage. The only thing required of a
charter school, as far as teachers,you do not have to pay them the same but you have to give them the retirement. We
go above and beyond in that and will never apologize because of the quality of teachers we have been able to get. The
modulars will cost us money and that is one of the reasons we have so many fundraisers. Putting that aside, we had 149
students this year. Next year we have 145 in addition to the 149 that wish to come. We don't have room for them if we
put out six modulars.
Mr. Marion—The trailers are in anticipation of potential growth. Where do we cut it off? What is the cap for the
school?
Ms.Jurick—This is it.
Mr. Rossiter—We have a 5-year charter.
Ms.Jurick—You wouldn't want to overdo it and the purpose of the school is for the kids on Tybee and we would be
getting away from that if we keep going up.
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Mr. Marion—By adding the trailers, are we changing the original intent by increasing the headcount? If so, are there
implications that fall on us and the school for changing what would be the original scope of the use of the grounds?
With that said,the two trailers are the capacity the school desires.
Ms.Jurick—Yes.
Mr. Fortner—In our planning process, we started with kindergarten through fourth grade and we are adding a fifth
grade this year. With that we are already at capacity and by adding these two facilities brings us up to where our
charter says we should be. In your packet you have a copy of the amended lease that we have with St. Michael's and
the Catholic diocese. We have an executed copy giving us permission to put the modular buildings in place in the event
we get all of the approvals that are required from Tybee Island and also from the State.
Ms. Otto—It is not in your packet, it is in our file.
Ms. Bramble—How did you amend it?
Mr. Fortner—We made an agreement with them to allow us to put modular buildings on the facilities.
Mr. Major—Does the amended lease specify the dimensions and numbers of the modular buildings as well as the
location?
Mr. Fortner—There are two locations but not specific size because one contractor might have 850 square feet in each
classroom and another one might have 810 square feet. It is described as two modular buildings with each one of them
holding two classrooms.
Mr. Major—Both of our drawings are showing 24 x 60. Is that likely to be the final dimensions?
Mr. Fortner—More than likely that will be the exact measurements.
Mr. Major—Are we talking about one being larger than the other?
Ms.Jurick—They are all the same but some have closets and some have restrooms.
Mr. Rossiter—The reason you have those drawings is because that is the preferred vendor used by Savannah Chatham
Public Schools. In the bid process, which we can use,they have a fast track type of setup with this particular company
that we can access. That is why the renderings come from that particular company.
Mr. McNaughton—I call them temporary classrooms. Are they permanent temporary classrooms? How long do you
anticipate before you ever have an addition to a building?
Mr. Fortner—We don't anticipate making an addition to the building. We anticipate using these modular classrooms as
they can be transported. Each building will come in sections because it has to come down the highway. They will be put
together and a foundation will be put around it for support. It will support the use of the building as well as the
handicap ramp and that sort of thing. All of those will have to be removable because our lease and charter are for a
limited term unless they are renewed which we anticipate they will.
Mr. McNaughton—When does it expire?
Mr. Fortner—Each charter is five years and they review it at the end of four years. They re-evaluate and determine if it
will go forward another five years.
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Ms.Jurick—We send in a yearly report and if everything isn't in line,then they can come and say you are through and
we would have to give up those buildings.
Mr. Major—Are these required to have hydrostatic vents, whether or not they are elevated?
Ms. Otto—If they are elevated to meet the 1-foot freeboard, no.
Mr. Major—If they are on a slab would they be required to have them?
Ms. Otto—Yes. As I understand it they will be elevated. It is whether it is a permanent or temporary foundation. Mr.
Fortner mentioned the ADA ramping that is required so they are accessible. We are not sure how that foundation is
going to look.
Mr. Fortner—With the buildings, drawings, and the anticipation of these new students, we present our case to you for
consideration and we certainly hope you will approve it.
Ms.Jurick—I would like to say it has been a great thing. We have 51 kindergarten children; that is three classrooms.
There are more and more kids coming to the island.
Mr. Fortner—It is for the Tybee kids. The reason we started the charter is to have a school on Tybee for our children. It
is exciting to see 51 children in kindergarten coming this next year.
Mr. Rossiter—From a school administrator's standpoint, I just want to say it is really cool to have Tybee as the hottest
thing in the county as far as education goes. The amazing thing is hiring good teachers and giving kids an innovative way
to learn using what we are required to teach around something that is so close to them such as the beach,the river,the
port; it is such a novel idea to make education interesting. We are in a facility that we are maxed out in. If we get
approval from you we will work on making sure the quality stays extremely high.
Mr. Fortner—You may not know this but every one of the children has been provided with a laptop computer that
belongs to them. They don't take it home with them but it is the one they use every single day. There are not many
schools that can say they do that.
Mr. Marion—With the increased capacity, are there any parking requirements that would need to be addressed?
Ms. Otto—In your staff report are the parking requirements. The two uses-one is a gymnasium and the other is a
school. There is a category for gymnasiums,theaters, and auditoriums which is one parking space for each four seats in
the main auditorium or for each 50 square feet of floor area. Another category is the public and private elementary and
secondary schools. It is one parking space for each 200 square feet of gross floor area. I don't have the calculations for
either of those existing and proposed square footages.
Mr. Fortner—We only anticipate needing four more parking spaces for the four additional teachers.
Mr. Rossiter—The entire frontage on the western side of the annex property, which would be the old building, it runs
the length of it on Second Avenue. We don't park in that area now. There is enough space.
Mr. Marion—Is that the area on the north side of the gym?
Mr. Rossiter—No. The area I was referring to is Second and Eighth. Heading south on Second,that entire side of the
property, outside of the picket fence, which is used for parking on the other side,that is not even touched. We could
put 16 cars there if we had to.
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Ms. Bramble—Isn't that City right-of-way that you are talking about?
Mr. Rossiter—No.
Ms. Otto—I don't know the history well on this facility but for a structure whose primary use is a church or place of
religious worship,there is an exemption from all off-street. I don't know if the church occurred first and it does have a
parking lot and perhaps the school was added later. I don't know what the circumstances were in the past as far as
parking at this entire facility.
Mr. Marion—By the school leasing from the church, does the school have an opportunity to take advantage of any of
the parking the church may have?
Ms. Otto—I do not know.
Ms.Jurick—It is not mentioned in the lease.
Ms. Bramble—Has the board or principal ever discussed a parking plan?
Ms.Jurick—Not really because we are only talking about four more cars and we haven't really needed a parking plan.
Mr. Rossiter—The traffic flow plan is something that will come to me in terms of offloading busses, movement of traffic
around the school, and that type of thing would be the area we have dealt with.
Ms. Bramble—Did you present that in your packet?
Mr. Rossiter—That is not applicable. That is not changing as a result of anything that happens here. We did that prior to
school beginning for safety purposes.
Mr. Major—Even though you haven't needed a parking plan in the past because you have used existing facilities,
Tybee's ordinances do require that for Special Review and Site Plan that you look at the space you have and at the
number of required parking spaces per occupant. There are specific ones for educational facilities and that you sketch
that out and say here is where people are going to park. That is part of the requirement that is in our ordinances.
Mr. Marion—We want to do the best job we can for you so when it moves to Council we have a complete package so
the process is seamless. Items like this are part of that.
Ms.Jurick—How would we know we were supposed to send you a parking plan?
Mr. Marion—It is a process with the application. Staff is present to guide and assist. If anything is missed,we usually
include that during the presentations such as now.
Ms. Otto—It is my understanding they are under a time constraint to move this forward.
Mr. Marion—What kind of time constraint are we looking at?
Mr. Fortner—It is our plan to be in front of Council at the next meeting.
Ms. Otto—It is April 10th. I thought there was a deadline you are working against.
Mr. Fortner—There is. We have to have it approved by the State and the building is ready to go by June 15T. In order to
do that we have to get preliminary approvals at all levels.
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Mr. Marion—I would prefer we have everything together before we send it to Council but with the time constraints it
becomes very challenging.
Mr. McNaughton—I support the school but I would vote for approval for Site Plan and Special Review under conditions
that when they go to Council they have the missing parts of what is required.
Mr. Marion—Is there anyone else from the public that would like to speak to this?
Anne Blanco came forward and introduced herself. I am co-president of St. Michael's Parish Council. I'm also the liaison
between St. Michael's and the charter school. In speaking for our pastor, Father Tom Peyton, and our parish, we cannot
begin to tell you how pleased and blessed we are to have the Tybee Island charter school as part of our campus. To hear
the voices of the little children again in our buildings and on the playgrounds brings happiness to all of us. The governing
board, the principal,the staff, and all the teachers are tremendous assets to not only St. Michael's but all of Tybee
Island. May we continue to have the charter school grow and we ask for your help in making this possible.
Ms. Bramble—Is the parish responsible for the ground's upkeep or is that part of their lease?
Ms. Blanco—We are responsible to keep the grounds up.
Mr. Borkowski—If they needed a couple of extra spaces to park four or five cars, is there a possibility of using some of
the church parking lot?
Ms. Blanco—I cannot give you a definite on that until I take it back to parish council but I cannot see where that would
be a problem. We have daily mass at 8 o'clock in the morning and I can't see where any of that would interfere with any
of the parishioners parking in the parking lots. I can give you a tentative yes but I would have to have a vote from parish
council.
Mr. Marion—Is there anyone else that would like to speak to this? [There were none.] At this time I will close the public
hearing. Do we have discussion or a motion?
Ms. Bramble—I am having a hard time with the 'maybes' that have been presented. Maybe we might use this
contractor or maybe we will do this. Any business or citizen that comes in has to present a complete packet with the
site plan and everything that they are required to do. I have issues with waiving it for the school. I'm glad we have a
school here.
Mr. Major—I just want confirmation from Dianne. As I went through our ordinances and before I looked at the
materials, I looked at what is required for Site Plan Approval and Special Review. There is a parking plan that is based
upon a certain number of required feet per occupancy of buildings. There is a buffer plan where we have an educational
or a commercial facility that butts up against residential. Architectural renderings are also a requirement. It is required
that we are furnished with the date we expect land disturbance to begin and the anticipated completion of that land
disturbance. Also needed is a calculation of the green space impact and I don't know if we're going to look at the total
space but one is all asphalt and the other is grass along with a drainage plan. Am I correct in saying all of that would be
required of a Site Plan Approval and Special Review?
Ms. Otto—Yes. With my initial comments on that we have become, in the economic environment that this community
has been in the past few years, allowing motions to approve with conditions that staff receive these things prior to
permitting.
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Mr. Major—There are a number of things specifically under Site Plan Approval. In that ordinance it says that staff can
waive certain requirements and these weren't among those that could be waived. We are not waiving these,we are just
saying that as we go forward, that these requirements will be met in some form.
Ms. Otto—Yes, I agree.
Mr. Marion—Dianne, you used the words 'economic environment' facilitating the reason why we don't have the items
in front of us. If we looked at a cost for all of this,what would it be? Would it be a $1,000, $5,000, $10,000? It's a
speculative question but just an arbitrary number would help us out.
Ms. Otto—Speculative, I would say that their engineer would probably require$1,000 or more to prepare the
documents and then they would incur the costs for our City consulting engineer to review those which could run
between $250 and $500 depending on the quality of the documents we receive.
Mr. Marion—If we were to support and place a contingent on this and send to Council,will Council ultimately put them
in a position to address these items and still sustain the costs associated with them?
Ms. Otto—Will Council do that? I don't know the answer to that.
Mr. Marion—Do we have a motion?
Mr. Major—I move that the Site Plan Approval and Special Review be approved contingent upon the parking plan,
buffering plan, architectural renderings, the dates for land disturbance beginning and ceasing, green space calculation,
impact calculation, and the drainage plan. These will be done as this moves forward with staff approval to make it most
economically feasible but keeping our ordinances intact.
Ms. Bramble—Second.
Mr. Marion—I have a motion with a second. All those in favor please signify. [Vote was unanimous.]
Minor Subdivision of Land&Variance—John Benton—1306 Butler Ave.
Ms. Otto—This is a request for a Minor Subdivision with Variance. The applicant is John Benton, owner of 1306 Butler
Avenue. Their request is to subdivide one lot into three lots. There is a single-family home on the property currently.
Moving from Butler to the ocean there would be a vacant lot, lot 2 would contain the existing single-family home, and
lot 3 at the oceanfront would be a second vacant lot. The required access easement through lots 1 and 2 to get to lot 3
is the reason for the Variance. On the screen is a drawing from the applicant showing the width of that access
easement. It begins at the required 20 feet but then narrows when it enters onto what would be lot 2 to 15.4 feet. It
narrows further to go past the stairs of the existing structure to 11.4 feet and then widens back out to 16.5 feet. The
property had been proposed for subdivision in 2012, and it was approved, but the owner did not record it so this is still
one lot of record. In your packet is a tree survey that had been provided with the prior subdivision; don't use that tree
survey as your source when looking at the lots to be created. If needed it is available to look at the trees on the
property.
Mr. McNaughton—The request for Variance includes a unique physical circumstance including narrowness of the lot. Is
there anywhere in the code that the City defines what a narrow or shallow lot is?
Ms. Otto—Not that I can recall. This lot width is 53.3 feet and because of the required 20-foot access off of that,the
remaining area not impeded by an easement is 33 feet. For the area where the 20-foot setback would follow the 20-
foot easement to allow for the 10-foot setback on the other side,you have got a buildable area that is 23 feet wide
based on the 53 feet minus the 20 easement and the 10 rear.
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Mr. McNaughton—I think that is something we need defined and maybe the Planning Commission would want to look
at considering we are going to get a lot of requests for Variances because of the flood and raising houses. If the City
doesn't define what a narrow or shallow lot is, it should.
Ms. Otto—I have noted that here.
Mr. Major—Dianne,there is a general note on drawing number 3 that says all lots will have a 10-foot rear and side
setback. In your narrative you said that the lots won't have a 10-foot setback on sides or rear.
Ms. Otto—That is for the proposed lot 2 because the existing structure is there; it does not conform to those setbacks.
It was constructed long before we had setback requirements. That is another aspect to the Variance this evening that if
this subdivision is approved it is creating a nonconforming structure.
Mr. Major—The statement that all lots will have a 10-foot rear and side setback- is that a true statement?
Ms. Otto—It will have a setback but it will have a nonconforming structure on lot 2 impeding that required setback.
Mr. Major—It will have a house sitting on it.
Ms. Otto—Yes.
Mr. Major—Our ordinance 5-140, I think, requires that the plat have a notation where there is a private easement. The
notation to be on the plat that, "The private driveway access easement is hereby dedicated perpetually for use by the
owners and residents of all lots within the subdivision and will not be maintained by the City." That notation is not on
the plat that we received, is that required?
Ms. Otto—That is required. I will get with the surveyor and make sure that is cleaned up.
Mr. Marion—Do we have the applicant present?
John and Joann Benton came forward and introduced themselves. We are the owners of 1306 Butler Avenue. We
purchased it in January of 2012 with the intention of subdividing it and building our retirement home on the oceanfront
lot. We applied for a subdivision last year but I did not forward it to the County because we re-thought what we were
doing. I was told it would trigger a re-evaluation for property taxes. I held off until now because in 2015 it will be
reappraised whether we have a subdivision or not. Our intention is to split it like we are showing on the plat and build
an oceanfront home. The issue is the house was built in the early 1900's and it was expanded and added on. The lot is
53 feet and I consider that a narrow lot. That was based on the average lots of Tybee. It was originally two 80-foot lots
that were subdivided at some time into three 53.3 feet lots. The lot directly to the south is the sister lot which presently
has six parcels on it. Ours is one parcel and the Sipples, who are on the northern section of it, is one parcel but it has
two residences on it. We are interested in having three parcels, selling lots 1 and 2, and building on lot 3.
Mr. Major—What was the reason for the change from dividing the large lot in front of your existing home into 1 and 2
with you being number 3?
Mr. Benton—I made a mistake. I didn't realize the difference in a major and a minor subdivision. Originally I would have
had two lots in the front where now I'm just showing the lot on Butler, our lot where the house is, and then the house
lot would have been maintained on the same parcel. If I went to four it would be a major subdivision and according to
the ordinances there are a lot of other issues that become involved with a major subdivision. It was done for economics.
There is equivalent to six parcels on the side of ours on the same size 53 feet lot all the way down but we are just trying
to subdivide as you see now.
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Mr. McNaughton—Before you bought the property, did you read the City's Master Plan that calls for keeping that
property intact?
Mr. Benton—No. I read that it was R-2 zoned and I never heard about keeping that intact until this moment. There has
been an objection to this subdivision that I became aware of today. This house is not listed specifically anywhere that I
have been able to find or my lawyers have been able to find. It is in a district called the Historical Strand District and I
think the modular trailers that are being put in at St. Michael's are in that same district. I have never seen anything
specific on this house and I researched it because maybe there were some tax credits. The house was originally on the
ground and in the early 1900's it was raised and then expanded out. You can see in the attic where the original small
house was. If you look at the old maps,the front of our house was actually Main Street. There are probably only about
three or four parcels like that up and down Butler. This had been in the family from the 1920's is the reason no one had
purchased and subdivided it. We bought it out of an estate.
Mr. Major—Dianne, do you know whether or not this is included in the Historical Registry?
Ms. Otto—No, I don't.
Mr. Benton—I think there is some type of confusion. This is some type of historical area that they are calling the Strand.
This house is not listed; if it is it has been hidden from me.
Mr. Major—You don't have a plaque on your house?
Ms. Benton—No. If you are saying our lot could not be subdivided, how can you say we can't but yet these other two
parcels were done? There are six lots next door to us.
Mr. Marion—Without knowing all the circumstances for the ancillary properties I couldn't tell you. Our concern is
obviously with what you have now in front of us. ■Nor
Ms. Otto—The reference to not dividing these lots that run from Butler to the ocean is from the January 2008
Comprehensive Plan. I don't know the age or the time period under which the property to the south was divided.
Mr. Marion—Are there any implications that would warrant involving DNR with the dividing of this very long piece of
property? Also, can a fire truck or an ambulance get back there?
Ms. Otto—The DNR would not have a concern. There is definitely, as shown on your proposed plat, a DNR shore
protection line that runs to the palm tree to the east of the existing structure. Most of proposed lot 3 is in the
jurisdictional area of the state. Any construction on that property would be subject to a state permit as well as being
impeded by the toe of the landward most dune from which Tybee has a 10-foot building setback. The response could be
greater into these private accessed areas but with the current reduction of what is required to be 20 down to 11, I do
not see equipment going past the home.
Mr. Benton—There is a tree in the driveway with about an 8-foot distance that you can get by. I contacted the City
about the safety of having that tree there and I wanted to remove it but without paying the $75 an inch because it was
impeding my entrance into my property. I have emails that confirmed the Fire Department came down there and said if
there was a fire, due to the configuration of my narrow lot, they would not allow fire trucks into that area. Ambulances
and police cars could fit between the 8-foot tree adequately. I'm asking for 15-foot. I don't know who that was, do you
remember Dianne that came down to our property?
Ms. Otto—I would guess Chief Sasser.
Mr. Benton—Someone actually came and said no trucks would come in there and I guess they would let it burn.
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Mr. Major—If I understand that ingress/egress narrows to 11-1/2 feet as it goes past the house, is that correct?
Mr. Benton—Yes, because the stairway is there but I could remove those stairs to make it 15-1/2 feet
Mr. Major—Would you do that?
Mr. Benton—Yes.
Mr. Major—There is also a stump there, I think.
Mr. Benton—Yes, it is rotten and could be removed very easily. If that is the issue here I would do that without any
problem.
Mr. Major—Dianne,we have another ordinance called a continuance of non-conforming structure or use. To what
extent would this ordinance apply here since we are not making anything narrower by what we are doing.
Ms. Otto—The creation of an access easement through there does not conform to the 20-foot required. It is the
purpose of the one Variance that you are considering.
Mr. Major—It is already there isn't it?
Ms. Otto—The easement is not a recorded easement. In order to record this easement there would have to be a
Variance granted.
Mr. Benton—That is actually a street called Thirteenth Place. Somebody moved the marker but it is Thirteenth Terrace
and Thirteenth Place. There was a street marker in front of our driveway that said Thirteenth Place. If you go to the
SAGIS map, it will show on there. SAGIS map has it wrong as it shows it as Thirteenth Terrace but it is actually Thirteenth
Place. All I'm doing is asking to extend Thirteenth Place for another 50 feet but make it 15 feet wide because the house
is there. I would hate to take 5-foot off the porch to be able to get through there. Our dream is to have a house on the
ocean and we're going to try everything we can to obtain that. I'm planning on retiring and so is my wife in about three
years and we plan on being a resident. We live here more than not and we do vacation rental in the summer. We are
residents here and we plan on being a part of the Tybee community. We are not buying it to flip or anything else.
Ms. Bramble—I have heard Chief Sasser say, on any of those lanes on the east side of Butler, he would never take the
fire truck down those lanes. It is crazy that you said that they would just let it burn. They will drag the hoses and save
your home or anybody else's home. I have heard Chief Sasser say that the truck would be parked on Butler and they
would access it on foot and drag everything to wherever the fire is.
Mr. Benton—Maybe I shouldn't have said that but those houses are made out of heart pine.
Ms. Otto—For clarity I didn't catch which 'R' word was used. Mr. Benton has offered to relocate or remove those stairs
that are impeding the access easement. It would need to be relocated. We would not allow a structure that has two
means of egress to be reduced to one.
Mr. Benton—That is not what I meant. We would put them on the back of the house or what some people call the
front,we call it the back. I have already talked to a contractor about it.
Mr. Marion—As Mr. Major suggested, if you had an opportunity to relocate it,you are okay with doing that?
Mr. Benton—Yes. If that is what needs to be done; it is that important to us.
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Mr. Major—There would be a minimum of a 15-foot access all the way to the beach.
Mr. Benton—Yes. That is what I put on my request for the Variance. The stairs are in the way and there is only 11 feet
by that. I'm not trying to irritate things but the ironic thing is there is a tree in the driveway that is only 8-foot. They
could get by the tree but would be hindered to get by the stairs. You have got to be 8-foot to get between the tree and
I've got 11 at the steps. I'm not trying to be smart but it just doesn't make a lot of sense.
Mr. Major—You probably remember this discussion from the last time you were here about deed restricting in order to
save some of those beautiful oak trees on that property and you agreed to it before.
Mr. Benton—This should make everyone happy. Before the lot line you had to build on either end. Now those beautiful
oaks wouldn't be in jeopardy because the most likely spot to build a house would be the ocean side of those oak trees
right behind the existing residence so you would have the ocean view.
Mr. Major—Dianne, we can still do that?
Ms. Otto—You can recommend it.
Mr. Benton—We are not asking to remove any trees.
Mr. Major—But if they have a deed that says those are perpetually maintained,they can't remove them.
Mr. Borkowski—What was your plan on lot 3, is that where you are going to build your retirement home?
Mr. Benton—Yes, the ocean side.
Mr. Borkowski—One thing I would be concerned about is you are saying the access that is required is 20 feet to get
down there.
Ms. Otto—All access easements in private subdivisions are required to be 20 feet. That was changed from 15 feet and I
believe it has been since 2010.
Mr. Borkowski—I think one thing that would be important here is to check with the fire department. I know you are
willing to get rid of the stairs and put them someplace else so you would have a 15-foot wide area, but I think it would
be important to see if the fire department would even go down there with 15 feet because if they wouldn't do that you
couldn't get your house insured.
Mr. Benton—They won't go down there with 20-foot.
Ms. Benton—They wouldn't be able to get under the trees.
Mr. Benton—They already told us they wouldn't come in there with 20-foot because of the configuration of the lot.
They would carry their equipment into there because of the narrowness of the lot. They couldn't turn it around and
they would put their equipment in jeopardy is what I understood.
Ms. Benton—But they will bring out their long hoses.
Mr. Benton—Most of the places along there don't have 20-foot anyway. If you go to Thirteenth Terrace, I don't think it
is 12 feet. If you go down any of those streets down there, none of them are 20-foot.
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Ms. Otto—At a point of your choosing,this email from Christopher Wixon was received today and needs to be read into
the record. [Ms. Otto read the email—it is attached to these minutes.]
Mr. Benton—I would like to clarify this. I assume the owner of the property is Vintage Tybee Rentals, LLC. I assume that
is who Mr. Wixon was referring to. Lot number 1 on the south side is the property that Mr. Wixon owns [referring to
PowerPoint]. There is a vacant lot directly in front of their house. They are the fourth house from the ocean. The only
thing I agree with him on in the letter is that we will destroy his view. If somebody builds on the lot in front of him, his
view will be altered. My wife and I bought a place oceanfront and if somebody buys a house fourth from the ocean and
expects an unimpeded view, I think that my constitutional rights, not his, would be infringed upon.
Mr. Marion—Is there anyone from the public that would like to speak to this? [There was none.] At this time I will close
the public hearing.
Mr. McNaughton—I respect the rights of property owners but approval of this subdivision would clearly run counter to
the Master Plan that was designed to protect that property and those properties on the beachfront from being
developed and going high density.
Mr. Borkowski—The subdivision, even it was approved, doesn't conform to the 20-foot access past that house.
Mr. Major—Dianne, in your opinion does this not fall under our ordinance for Variances that deals with narrowness of
property, shallowness, and other topographic considerations?
Ms. Otto—The width of 53 feet for the property with the required 20-foot easement is an impediment that the property
can't support.
Mr. Major—So it is a narrow lot.
VIPS",
Ms. Otto—It is a narrow lot.
Mr. Major—Under 5-090, narrowness is a legitimate reason to at least request a Variance.
Ms. Otto—Yes.
Mr. McNaughton—I move that the request for subdivision and Variance be denied.
Mr. Borkowski—Second.
Mr. Marion—I have a motion to deny. All those in favor please signify. [3-1 (Bramble, McNaughton, Borkowski voted to
approve/ Major was opposed)]
Variance—Crafton Langley—209 Jones Ave.
Ms. Otto—This is a Variance for 209 Jones Avenue. The survey shows a standard size lot with a 60-foot frontage. On
October 22, 2013, staff observed work occurring and stopped to investigate; a stop work order was posted. Work
occurring was improvements to the stones in the front and the entire vegetation of the yard was gone. The contractor
that was performing the work opted to not seek a permit or to register as a contractor with the City of Tybee Island.
Instead the owners procured the services of a contractor that our office is quite familiar with. An application was
submitted and a permit was issued. What was observed during the processing of the permit application was a prior
photograph of the property showed a concrete driveway had been in place. An image from July 2013 from Google Earth
showed a concrete driveway running up to the house from the pavement of Jones Avenue. The day the stop work order
was posted that driveway had been removed. Based on there having been a driveway at the property,this was treated
as a driveway improvement. Staff worked with the contractor and issued a permit on 11/4/2013 with a requirement
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that the rock be removed from the City's right-of-way and grass be planted. Staff worked with that contractor to
develop a plan that brought the site into compliance with the 25-foot maximum width for a residential driveway and
called for restoration of the City's right-of-way with grass to each side. It was also discussed the option of having two
openings that would total 25 feet if there was a different scenario that they were more desirable to have. The intent
here was to have the driveway and still have this 10-foot that was for the parking on the property. The property line is
here in blue [referring to PowerPoint] so the drive could be accessed like everyone else has up onto their property. This
would provide the two required parking spaces that were eliminated when the concrete driveway was removed. Quite a
bit of time went by because this had come to staff's attention it was being monitored with no actions taking place to
bring it into compliance. I contacted the contractor and asked for a timeframe on when we would see some results. The
involvement at that point by the owner was conversations or meeting, I'm not sure which and they took place with the
City Manager and me. Ultimately a Variance was submitted by the owner asking for allowance to leave the rock the 60-
foot width of the property, and use all of that as parking for the property.
Mr. McNaughton—What is the purpose of requiring people to remove gravel from the right-of-way?
Ms. Otto—In this situation,there was no record that a driveway of 60-feet wide had ever been permitted. On screen
are the permit records for this property dating back to 1991. There was no record that there ever had been allowance
for that rock to have been put in place. Because the concrete driveway had been removed, it was apparent that there
had been a driveway serving that structure that took the vehicles off the City's right-of-way and onto the property
meeting the code that required two parking spaces onsite for a single-family home. The request to remove the rock was
a desire to improve public safety from vehicles backing out onto Jones and to bring the site into compliance with others.
Had this occurred in a different order where an application had been received for a driveway,the requirement would
have been the same. That it was rock and not pavers,the requirement would have remained the same.
Mr. Marion—Dianne, the contractor,they should have known better. Have they transacted business on Tybee before?
Ms. Otto—The contractor that was working that day, I don't know him, had no prior history with him, he was not
registered with the City, or has ever pulled any permits with our office. The meeting in the rain the day the stop work
order was posted in October was unpleasant. He was confrontational, challenging, not familiar with Tybee's processes,
and disgruntled that he was being stopped from doing his work. As with any other contractor when a stop work is
posted,the normal course is to apply for an after-the-fact permit and get the paperwork caught up with the actions. It is
not a repressive situation. It happens more than we would like but he was from Richmond Hill and not familiar perhaps
with Tybee's standards. The goal was compliance. He opted not to move forward with it at that point for whatever
reason. There was no conversation with me after the stop work was posted. The homeowners took it upon themselves
to find somebody to stand up for the work and finish the project.
Mr. Major—With the material that was placed on the property, would that be consistent with, I know it is still a red line
ordinance, we call for 57, 67, 78, or 89 open graded stone with no fines or pea gravel. Would the stone that was put
down comply with that?
Ms. Otto—Yes. We want the no fines and I don't know how much fine was on that. I think it was permeable.
Mr. Major—If I had a concrete driveway and applied to remove that driveway and replace it with that material, would
that be a reasonable request?
Ms. Otto—Yes.
Mr. Major—Isn't that what they did?
Ms. Otto—They did not replace the driveway that went up onto the property. They removed this driveway [referring to
PowerPoint] and what is up there now is a brick sidewalk. Currently there is not a driveway up to the house. What is
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remaining is the 10-foot of rock on their side of the property line. The feasibility is that cars can come in and park on the
property as required by the ordinance to provide the two required parking spaces.
Mr. McNaughton—If I recall correctly,the driveway went from near the street directly down to the porch. There was
gravel to the left of it looking at the house.
Ms. Otto—There's no record of that driveway.
Mr. Marion—Are there other questions for staff? [There were none.] Is the applicant here?
Crafton Langley came forward and introduced herself.
Mr. Marion—Sir,what are we receiving here. This is not necessarily the norm.
Mr. Langley—I think Dianne approved this.
Ms. Otto—No sir, I did not.
Ms. Langley—I'm sorry I must have misunderstood. Excuse me and let me start from the beginning.
Ms. Otto—I received an email. It came in yesterday during the City holiday that she would be presenting ten additional
photos to be handed out. I had already advised her twice in previous emails that handouts are not accepted at
meetings.
Mr. Marion—This is a break from protocol.
Ms. Langley—I'm sorry. We don't need to pass those out. We misunderstood.
Mr. Marion—We appreciate the effort but let's move forward with what we've got.
Ms. Langley—Good evening. This is my husband Gary. I would like to thank Dianne Otto for having the patience and
walking me through the Variance process. I obviously needed lots of hand holding. If you read her report, we didn't get
the proper permits and I sincerely apologize. We understand the violations we incurred, we understand why we
incurred them, and we paid our fines promptly. Hopefully we can put this behind us and take a moment to explain the
reasons for the improvements needed to be made to the property and to make up for some of the headaches. With us
are Jane Coslick, our interior decorator and historical consultant, and our environmental designer,John Dugger. Cory
Scoville,who many of you know, is our contractor and he is not here tonight. Most of you know Jane and it was our
pleasure to get to know her during this renovation process. Jane's energy knows no bounds and she worked tirelessly to
ready our home for the Savannah Humane Society tour. Jane is also happy to answer any questions that you have later
on. I would like to let John take over. John has been in your shoes before. He spent 8 years as Chairman of the Planning
and Zoning Committee at Richmond Hill. John, thank you for the environmentally conscious designs you did working
with our limited budget, stopping the gully wash from the street runoff, and of course meeting the Humane Society tour
deadline.
John Dugger came forward and introduced himself. I am the troublemaker from out of town. I'm a stranger to most of
you but I'm not a stranger to the construction business. I have worked with Jane on numerous historic renovation
projects since 1982 and quite a few of them here on Tybee. Yes, I am unfamiliar with the number of permits now
required for quite a few things that are to be considered unusual including painting your house, getting your air
conditioner repaired if it breaks down on a weekend. I was Planning and Zoning Chairman for nine years in Richmond
Hill. I am no stranger to court proceedings. We took quite a few cases and we thought we were in good standing to the
state level but we lost a good many of those. As it turns out, property owners have a good bit of rights when it comes to
15
real estate laws at the state level. This particular property has some serious topographical issues and extenuating
circumstances. Yes, I am unfamiliar with a lot of Tybee's practices. I was brought in to help beautify and help get this
property ready for a tour of homes. This concrete is 7 feet wide; this is not a driveway. When the gates are opened it
provides an opening six feet wide. Gary's Volvo had scrapes on both sides where he tried to back into this driveway.
This is not a driveway; this is a cart path. We can't find any pictures of people parking in this driveway. The required
two cars off the right-of-way is not provided on this property. This house was started in 1955 and completed in 1958
and was probably before the two off-street parking requirements code was written. It is very difficult to backwards
apply code to pre-existing property. The 25-foot driveway width, I'm sure was written after 1958. This house was not
designed for that. This house also has some other code issues with the City. It is obviously below FEMA flood elevation.
It is also below what the City code requires in their flood management practice that all houses must be above street
level. This house was at street level and we know this forensically when we removed, what I call the flume, in this
picture. When this concrete was poured,you can see the color difference from the cart path here to here [referring to
PowerPoint] is one color and you can see this concrete was added at a later date. It slopes significantly downhill. You
can actually see in this picture flotsam, like you see on the beach. Where water runs down here you can see the contour
change. You can see that this forms a flume and water runs off the street and floods this porch. I responded to a
troubled call to resolve this issue. We started out, and we have a drawing, it was Plan A which was to leave the fence
where it was and leave the parking that existed on this property. You can see the other pictures that are from about a
year ago. You can see the For Sale sign over here and this is how this property existed when they purchased it. I believe
it takes 7 years on a property for something to become grandfathered in or at least an easement type grandfathered
use, historic use is parking along the right-of-way. There is no denying that. We improved that issue. I was doing grade
shots with my transit figuring out how we can relieve the drainage issues around this house that is below all the
neighbors. In fact, this is 3 feet below the closest neighbor with a vacant lot in between. Three feet is a lot of grade
change. There is no opportunity for daylight drainage to get the water out of this yard onto any sort of City drainage
system. In fact,there is not a drainage system in this area. If there was a catch basin anywhere nearby, we could put in
a tank in the back yard with a lift pump and pump water out. You are obligated to protect your property from flooding.
I acted on that sort of thought that when you stand here in the rain and see the water coming in from both sides and the
street, it was a no brainer to take this concrete out. In this picture you can also see previous attempts with the City, this
is City crusher run here and here, [referring to PowerPoint] and if we had the pictures that we are not allowed to put
out,you could view these pictures for yourself. This water comes off the City street and right-of-way. I did what was
deemed necessary to slow the flow. In grading practice, land disturbing activities,you have best practice management.
There are things you do and things you do not do. You are not allowed to spill dirt on other people's property. In this
case, no dirt was spilled on the road, no dirt left the property to adjacent properties. We did not put up silt fence
around the property. We have pallets of silt fence but to properly install silt fence,you have to run a trencher and bury
the bottom flap of the silt fence in the dirt. We couldn't do it on this property because there is no room and it would cut
the root plate. Not all vegetation was removed and that is a fact. The pictures that I'm sure Dianne took,there are trees
and shrubbery; not all vegetation was removed. Other things you cannot do in grading practices,you cannot change
your contours to divert storm water or any kind of water onto other people's property. In this case we had no choice.
We can't build this up because it is below grade. If we built it up to divert water onto somebody else, that is against the
law. If I built a dike across here and diverted water onto this property I can't do that. All we can do is add some gravel
and slow that water down or put temporary sandbags to take the City storm water and shoot it on down the street.
That is going to harm somebody else. We are in a tight situation here. Yes, at the end of a long day where I'm on a
shovel, and I'm not used to being on a shovel anymore, we are shoveling dirt because it is a small lot,you can't get
regular machines in there so there is a lot of handwork. At the end of a rainy day, slopping around in the mud, and I
don't feel good when I'm sweating and muddy, we are trying to do our job. We are from the hicks and we're here to
help you, we are going to shut your job down. At this point you are supposed to cover your dirt, get it seeded, and straw
it but none of that happened because we were shut down and told to get it in order. I'm seeing this as we are trying to
actually do the right thing. We haven't asked the City for anything. We've taken out the lady's patio, taken out
whatever landscaping she had, we have dug a hole in the back yard, and you need to go look at this because the end
product works. To put it back, I think in a court of law, if you want to prosecute me for code violation or whatever you
deem necessary, they are going to say put it back the way you found it. If we put it back the way we found it, it is going
to be back to gravel across the front with broken concrete and that will be it. Then we can go back to permitting and
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figuring out how we can get the two off-street parking in there. Now the problem is solved, it looks decent, it was on
the Tour of Homes and it showed well, it helped generate money for charity. At this point,they have already spent all
the money that they are supposed to spend on 50%value of the house. I don't really want to spend any more labor
over there shoveling gravel. In my opinion it should be grandfathered in as a non-conforming use. There are lots of
properties on Jones Street if you drive down there that have similar situations. It is in keeping with a lot of other homes
on the street.
Mr. Major—Directly across the street on Jones Avenue, there is a home that has about a 35-foot solid concrete driveway
that tends to slope down towards 209; does this cause you any problems?
Mr. Dugger—I don't know that one causes trouble. If we were allowed to show some of our pictures I could point out
some that do. Obviously, and it doesn't take a hydrologist to understand how water moves,you can go out with an
umbrella and watch it. When you do not have curb and gutter, side ditches, or swales like most highways and roads
have, on some streets water runs off the road and into the yards. On some that had the sense to build their lot up
before all the requirements for hydrologists and engineers, their lots are built up and the water shoots out into the
street. That water has to go somewhere. In low spots if you built up above the crown of the street, it lays there and has
to soak into the shoulder. If it is across the street,the crown of the road would prevent it from running across that and
it would just run to the next available spot on the same side of the street. Roads are crowned 6 inches in the center
typically.
Mr. Marion—With what has been done, has that mitigated the potential for the flood runoff for the collection of water
that used to stand there?
Ms. Langley—Yes. The cart path to the front door, where the flume came and the water ran in,was replaced with a
brick walkway that you can't see. It is a permeable surface and we felt like we improved the property ecologically very
much by doing that. That was a very conscious decision as well.
Mr. Major—How long has stone gone across the entire front of the property in the City right-of-way? I saw a 2006
picture that I thought had stone.
Ms. Otto—I think that is the oldest one I saw as well.
Mr. Major—So it has been there a long time.
Ms. Otto—It has been there a long time. Again, as previously stated, an application to improve a driveway,whether it
be rock or pavers, requires that it be brought into compliance. If you go back to the survey, you see this block building in
the backyard. If somebody came in and wanted to replace that block building, it too would have to be brought into
compliance. That there was no previous permitting record to allow a driveway 60 feet wide at this property, is
indication to me that it was done without City approval.
Mr. Major—You are saying the entire front yard is a driveway because it is 60 feet wide?
Ms. Otto—Yes.
Mr. Major—If they modified the fencing that is across the front and designated a 25-foot area with something on either
side that made it a driveway and created parking spaces would that work? I hate to see us take up stone and put down
concrete. That is going in the opposite direction.
Ms. Otto—The City is looking for restoration of its property.
Mr. Major—Hasn't it always been stone?
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Ms. Otto—No. It was claimed by a prior owner with rock but it is a City right-of-way. The City is looking to reclaim that
as City property and that the City property be restored to grass.
Mr. Major—Do we know that it was ever was grass?
Ms. Otto—There is no permit record that ever said that these prior owners could have the right-of-way. They have used
it in the past for parking and backing out onto Jones. Because it is a public safety concern given that there is no easy
way for bike riders or walkers on Jones to otherwise navigate and now they have a 60-foot possible back out area for
vacation rental.
Mr. Major—I'm just trying to figure out what makes sense here.
Ms. Otto—What makes sense is restoration of City right-of-way to the greenspace it is meant to be. The plan the
contractor agreed to when the permit was issued still allowed 25 feet of the City's property to be rock with restoration
of 35 feet to be restored back to City right-of-way.
Mr. McNaughton—How far back, if you go back to the photo, if they left 25 feet in gravel, how far back from the white
stripe, because I don't know where the City right-of-way is, how much gravel would they have to remove?
Ms. Otto—To their property line.
Mr. McNaughton—Do we know where the property line is?
Ms. Otto—Based on the survey that was provided, the fence was moved back 10 feet as part of this project so the
rocked area increased 10-foot further. This 10 feet is their property, so from the property line to the pavement of the
street. 1 lir -.Nib
Mr. Marion—The staff is only concerned with the City right-of-way restoration.
Ms. Otto—Yes. Of the areas not encompassed by a 25-foot rock driveway.
Mr. Marion—We don't necessarily take interest in that rock that is beyond the City right-of-way, correct?
Ms. Otto—Ideally that would be their parking area.
Mr. Major—Since we don't know when, if ever,this was grass, why wouldn't this be a continuation of a nonconforming
use, why would that not apply here?
Ms. Otto—Had it been a permit application that had come prior to the work, it would have been a condition of the
permit that this site be brought into compliance with current code. When you alter a structure or the property you have
to improve it to current code. If this was proposed for pavers, obviously there is no option to pave a 60-foot wide
stretch of the City's property in front of a single-family home or we would be asking for a Variance. That it is rock is the
same scenario.
Ms. Bramble—It has not always been gravel or rock. It has not been a maintained lawn as what everyone would think.
I've been here a long time and it has not always been a gravel area.
Mr. Major—Was it grass?
Ms. Bramble—Tybee grass.
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Ms. Otto—Which I think is some of what you saw in this.
Ms. Langley—I think Mr. Majors asked why don't we just put the grass in. We only live here part-time. We understand
that water is a very valuable resource on Tybee. We are not here to maintain that. Perhaps down the road that is
something we can think about. We wanted the gravel to do its job which is basically to stop the erosion of the lawn.
The runoff on Jones Avenue was considerable. If we did plant grass, we think it would end up like many of the lots on
Jones Avenue now which are the flotsam that John mentioned earlier. The trash and the Tybee grass, which in our case
was weeds, and would not be attractive.
Mr. Marion—Sod would not be an answer?
Ms. Langley—Again, because we are not there to water it, I'm not so sure it would survive. We have a little irrigation
system in the grass we did plant to keep that healthy and to keep the erosion at bay. I'm afraid if we put a lawn in the
City right-of-way,we don't have a way to keep that healthy.
Mr. Marion—In your opinion,you are not willing to do, essentially the restoration of grass on either side of the driveway
as staff has recommended. Is that totally out of the question?
Ms. Langley—If someone would maintain it I don't think it is out of the question at all. We were concerned that it
wouldn't be maintained and again it would end up as dirt and the erosion process would still continue.
Mr. Marion—The property itself, is it still under the care of Mermaid Cottages?
Ms. Langley—Yes.
Mr. Marion—Obviously it comes down to a preference of the owners to have some kind of maintenance plan in place.
Do you maintain it yourself? How do you care for the property at this point outside of all the work Mr. Dugger has
done? Do you have somebody come over and mow?
Ms. Langley—We hope that will be us every time we can come and visit the property so that we can save our money and
hopefully save enough to retire on. We don't have a regular landscaper. Also, we are very conscientious about using
the water and that is another reason we considered leaving that permeable gravel in place right now.
Ms. Bramble—Is that where you stay when you come down to visit?
Ms. Langley—We do except right now it is rented. This was a business trip and Mermaids was kind enough to let us stay
at a cottage a couple of homes down from 209 Jones.
Ms. Bramble—Even though I sympathize with you about maintaining and watering it, I have a big lawn at my house and
a big part of that is City right-of-way. I have mowed and watered it to keep it from turning into a sand pit. In my opinion
that is part of being on Tybee. Sometimes you may have to mow once a week. You have to get out there to keep it from
turning into a sand pit. It's part of a maintenance issue to me.
Ms. Langley—Certainly and respectfully I absolutely agree with you except again the water issue is something that we
understand from the Tybee website, is a precious commodity that we have and I think the gravel rock does its job and it
looks pretty. I think it is prettier than it has ever been thanks to John and Jane. So we have opted not to plant.
Mr. Major—To put a driveway back in place, I'm assuming that the 6-foot wide opening between the gates,they would
have to come into compliance with the 9 by 18-foot, 2 parking spots under the current ordinance or could they just go
back with a 6-foot opening.
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Ms. Otto—It is my understanding they are not proposing the two required parking spaces on the property to be on the
house side of the gate. This is their parking here [referring to PowerPoint] and the gate is located here. The only access
they will have to on-site parking would be to pull into this driveway and park along the fence.
Mr. Major—On the street side of the fence?
Ms. Otto—Yes, on the street side of the fence. The only way they can accommodate two parking spaces now is to pull in
and get on their property this way. That the fence was damaging vehicles tells me that maybe the fence should have
been widened. This is now a walkway not a driveway. The only parking they are providing on their property would be in
this 10-foot strip here [referring to PowerPoint]. The intent here, again,when the City opted to restrict driveway widths
was public safety. If you have vehicles parking at any point 60-foot wide and you have got 6 or 8 cars along there,
you've got bad visibility trying to back out onto a busy street and it is all public safety related. The intent here is if they
did choose to have overflow cars park in the right-of-way, at least it is not more than two wide.
Mr. Major—Is this a 60-foot right-of-way?
Ms. Otto—It is a 60.
Mr. Major—Starting at the center of the road and go 30 feet in both directions.
Ms. Otto—Ideally.
Mr. Dugger—It is safer now than it has been. We did address the intent of the code. When you look at historic
structures, and Tybee has a bunch of them that don't fit neatly into the new code,you have got to look at the intent of
the code and we certainly did that. You have opportunities to turn around without backing out onto Jones. You see this
car parked here [referring to PowerPoint],that car would have to back out onto Jones. The way we have it now you can
turn around. You're missing the main point; this house is being flooded from runoff with Jones Avenue. The gravel that
is placed there is not the first attempt to slow the water down. It has been a tradition. You are suggesting that I take
out what has been done to repair the edge of the road. That doesn't seem pragmatic or logical. We could look at some
options but if you go back to Dianne's plan,we can mark that out on the ground and see if you can maneuver a car into
there. As-builts indicate there is only 9 feet of gravel on the property and with square corners you would have a very
difficult time parking in there. You have got rental people that are going to park wherever they want to.
Ms. Otto—I agree 100%. The two parking spaces up on the property are challenged by the location of the fence.
Mr. Marion—We wouldn't be in this situation if the prior contractor would have cleared all hurdles as required by the
City, so we appreciate your observations.
Ms. Otto—Chair,this is the gentleman and the prior contractor.
Mr. Marion—I apologize. I didn't realize that.
Ms. Otto—Even for the drainage problem, we have procedures to follow. I'm not even here tonight to talk about the
drainage because at the point the site was already down to bare dirt, we had no average grades, we had no proposed
elevations for his work, and we got what we got out of that. The resolution here is on the parking.
Mr. Dugger—Single-family, it is in your own code,that it is exempt from land disturbing activities as well as storm water
management plans.
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Mr. Major—I think there is more that goes beyond that paragraph. It says however and a whole lot of requirements in
that same ordinance. If you keep reading there is a another paragraph that you are exempt from certain things but all
the things she just said have to be provided.
Ms. Otto—Very much so.
Mr. Marion—Do we have anyone else from the public that would like to address this?
Jane Coslick came forward and introduced herself. I am a preservationist and I care a lot about this island. I watched
what happened over there and we did have a lot of flooding and a lot of rain that week. We were trying to get ready for
a cottage tour for about 800 people that came to the island on a Saturday. In reality I just feel like we are so water
conscious on this island and I know how hot it is on the sides of those roads,there are no shade trees on Jones. If you
put grass there it is going to die because it is so hot in the summer unless the City wants to provide a sprinkler system. I
think we are so water conscious now about not even having sprinklers for little kids off the beach, this kind of confuses
me. I haven't been into the codes a lot, so I need to sit down with Dianne and learn all the codes about everything
because they are changing. Since Cullen died you are going to see a lot more of me because I really believe the island is
special and I know it is confusing and not everything fits every rule. I appreciate you all being here because I couldn't do
it. Thank you so much.
Mr. Major—If that 6-foot was 9 feet and cars were driving in there and that was the two car parking area,wouldn't they
have to back out on Jones to get out of there?
Ms. Otto—Yes, but with a much more clear view of what they are backing into. If you can imagine a vacation rental and
the cars parked this way [referring to PowerPoint], like diagonal parking and trying to back out, it is a different public
safety concern than one vehicle using the appropriate driveway with the bikers understanding that is the driveway
where here you don't know which car is going to come out.
Mr. Marion—Is there anyone else that would like to speak to this? [There were none.] At this time I will close the public
hearing. Do I have discussion or a motion?
Ms. Bramble—Like I said to Ms. Langley, I feel for her, but I have been fighting drain water runoff from City streets a
long time. I have walked through ankle deep water and calf deep water when we have a major rainstorm. The west side
of my yard is like a mini flash flood if we have a tremendous rainstorm. I just, after 35 years, laid sod on the west side of
my yard. In the last really bad rain storms, I didn't have a mini flash flood. It's just part of it,you have to maintain the
City right-of-way whether you want to or not. The City isn't going to come by and mow the lawn,you will have to mow
the lawn and you will have to water the lawn. If you want your property to look beautiful, you are going to have to
maintain that area.
Mr. Borkowski—I have a comment in regard to the safety. I think safety is a big concern, and yes,they can park on
grass. If they do park on grass,the people that manage the parking services can come by and give them tickets for
parking in the public right-of-way that is not authorized for parking. The other factor is there is an ordinance when they
alter something on the property then the rest of it has to be brought to specifications and that is the City's property.
The only property that belongs to them, or not really belongs to them, but the City grants to them is a driveway with the
width of 25 feet wide at the maximum. To me this plan makes sense.
Mr. Major- Under our ordinances for Variances, it seems to me that, included under topographic uniqueness, elevations
would be a consideration for that which would make this at least eligible for consideration.
Ms. Otto—We never received a predevelopment topographic survey. I do not have any way of knowing what the pre-
existing conditions were because the work was done without a permit. That is why this conversation is not before you
about drainage; it is before you about driveways and on-site parking requirements.
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Mr. Borkowski—I make a motion that we deny the request as is.
Ms. Bramble—Second.
Mr. Marion—I have a motion and a second for denial. All those in favor please signify. [3-1/ Bramble, McNaughton,
Borkowski voted in favor/Major was opposed].
Variance—8 T.S. Chu, LLC—8 T.S. Chu Terrace
Ms. Otto—The property at 8 T.S. Chu Terrace is in a C-1 zone. There was a recent renovation of this five unit historic
building. In your packet were the permits issued throughout the process to get to the point where we are at the final
item which is the parking area. The permit that was issued was very much based on the green space calculation. It
doesn't show well on this screen; it didn't scan as well as what is in your packet. When the site work was to be done,
staff provided to the applicant the green space calculations which are 65%of the setbacks are to be in a vegetated state.
The calculation from staff was that there was 2,080 square feet of greenspace needed for this site. The contractor
provided a plan that met that by providing 2,094 square feet. Following the renovation of the building as it is now ready
to be put into use,there are a few requests on their part. One is to relocate the handicap ramp which was located at the
front of the building approximately in this area [referring to PowerPoint]. The first Variance before you tonight is to
have a setback Variance to move the handicap ramp over to the side of the building so that access would be into a side
door to increase the allowed amount of parking here for the five unit building. The second Variance is the green space.
Because of the reduction by relocating the ramp and by some additional pavers that are proposed,the green space is
being reduced below the square footage that was originally calculated that was needed for this site. Also,there is a
Variance for a driveway width. Rather than 25 feet,they are proposing to extend the pavers to the pavement of T.S.
Chu. The plan that had been approved to get the permit issued did not have pavers extending that distance to the
pavement of the street; they were staying off the property line so as not to have a driveway that exceeded 25-foot
width at the property line which is what the ordinance requires. There are three Variances before you.
Mr. McNaughton—I am confused. I thought they were hoping to put pavers down from the street back to the old
pavers.
Ms. Otto—Yes.
Mr. McNaughton—I was out there yesterday and there is sod where these pavers are supposed to go according to this
plan.
Ms. Otto—We will need to ask the applicant.
Mr. McNaughton—There is 6 or 8 inches of sod all the way across that property.
Ms. Otto—It sounds more like this plan had been for the green space. Maybe they are waiting for the permission before
doing it.
Mr. Major—I referred to it a couple of times tonight. We have an ordinance that says in order to request a Variance you
have to state it in terms of the property and the hardship to the property whether it is narrow, shallow, or topographical
circumstances and there is a space provided on the application. You are asking for three Variances and that space is left
blank. I don't see it referred to in the narrative. There is a checkmark in the spot on the application. Is that meant to
fulfill all those requirements?
Ms. Otto—I took the check on page 2 of exceptional topographical or other physical conditions to be their statement.
Mr. Major—So do you have a topographical survey, elevations, and all these things for this?
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Ms. Otto—Not topographical. I believe they are probably referring to the "or other physical conditions peculiar to the
property." We'll need to have them address that when they come forward.
Mr. Borkowski—Maybe this is the wrong part of the process. My understanding is there has to be a hardship. My
understanding of what is being requested is they want more parking space and that is not a hardship and I don't know
how that fits into any of these.
Mr. Marion—Do we have anyone that would like to speak to this?
Mark Boswell came forward and introduced himself. I am the site engineer and I work with Tybee all the time. This is
my client, Billy Navon. I would like to address one at a time but I don't know if I can keep up with them. First of all,the
sod was from the original plan that we got approved. We didn't want to do this until we got permission to do it. The
hardship is this was an historic structure that just by the nature of it alone we could not get the required parking in.
There is no way. Whether there are pavers or not pavers, it doesn't matter;this structure does not meet the required
parking for this type of building.
Mr. McNaughton—It has to be the property itself; something about the building does not qualify for an application of a
Variance. It has to be the physical property, right?
Ms. Otto—The code language is the property.
Mr. Major—When you got your original permit,was a parking plan submitted?
Mr. Boswell—No, we were not required because we were not altering the site at that time. All we were doing is trying
to rebuild and save this structure like it was. The Historic Society and all these guys said we couldn't touch anything else
until that was handled. You could literally get on the top floor of that building when we started and you could feel it
moving.
Mr. Major—Is that the same ramp you have in front?
Mr. Boswell—Yes. We just want to move it to the side.
Mr. Major—That ramp is about 5-1/2 feet wide, right?
Mr. Boswell—I believe it is 5. The landing is 5-1/2;the new code says the landing has to be 5-1/2.
Mr. Major—We have a 5-foot landing on both ends. Then we have a little less than 8 feet total width there and we have
a bike rack in the back. I'm trying to figure with my width and my bike if I'm going to be able to get down a 2-foot
opening and I can't go around the other way because there is a building back there. How is somebody on a bicycle going
to get back there?
Mr. Boswell—We can move that bike rack. We could probably move it somewhere right in here [referring to
PowerPoint]. The actual Variance we are asking for is for the green space Variance. Dianne, did you get our actual
percentage?
Ms. Otto—Fifty-four percent.
Mr. Boswell—It would be 54% instead of 65%. That was after this was put in. The only thing we are asking Variance
wise for the pavers is to put in this thin strip here.
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Mr. Major—What is the total width of the pavers?
Mr. Boswell—The total width is 60 feet, I believe.
Mr. Major—Why isn't this being considered a 60-foot driveway?
Ms. Otto—It is. The option they had was to keep those pavers off that property line. They could have them as wide as
they wanted. It is at the property line where they are limited to the one 25-foot or 2 12-1/2 widths. They are requesting
to have pavers in the area that abuts to the street where the property line ends. If they stop the pavers there,they
would not need a Variance. Up on their property they can have it as wide as they want, it is just in the right-of-way they
can't be more than 25 feet wide.
Mr. Boswell—We are talking 1.3-foot strip of sand or grass. I hate to do this after the last people that were up here but
it is basically almost the same thing except we are commercial and they are residential.
Ms. Otto—This is a private street unlike a City street.
Mr. Boswell—If we were to put in the 25-foot or 35-foot width right here [referring to PowerPoint], we would take out
parking that is already at a premium because this was an historic structure and we are limited; we can't expand it.
William Navon introduced himself. Also, it would relegate the people from knowing that they could just pull straight
onto the property instead of going down that 25-foot driveway. It would be a little bit of a cluster for them to go over
there and try to make their way around. People who are renting or staying there wouldn't really take into consideration
just to pull straight onto the property.
Mr. Major—If this is a private street then the 25-foot driveway on the property doesn't apply, is that what you are
saying?
Ms. Otto—I want to read that specifically. "A driveway opening which connects a lot with a public street shall not be
greater than 25 feet in width."
Mr. Major—T.S. Chu Terrace is a private street?
Ms. Otto—It is.
Mr. Boswell—There are a couple of condo type things in there. The entire front is like a parking garage underneath and
that is the way we did that since it is not a public street.
Ms. Bramble—I have never seen anything that Mr. Navon has had that is not maintained and looks very nice. Is this the
same T.S. Chu Terrace that we had about the height restriction?
Ms. Otto—That is right across the street.
Ms. Bramble—I think it would be conducive that you extend the pavers so it all looks the same rather than having it cut
off for a couple of feet and then you have Tybee grass or sand, it wouldn't be very nice looking.
Mr. Marion—Is there anyone else from the public that would like to speak on this? [There were none.] At this time I
will close the public hearing. Do we have discussion or a motion?
Mr. McNaughton—I move that the request for the green space Variance be approved.
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Ms. Bramble—Second.
Mr. Marion—I have a motion and a second. All those in favor please signify. [2-2/ Bramble/McNaughton were in favor
—Major/Borkowski denied]
Mr. Borkowski—If you don't approve the Variance on the side,you don't need to address the green space, is that
correct?
Ms. Otto—It also depends on what happens with those pavers on the front because that reduced the green space as
well.
Mr. Borkowski—My thought is to vote on moving the ADA ramp for the Variance on the side. If you vote on that first
then you would only be decreasing the green space maybe by one percent. If the ramp was voted down, if it had to stay
where it is,then the amount of green space in the front might only be a small amount.
Ms. Otto—It is this area that is impeding the green space [referring to PowerPoint]. This area is 8-foot in depth.
Mr. Borkowski—Eight times 60, so it is 480 feet.
Ms. Otto—Yes. In addition to the loss of green space by the ramp, there is potential loss if this is granted. If the green
space is not approved they could not do this or that.
Mr. Marion—I'm going to vote. My position is that I'm going to vote not in favor of the green space.
Mr. Borkowski—I make a motion to deny the movement of the ramp on the side setback.
Mr. Major—Second. weilliklb -
Mr. Marion—I have a motion and a second. All those in favor please signify. [3-1/ McNaughton, Major, Borkowski were
in favor/ Bramble was opposed]. Our last item particular to this, do I have a motion?
Mr. Borkowski—What as the other item?
Ms. Otto—The driveway width.
Mr. Major—I make a motion to deny.
Mr. Borkowski—Second.
Mr. Marion—I have a motion and a second to deny. All those in favor please signify. [3-1/ McNaughton, Major,
Borkowski were in favor/ Bramble was opposed]
Text Amendment—Section 9-050—Technical Codes Adopted—Residential Construction in High-Wind Regions
Ms. Otto—There is a code section, 9-050A,where all of the technical codes that the City of Tybee Island has adopted are
listed. We have amended this the last six months probably twice. First was to add the International Swimming Pool and
Spa code and second to adopt the amendments by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. What is before you
tonight is a request to replace the Standard for Hurricane Resistant Residential Construction with the publication
Standards for Residential Construction in High-Wind Regions. The item being replaced was published in 1999 and it is a
highly used reference material. It is being replaced in like jurisdictions with the Standard for Residential Construction in
25
High-Wind Regions which is a 2008 edition. A lot of changes have occurred during that time. If approved, the new SBCCI
document would be removed and replaced with the ICC document.
Mr. Major—I move to approve.
Mr. Borkowski—Second.
Mr. Marion—I have a motion and a second to approve. All those in favor please signify. [Vote was unanimous.]
Text Amendment—Parking spaces
Ms. Otto—Your final consideration this evening is to add parking dimensions for smaller vehicles. This comes to you
from the Parking Committee. A resident brought to their attention some potential City rights-of-way that are not large
enough for standard size vehicles but may be able to accommodate motorcycles, golf carts, and smaller things like that.
These would be signed accordingly that only those types of vehicles could park there.
Mr. Major—Would they be metered or under our Pay to Park?
Ms. Otto—Both—decal or Pay to Park. There are some runs along curbs on some streets where the 9 by 18 required
standard size vehicle space doesn't fit but there could be space for a motorcycle or scooter space of a 5 by 9 or a low
speed vehicle of 6 by 11 could be slipped in. This would provide parking for those vehicles as they do not necessarily
need to use standard size spaces that can be used for other vehicles.
Mr. Major—Could a Smart Car fit in there?
Ms. Otto—If that falls under the low speed vehicle and golf cart category.
Mr. Major—I don't think it does.
Mr. McNaughton—On the dimensions, are those standards pulled from somewhere or did the Parking Committee
design these?
Ms. Otto—They are standards pulled from other cities. Consulted were Mesa,Arizona; Key Biscayne, and the Unified
Zoning Ordinance that is not in force. Chatham County and City of Savannah have been working toward it.
Ms. Bramble—I would like to know where some of these areas are on Tybee.
Ms. Otto—I was at a Parking Committee meeting when the topic first came up. I was asked to research the dimensions.
I know that the initial list has been whittled down. The Parking Supervisors have gone out and looked at some of the
suggested areas. Some of them, for example, when you get on the ocean side streets that generally start at Butler and
lay out the 9 by 18 spaces,or the 8 x 20 if they are parallel, when you get to the spots closest to the beach,there is still
curb but not enough room for another standard sized space. I have not seen what the whittled down list is that the
supervisors came up with but it is that type of situation where a motorcycle space could be created at the end of one of
those side streets where there wasn't room for another full sized space. They are not wanting to create traffic
hazardous areas but still allowing the access that people going down there need to turn around to get back out. Slipping
in some of these where it is possible to try and further enhance and increase the number of parking spaces available.
Mr. Marion—Is there any type of credit that the City gets for creating the scenario like this where you have recognition
of small vehicles and provides spaces for them? Are there any green credits, state recognition,federal recognition for
showing that we actually have something of this nature?
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Ms. Otto—We did do an assessment of how friendly we are. If you recall there was kind of a negative the last time we
proposed increasing the compact car spaces. I would have to review the worksheet to see if there is a portion in there
that would grant credit for this type of program.
Mr. Borkowski—I make a motion to approve.
Mr. Major—Second.
Mr. Marion—I have a motion to approve with a second. All those in favor please signify. [Vote was unanimous.]
Mr. Borkowski—I would like to make a comment before we close the meeting and that is just for all you guys that
support doing this, Dianne,Jerris, and you guys in the back. In addition to a really long work day that I know you have,
you do a great job and I just want to recognize you for it.
Ms. Otto—Thank you,Tom. It's very kind.
Mr. Marion—Good job guys.
Mr. Major—Second.
Ms. Bramble—What happened on the proposed lighting ordinance?
Ms. Otto—My recollection is that it has been tied up in a legal review. There is that one and two others that need to be
resurrected. I will attempt to get those pulled out.
Update—Wind Energy Facility Ordinance
Ms. Otto—There was a final update on the agenda about the wind ordinance. As you saw from the email, I have not
been able to find an expert to come work with us yet.
Mr. Marion—There is something I would like to recommend or suggest if staff is okay with this. Instead of approaching
it in the way we wanted to earlier, perhaps put it to a 3-person committee to begin tackling it. The three people would
most likely be myself, Demery, and then a third person outside of us that is perhaps a subject matter expert. If staff
would take that into consideration, I would love to pursue that angle. I feel we can be much more effective in a quicker
manner and probably yield a high value assessment.
Ms. Otto—Sounds great.
Ms. Bramble—I make a motion to adjourn.
Mr. McNaughton—Second.
Mr. Marion—All those in favor please signify. [Vote was unanimous.]
Meeting ended at 10:00 PM
Minutes bylerris Bryant
27
2. --ge_r+.40
Dianne Otto
From: Dianne Otto
Sent: Tuesday, March 18, 2014 9:22 AM
To: David McNaughton (mcmaughtond @bellsouth.net); Demery Bishop;John Major;Julie
Livingston; Marianne Bramble (mabeachbummett @hotmail.com); Tom Borkowski;Tyler
Marion (tyler.marion @gmail.com)
Cc: sbentley @bellsouth.net; Michelle Wixon; prm @mccorklejohnson.com; 'Christopher
Wixon'; 'John Benton'; Bubba Hughes
Subject: RE: Upcoming Planning Commission meeting
Dear Commissioners—The email below is public input for John Benton's minor subdivision and variance request.This is
item 2 on the agenda. I'll read Mr.Wixon's email aloud at tonight's meeting.
Dianne Otto, CFM
City of Tybee Island
Planning & Zoning Manager
Office: 912.472.5031
Fax: 912.786.9539
From: Christopher Wixon [mailto:CWixon @savannahvascular.com]
Sent: Monday, March 17, 2014 6:32 PM
To: Jerris Bryant; Dianne Otto
Cc: sbentley @bellsouth.net; Michelle Wixon; prm @mccorklejohnson.com
Subject: Upcoming Planning Commission meeting
Ms Bryant/ Ms Otto
We briefly spoke one day last week regarding the upcoming discussion on subdivision of the property at 1306
Butler Avenue.
I had hoped to attend the meeting Tuesday night, but it seems that I am on call that evening (and many
partners out of town for Spring Break). Likewise, although I have recently engaged legal representation in the
matter, it seems that they, too, are unable to attend the Tuesday meeting.
Nonetheless, I would like to raise the following items for the committee's consideration regarding the
proposed variance request:
Rights of a private property owner.
As an owner of the property immediately adjacent to the proposed driveway variance, we must vehemently
object to the proposed subdivision of the property at 1306 Butler Ave. Through conversation with our realtor
at the time at which we purchased our property at #8 13th Terrace, we understood that access to the land to
the East of the current dwelling was not feasible under current zoning laws. The proposed variance to current
zoning law would allow the subdivision of 1306 Butler Ave for the purpose of building new homes upon
unoccupied lots. Failure to uphold current zoning standards would disadvantage our property with increases
in adjacent home density with resultant noise and dust from traffic flow several feet from our historic home,
expedite degeneration of 130 year old building foundations, and would substantially obstruct ocean views
from our house.
r
It should not be overlooked that the recent sale price of the home at 1306 reflects the value of a single lot and
dwelling. Although we understand that Mr Benton purchased the dwelling with the intention of subdividing
the property, the fair market value paid by Mr Benton reflected the value imposed by currently
maintained zoning guidelines. Obviously, subdivision would provide significant financial benefit to Mr.
Benton, but only at a cost to adjacent homeowners. As such,we contend that the proposed variance would
infringe upon our constitutional property rights with the sole purpose of enhancing property valuation of
1306 Butler Avenue at the expense of our property value.
Historical Consideration: Property subdivision does not support the developmental strategy of preserving
large historic properties on the beach side of Butler Ave.
The property at 1306 Butler is registered by the Department of the interior on the National Register of Historic
Places. The GNAHRGIS states:
"Built for Fred A. Davis. Part of a row of summer cottages that make up the Strand, one of two summer
resort cottage settlements that developed on Tybee between 1890 and 1923 as a direct result of the
construction of the Savannah-Tybee Railroad in 1887 and the construction of Hotel Tybee on the south
end of the island in 1891. Each cottage was built in the center of a full oceanfront lot that extended
from Butler Avenue to the beach. As the row took shape, a common landscape theme was adopted by
each subsequent addition to the settlement. All cottages were built at a substantial setback from the
dunes, which provided a grassy expanse (or strand) between the cottages and the beach. A walkway
passed in front of the steps of each cottage, connecting the settlement with the resort at Hotel Tybee.
This arrangement afforded the owners a spacious and private setting with a somewhat communal
aspect when desired. In addition, each house has its own bridle path to the beach that ran off of the
walkway. °
Furthermore, the property is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Tybee
Strand Cottage historic District, added 1999 --#98000971.
Given the historic importance of the house and the property, I have copied the Chair of Tybee's
Historic Preservation Committee on this email and ask that this committee weigh in on the impact of
the proposal.
Likewise, given the impact to the Tybee Strand Cottage Historic District, I have also solicited an opinion
from the Georgia Historic Preservation Division (HPD) , Department of Natural Resources (GA SHPO)
who oversees HPD functions as part of the national historic preservation program. Through the
Section 106 compliance program, the HPD functions as a watchdog, helping to insure the respect our
most important historic resources. Through programs like the National Register of Historic Places,
Certified Local Governments, and others, they work with partners both inside and outside state
government to encourage regional and local planning, neighborhood conservation, downtown
revitalization, heritage tourism and archaeological site protection.
While it is true that the city of Tybee has allowed subdivision of properties within the Historic District,
such decisions should not stand as precedent as it is my understanding that the majority of such
decisions were made prior to the 1999 listing of the of the Tybee Strand Cottage Historic District on the
National Register of Historic places. As such, continued property division and development in this
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area would be INCONSISTENT with the existing historical character of the Tybee Strand Cottage
Historic District.
Housing Density .The subdivision of 1306 Butler does not support the strategic initiative of maintaining low
density dwellings in these areas.
Environmental impact. Subdivision of 1306 Butler Avenue would almost certainly result in the destruction of
old growth trees. Even if deed restrictions prevented removal of old growth trees, construction vehicles,
changing traffic patters, and increased traffic will almost certainly disturb fragile root systems in our sandy
environment. Subdivision and construction presents a substantial threat to old growth trees.
Further, the proposed division of property provides added impervious surface area, increasing risk of
stormwater infiltration into a watershed area which depends upon delicate vegetation in order to maintain
our vital dune structures.
Respectfully Submitted,
Chris Wixon
#8 13th Terrace
Sent from Windows Mail
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