HomeMy Public PortalAbout20060608_TybeeCouncilMinsCouncil Minutes
Page 1 of 10
Meeting of 2006-06-08 City Council Minutes
Mayor Buelterman called the consent agenda meeting to order at 6:30PM.
Present in addition to the Mayor were, Shirley Sessions, Paul Wolff, Wanda
Doyle, Kathryn Williams, Eddie Crone and Mallory Pearce. Also present were
City Manager Diane Schleicher, Assistant City Manager Dee Anderson. Attorney
Bubba Hughes was out of town.
Council agreed the consent agenda would consist of, Council minutes for 5-25-
06, Liquor License for Sundae’ s Café, purchasing policy waiver for emergency
repair to pump at sewer station.
Ms. Schleicher explained that the procurement procedure for the Park
Playground Equipment needs to be handled like other RFP’ s without a dollar
amount being included in the documents but set a high percentage score for
reasonable price in the evaluation documents so that vendors will know that
price matters. She requested that the Recreation Committee be able to set
priorities and ADA requirements and safety regulations regarding the surface
temperature of the equipment if exposed to sun and warranty information. Ms.
Doyle volunteered to be the Council liaison to the recreation committee. Ms.
Schleicher said they want the same people involved this time that were
involved with the JC Park project. The deadline for RFP’ s would be no later
than August 1, 2006 but they would try to beat the deadline.
Ms. Schleicher asked that council approve movies being shown in Memorial Park
with a rainout location of the Gym. She said this would be cosponsored by the
Arts Association, Friends of Tybee Theater and YMCA. The first movie would be
Cheaper by the Dozen II to be shown on the 17th of June. The second movie will
be Pink Panther scheduled for July 29th.
Mayor Buelterman announced that anyone wishing to be on the agenda must
submit their request to the City Clerk with information by the end of the day
on Wednesday prior to the week of council meetings. He added that anyone is
welcome to speak concerning any items listed on the agenda. Ms. Sessions said
that council doesn’ t want to prohibit anyone speaking to items on the
agenda. She said if this rule becomes an issue council may consider allowing
someone to speak to items not on the agenda at the end of the meeting.
Ms. Schleicher encouraged anyone with issues regarding city business contact
city staff first. She said most often something can be handled at that
level. If not then staff members at least have some background information
before the issue comes before council. She said Council should be the place
of last resort in case staff members cannot solve the problem. Ms. Williams
requested that the agenda cutoff information be made readily available to the
public.
Mayor Buelterman called the regular meeting of the city council to order at
7:00PM. All council and staff members were still in attendance with the
addition of Dana Braun standing in for City Attorney Bubba Hughes.
The invocation was given by Mr. Art Worden of All Saints Church and the Tybee
Memorial Guard posted the colors and everyone recited the Pledge of
allegiance.
Ms. Susie Morris of the Friends of Tybee Theater told council that the
theater has been officially purchased from the Historical Society. She said
this will be Tybee’ s theater and they will need a lot of support. Their
Council Minutes
Page 2 of 10
first fundraiser will be King Mackerel and the Blues Runnin at the Lighthouse
on Saturday September 16. She thanked everyone for their support in making
this a reality.
Mr. Jim Klutzz, President of the Tybee Island Historical Society told the
story about the Post Theater. He said in 2000 there was a demolition permit
requested for the theater. The City of Tybee and the Historical Society came
up with a way to save the theater and developed a one year lease with Phil O’
Dell. He said it was from August of 2000 until July of 2001. He said when the
historical society sold the theater they included the lease payments in the
price. He presented a check to the city for $13,200 to repay the lease
payments that were paid by the city. He said there was criticism directed at
council for taking a chance on trying to save the theater so the historical
society thought the amount paid by the city should be returned to them to be
used for some other project to benefit the island.
Mr. Henry Levy said the Theater had lost the right to be a theater one year
after they ceased to be a theater 40 years ago. He said the way they were
allowed to become a theater again is called spot zoning and can be illegal.
He said this is a disruptive use going into a residential area. He said it is
not only the noise but the parking.
Mr. Levy also addressed the zoning public hearings by saying the master plan
calls for this to be a low density residential island. He said every petition
presented changes the zoning they have and increases the density.
Ms. Lawanna Tsoulos addressed council about playground equipment. She said
her and Abby Burke in 2004 petitioned city council for money for playground
equipment in Memorial and JC Park. She said they got it in JC Park and it is
beautiful and kids are on it all the time. She said when she heard the city
was only going to spend $50,000 on equipment in Memorial Park she became
concerned. She said she believes the city allocated $190,000 for playground
equipment and she thinks they spent $70,000 or $75,000 on JC Park. Mayor
Buelterman said they had $200,000 in SPLOST allocated and there is $150,000
left. Ms. Tsoulos said her concern was that we have $150,000 left and we are
only spending $50,000. She asked where the other $100,000 will go. She said
they will need more playground equipment for Memorial Park because it is
larger and more people use it. She said she does not support using the
allocated playground equipment money for a skate park. Mr. Crone said they
have bike paths, tennis courts and basketball courts that need repair and the
other money will be spent there. Mayor Buelterman explained that they had
discussed this in the consent agenda meeting and they were going to remove
the $50,000 limit on the RFP’ s for playground equipment. He asked Ms.
Tsoulos to be a member of the committee.
Ms. Sessions said she heard someone from Wal-Mart speak about playgrounds and
getting donated items from Kaboom at a conference in Atlanta concerning Hands
on Savannah. She said the Hands on Savannah group intends to apply for grant
money through the Hands on Atlanta group and hopefully some money would be
made available for this project and a community build.
Mr. Sam Liberti presented the request for a zoning variance of 10.6 feet into
front yard setback for Frank & Kim Nelson at 1409 Chatham Avenue. Ms. Tsoulos
said Planning Commission had recommended approval. Mr. Liberti said there was
an existing Tybee Cottage on the lot and the steps were about 5 feet from the
street. He said they sold the house to Jane Coslick and she moved it off of
the property. He said the owners are requesting to put a residence back into
Council Minutes
Page 3 of 10
almost the same footprint of the old cottage. He said the front would be 10.6
feet back from the street. He said only 84 square feet would be utilized in
the setback area and everything else would be constructed within the setback
guidelines. Ms. Williams asked what the hardship is. Mr. Liberti said they
are applying under the 200 ft rule. He said at 1409 Chatham Ave. there are
structures up and down the street that are practically on the road. He said
they hope to put the house in line with the other structures. Mr. Wolff said
the 200 ft. rule only applies to dwellings. He said he took measurements on
the diagram and came up with an average of 27 feet so the 200 ft rule would
not help them. Mr. Liberti said he designed the house according to the
ordinances concerning the 200 ft. rule on the website and the word structure
was used. He said when he turned the plans in he was told by staff that
structure referred to only habitable dwellings and the ordinance had been
amended. He said they had already designed the house according to the website
and they did not know about the change that was not listed on the site. He
said if the house was still there he believes they would have been allowed to
protect the footprint. He said they were on a tight timeline and they found
someone to save the house so the house was moved which took it out of the
equation. He said they are bringing it back further than the original house.
Mr. Pearce said the diagram reads the shortest distance as 17.6 feet to the
road. Mr. Liberti said that diagram was done by Whitley Reynolds after the
house had been moved and refers to only habitable structures so it doesn’ t
show garages. Ms. Schleicher asked Mr. Liberti if he had consulted with staff
before designing the house. Mr. Liberti said he had just designed another
house 3 months before this and wasn’ t aware of the ordinance change. Ms.
Sessions asked exactly what the difference would be
Mr. Liberti said it will actually be 10.6 feet off of the street which is
further back than the original structure. Ms. Schleicher asked if the house
could be constructed without the variance. Mr. Liberti said his clients asked
for the house to be brought up in line with the other structures. Mayor
Buelterman read a letter from Jack and Nancy Boylston in support of the
variance. Mr. Crone motioned to approve, Ms. Doyle seconded. Ms. Williams
said a hardship has not been established and according to our ordinance that
is the only time a variance can be granted. Ms. Sessions said consideration
should be given because of them saving a historic house. The vote tied with
Mr. Pearce, Ms. Williams and Mr. Wolff voting in opposition. Mayor Buelterman
voted in favor of granting the variance.
Ron Jacob’ s presented the petition for Steve & Judy Sims for a zoning
variance of 5 feet in front yard setback and a 15 foot variance into the
marsh buffer at Lot # 12 Northwaves Subdivision. Ms. Tsoulos said the
planning commission recommended approval of the variances. She said a support
letter from the homeowners association had been given to council. Mr. Jacobs
said the Sims purchased their lot 8 years ago and since that time the DNR
line moved landward. He said they had compromised dramatically by reducing
the house size from 2500 sq ft to 1600 sq ft. He said 1600 sq ft is the
Subdivision minimum for square feet. Mr. Sims said they bought the lot in
1998 with plans to build in 3 or 4 years when he retired. He said the DNR had
told him he would be able to build anywhere in the buffer. He said 5 months
after that application was in Tybee took over jurisdiction of the buffer. He
said they were previously turned down because of being to far in the buffer.
He said they have received a waiver from the homeowners association to be
able to build closer to the road. He said they have young grandchildren and
they are concerned about the closeness to the street. He said they have been
paying taxes on their lot and the assessment is based on their being able to
build all the way to the marsh line. Ms. Williams asked how much of their
living space will be in the buffer. Mr. Jacobs said about 30%. Mr. Craft
Council Minutes
Page 4 of 10
spoke in favor of the petition. Mr. Pearce motioned to compromise with
variances of 10 feet in front setback and 10 feet into the buffer. Mr. Wolff
seconded and added the planning commission conditions should be met also
regarding everything under the house being pervious and the use of hand
drilled pilings. Mr. Pearce agreed. Mr. Wolff added that they have a
legitimate hardship and have been delayed quite a while and this is one case
where the hardship justifies the variance. Ms. Doyle asked what difference 5
more feet into the buffer would make. Mr. Pearce said everything allowed in
the buffer impacts the marsh and ideally there should be no allowance into
the buffer. He agrees there is a legitimate hardship. Mayor Buelterman asked
Mr. Braun if someone could make a motion to grant the petition as presented.
Mr. Braun said yes if the motion on the floor failed. He said Mr. Pearce
motioned to approve a different variance from the original proposal so the
original proposal could still be motioned on if Mr. Pearce’ s motion fails.
Mr. Pearce said the city has nothing to do with the homeowner’ s association
rules. Mr. Wolff said the kids could play in the back and there is not much
traffic in that neighborhood. Mr. Crone said it would only take one car. Ms.
Sessions asked if the homeowner’ s association does not approve it could they
bring it back to us. Ms. Braun said they could not start the whole process
over again for 6 months. The vote on Mr. Pearce’ s motion tied. Mr. Crone
motioned to approve the petition as presented, Ms. Doyle seconded. Ms.
Sessions said she thinks the compromise was a good idea but she is concerned
with the problems of the homeowner’ s association. She said these people are
not building in the marsh and she doesn’ t want them to have to go through
this process again. Ms. Williams said she feels they are second guessing the
homeowner’ s association and she doesn’ t know why the city is expected to
give more leeway then the association. Ms. Doyle said it is time for council
to dig deep and do something good. She feels that the homeowner’ s
association has made concessions and now council needs to vote on the motion
and move on. Ms. Williams said in the first meeting concerning this property
it was established that the developer was supposed to put in a bulk head that
would have eliminated this problem so the city is not the bad guy here. Ms.
Sessions said anyone getting approvals from DNR or EPD should get it in
writing. The vote tied with Mr. Pearce, Mr. Wolff and Ms. Williams voting in
opposition. Mayor Buelterman voted in favor of the motion for approval.
Mr. Robert Chu presented a petition for sketch plan approval of a major
subdivision at Seventh Terrace and Butler Avenue. Also a variance to section
10-080 of the Land Development Code concerning street design & construction
specs. Ms. Tsoulos said planning commission recommended approval of the
sketch plan and the variance. Mr. Anderson read the Major Subdivision
approval process from the land development code concerning sketch plans.
Mayor Buelterman said the issues with trees and other concerns will come up
at the preliminary plan approval meeting. Ms. Sessions said the petition said
Eighth Street and Butler and this property is really between 7th Terrace and
Eighth Street and Butler. She said this plan will have to come back through
the Planning Commission and Council for a Preliminary Plan approval. Mr.
Anderson said the Preliminary plan will have everything listed on it
including water and sewer and utility lines and drainage. It will contain all
the infrastructure plans. After they are all put in it will come back for
final plat just to let the city know all of the easements on the plat are
correct. Mr. Anderson said the last time a sketch plan came up Mr. Hughes
gave a ruling that a sketch plan is by no means a final approval of plans it
is approval of a concept. Ms. Schleicher said it does set the tone for the
direction of the development and if council is not satisfied with the
direction they should not approve the sketch plan. She said they should send
it back for a better sketch plan because the petitioner will spend a lot more
Council Minutes
Page 5 of 10
time and money doing a preliminary plan. She said this is an opportunity for
council to request changes and give constructive criticism to the plan in
order to keep it from going down the wrong road. She said approving this
sends them off and running to the next step and they may feel as if they were
mislead and you don’ t want to communicate that. She said council needs to
give them guidance at this point concerning the big ideas. Mr. Wolff said in
essence they will be giving approval of this subdivision as is which is where
the lines go and how big the lots are. He said that is critical in terms of
the future ramifications of this and the added cost incurred if they move
forward with this plan. He feels that would be a disservice to the
petitioner.
Ms. Williams asked if the petitioner could come in between the sketch plan
approval and the preliminary plan approval and get permits to cut down trees.
Mr. Anderson said he didn’ t know that it had never happened before. Mr. Chu
said he doesn’ t own the property now and he will not purchase the property
until they get the final approval. Therefore there will be no trees cut. He
said the only thing they’ ve done is under brush a little with DNR’ s and the
city’ s permission. He said the first 35 feet of lots 1 and 16 will be a
dedicated perpetual easement. He said they are preserving all the trees on
the left except a bay that is half gone and palm trees. He said Lot 15 has
Oak trees that lay down and all of those will be preserved. He said the only
oaks to be removed will be a few scrubs. He said they will have a certified
tree expert, John Brannen to trim up the oak trees and anything diseased will
be cut out. Mayor Buelterman asked that Georgia Forestry be allowed to look
at them as well because it is a subjective science. He said they have three
people wanting the house and a verbal agreement with Mr. Seiler to move it
through his property which is between lots 5 and 6. Ms. Sessions asked if Mr.
Chu would put the lots with trees in a land trust. He said Lots 1 and 16
would be in a perpetual easement for the subdivision. He said lot 15 may have
a pool with a pool house if possible and the trees would provide great
canopy.
Ms. Sessions asked Mr. Chu to clarify that this is more than a sketch plan
for a subdivision it is also a variance. Mr. Chu said yes but the reason he
brought up the trees was because that is what concerned everyone. Mr. Pearce
asked if Mr. Chu would consider putting a portion of lot 15 in a perpetual
easement as well. Mr. Chu said if an act of god caused the trees to be
destroyed then he would want to use the property. Mr. Pearce said there are
several ways to write easements and this can be explored. Mr. Pearce asked
Mr. Chu if he would consider keeping the historical house and moving it
towards the buffer to make the subdivision work. Mr. Chu said they want to
create a subdivision with a cohesive appearance like Seaside Colony with
Metal Roofs, Hardeplank siding, washed out old savannah brick bottoms with
brick paver sidewalks and lamp posts. He said in any subdivision the value is
the theme. He said the person he talked to about the house is willing to
restore it to its original condition.
Mr. Chu said the 60 foot requirement for a roadway in a subdivision is
equivalent to all 4 lanes of Butler Avenue. He said the county has gone down
from 60 to 50. He said he is actually proposing 50 foot of easement because
he will put a paver row 27 feet wide with 4 feet of sidewalks. He said there
would be approximately 13 feet between the street and where the house starts
plus 8 feet of porches on the houses which will allow for parking underneath.
Mr. Chu said he sat down with the Chief Sasser before he designed the roadway
and asked the best way for this to be developed to accommodate the ladder
truck. He said the roadway is 140 feet to enable the truck to be able to go
Council Minutes
Page 6 of 10
to the end in either direction and back up to come out on Butler facing
forward. Mr. Chu said that is not a possibility on most of the streets from
Center Street on down. Mr. Anderson read the letter from Chief Sasser saying
the roadway would accommodate the Fire Trucks in case of an emergency. Ms.
Sessions asked Dee to explain the intent of the 60 foot turnaround
requirement. Mr. Anderson read the requirement. Mr. Wolff said the reason was
to have utility easements adequate to maintain the requirements for new
subdivisions and also to provide more green space between the road and homes.
He said only 24 feet of pavement is required and then 10 feet of utility
easements and green space. Mr. Chu said if he complies with the requirement
it would cut 5 feet off of the porches on the houses. He said he request that
council consider the loss of the additional 2 lots containing the trees when
contemplating the variance request. He feels there was a good compromise with
the surrounding neighbors to get to this sketch plan. He said it may be a
gated community but that hasn’ t been decided yet. Mr. Chu said each house
would have 6 parking spaces so there is no off street parking and this will
be a private road.
Ms. Sessions said there was the issue with the curb cut at Tybee Straits and
they created covenants to prohibit parking on the streets to provide safety.
Mr. Chu said there would probably be a gate to make people feel safe and
provide security. Mayor Buelterman asked the hardship for the variance. Mr.
Chu said when you cut down the square footage of a house it creates an
economic hardship. He said he feels he is swapping out those trees for 10
feet of easements even though he intended to save then anyway. Mr. Wolff said
the width of the right of way has no bearing on protecting the trees. He also
quoted that Section 10-080 (j) requires all new subdivisions make a concerted
effort to preserve large trees, historic sites and scenic views. He said the
two lots are only giving up 800 sq ft so they are not buildable anyway. Mr.
Chu said originally they had 16 lots on the plan and they took two lots off
enough to save the trees and added the extra space to the two lots closest to
the beach so they made those lots unbuildable. Ms. Sessions asked if lots 7
and 10 were duplex lots. Mr. Chu said they could be duplex lots. He said lots
8 & 9 are definitely duplex lots and 7 and 10 qualify for duplex lots. Ms.
Schleicher said lots 1 and 16 should be called out lots for clarification.
Ms. Williams said she hopes Mr. Chu will consider setting aside even more
than the 35 feet. Mr. Chu said there are no big oak trees further than 35
feet. Ms. Williams said she has heard that 90 feet need to be set aside to
protect the majority of the trees. Mr. Chu said he will preserve any
significant oak trees. Ms. Williams said her concern is construction or fill
being to close to the root system and killing the trees. Mr. Chu said they
will rope off the trees during construction and there will be no parking or
heavy equipment allowed around the trees.
Ms. Schleicher requested that Mr. Chu enter into an agreement with the city
stating his preservations intentions. Mr. Chu said he has already entered
into an agreement with the Historical Society regarding the house and he will
sign agreements with the city as well.
Mr. Leon Aronson a resident of Eighth Street was concerned that the notices
read Eighth Street and Butler Ave. He said he had heard Mr. Chu was going to
buy property on Eighth Street and have his subdivision entrance coming in
there instead of Butler Ave. Mr. Chu said that is not going to happen.
Mr. Dale Williams said he applauded Mr. Chu’ s efforts to balance the will of
the community with economic drivers. Mr. Williams wanted to make sure the
Council Minutes
Page 7 of 10
largest group of trees that sit back 95 feet would be protected. Mr. Chu said
those were the trees on lot 15 that would be preserved.
Ms. Rachel perkins said during planning commission she voted to approve the
sketch plan for 14 lots but did not want the minutes to reflect that she
approved of the lot line locations. She said our tree ordinance says these
trees can only be removed if there is no feasible alternative to make
reasonable economic gain. She wants to make sure the lots are established so
that no trees are impacted.
Mr. Jim Klutzz said Mr. Chu has a history of working with the Historical
Society to preserve the Tybee raised cottages and he believes Mr. Chu will do
whatever is necessary to save this premiere example of the Tybee raised
cottage.
Mr. Joe Edwards said he didn’ t see the footprint of the houses that would be
located on the two beachside lots. He said he was concerned because the Dunes
come back into those pieces of property. Mr. Chu said he will be about 15 to
20 feet behind where Mr. Edwards deck is now located. Mr. Chu said he cannot
come past the toe of the dune.
Mr. Henry Levy asked about another line on the drawings. Mr. Chu said the
line represented the Tybee jurisdiction line and he planned to address that
when they ask to build on lots 8 & 9. Mayor Buelterman asked if the line ran
from dwelling to dwelling. Mr. Chu answered yes. Mr. Levy pointed out that
the Tybee jurisdictional line is further in than the DNR line. He said if
council approves the sketch plan they are in effect giving Mr. Chu permission
to build on lots 7,8,9,& 10 in violation of Tybee’ s jurisdictional line. Mr.
Chu said if they move the house it will change the jurisdictional line to be
further out towards the dunes. He said they have the intention of coming back
to request a variance on the jurisdiction line when they present the plans to
build on those lots. Ms. Schleicher asked Mr. Anderson if the road on the
sketch plan would encroach the jurisdictional line and if that would require
a variance as well. Mr. Anderson said he thought a variance was needed to
build a structure past the jurisdictional line. Mr. Anderson read ordinance #
5-0101(J). There was discussion concerning whether or not a variance was
needed for the sketch plan approval of the roadway. Mr. Braun said since this
was considered a sketch plan and the preliminary plan would have to come back
with all the detail he thinks Mr. Chu is asking conceptually if he can go
with a 40 foot roadway as opposed to a 60 foot roadway and also a T section
instead of a cul de sac. He said council could grant the variance for the
roadway and state that they are not making a determination on the location of
the roadway on the property or the impact on any jurisdictional lines. He
said that would preserve that decision until the preliminary plan comes in
with more detail. Mr. Wolff asked if that applied to lot lines. Mr. Braun
said they would not be voting on the lines but the concept only and they
would not be bound by the lot lines as shown. He said the city has to be
satisfied that the engineering will fit in the 40 foot as proposed on the
sketch plan. Mr. Anderson said an Engineer would have to answer that
question. Mr. Chu said the water and sewer lines could be located under the
road. Mr. Braun said there may be access issues if the lines were located
under the roadway. Mr. Chu said his engineer and the city’ s engineer would
have to be satisfied before they do anything.
Mr. Klutzz asked that council make sure the variances that are being
considered tonight have been advertised correctly. Mr. Anderson said the
variance advertised was for Section 10-080 (E) road requirement.
Council Minutes
Page 8 of 10
Mr. Crone motioned to approve the variance for the road and the T turnaround,
Ms. Doyle seconded. Ms. Williams asked to make sure the minutes reflect that
they are not granting or implying any other variances that impact the shore
protection line and the toe of the dune etc. Mayor Buelterman said this is
not approving the location of the road it is approving the concept. The
motion failed by a vote of 4 to 2 with, Wolff, Williams, Sessions and Pearce
voting in opposition.
Mr. Pearce motioned to approve with conditions; approval of the roadway
without going into the jurisdictional line, every effort will be made to
preserve the house, acknowledge and agree that Mr. Chu will preserve the
trees on lots 1 & 16 and a portion of lot 15. Ms. Williams seconded. The
motion failed by a vote of 4 to 2 with, Wolff, Doyle, Sessions and Crone
voting in opposition.
Mr. Crone motioned to approve the variance for the road and the T not to
extend past the jurisdiction line until they come back and get authorization
to go there. Mr. Braun said that would be an acceptable motion. He said in
effect all council is doing is saying for Mr. Chu to go out and draw his
preliminary plan with a 40 foot easement and council agrees conceptually to
the 40 foot easement and the T turnaround. He said that is all council can
agree to because all they have is a sketch plan. Ms. Doyle seconded. The
motion failed with a vote of 4 to 2 with, Wolff, Williams, Sessions and
Pearce voting in opposition.
Mr. Pearce motioned to continue so that Mr. Chu could bring his plan back to
council instead of having to go through the planning commission. Ms. Williams
seconded for discussion. Ms. Williams said because the planning commission
did not get the plans before the meeting she feels that it does need to go
back to the planning commission. Mr. Pearce said he would amend his motion
and send them back to the planning commission. Mr. Braun asked if they were
sending it back to planning commission without recommending changes or
direction. Mr. Pearce said we could send it back to planning commission with
a copy of the minutes for them to review the discussion of the issues. Ms.
Sessions said she is opposed to sending something back to the planning
commission without detailed directions. She said they are tired of council
sending things back without clarity. Ms. Doyle said this is something they
have discussed before and she agrees with Ms. Sessions. She doesn’ t know if
anything has been accomplished tonight by council regarding this petition.
Mayor Buelterman said he would like to recommend it go back to planning
commission for them to find out if the 40 foot roadway would be enough for
the utilities etc. Ms. Tsoulos said the information was available to planning
commission members the week before the meeting and if someone did not receive
it that was because they did not pick it up. Mr. Pearce said his motion is to
send it to planning commission and have it come back to council at the next
meeting. Ms. Williams said she seconded it but felt they needed to clarify
what council wants the planning commission to do. She said she wants them to
insure there is proper space in the easements and she said she had requested
additional information regarding Tybee’ s jurisdictional line and had not
received it until tonight. She said she feels it would be helpful for them to
review that information as well. Mr. Pearce accepted Ms. Williams comments as
part of his motion. The motion carried with a vote of 5 to 1 with Mr. Crone
voting in opposition.
Mr. Phil O’ Dell presented his petition for Site Plan Approval at 1605 Inlet
Avenue. Ms. Tsoulos said this is the relocation of a commercial building
Council Minutes
Page 9 of 10
which was the Chinese restaurant that was moved from First Street. The
planning commission recommended approval. Mr. O’ Dell said he was not
requesting variances and he did not want to move any trees and they would not
put any concrete down. He said their only concern might be that the building
has its own drain system where everything drains to the back of the building
and goes into the sewer. Ms. Sessions asked if the food would be good. Mr.
O’ Dell said it is a couple of guys that already have a restaurant down here
and their food is good. Mr. Anderson asked about the one parking space for an
employee. Mr. O’ Dell said the lot is empty and they can park anywhere they
want because the building only takes up a fourth of the lot. Ms. Schleicher
expressed concern that the public would use his employee parking unless he
put a sign up. He said he would put a sign up to designate employee parking.
Mr. Wolff recommended that Mr. O’ Dell use a curb stop. Mr. O’ Dell said it
will be a walk up restaurant not a drive through. He said it will be in the
spirit of the park and a community area. Ms. Doyle asked if the building will
be repaired. Mr. O’ Dell said it will be repainted and set back down on the
ground and completely redone. Mr. Bill Garbett said at the planning
commission meeting he understood that there was a retention basin there or a
collection area for the drainage but he doesn’ t see it on the new plan. Mr.
O’ Dell said that was because someone had mistakenly drawn a drive through
with paving and he has eliminated that so there will be no drainage problems.
Mr. Downer Davis said there is still a retention basin there that will
actually hold more water than a detention basin. He said this is only one
sheet of a five sheet plan. He said the drainage plan still shows an
excavated area for drainage retention. He said Mr. O’ Dell’ s engineer said
the roof runoff will be directed towards that retention area. Mr. Davis said
he had submitted an approval letter. Mr. Crone motioned to approve, Ms.
Sessions seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
Mayor Buelterman said the items on the consent agenda are the wavier on the
purchasing policy for an emergency pump repair without a competitive bid,
Memorial Park movies, Liquor License for Sundae Café, Minutes for May 25,
2006. Mr. Wolff moved to approve all items on consent agenda, Ms. Sessions
seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
Coastal Landmark Development requested final plat approval for a major
subdivision on Estill Avenue. Mr. Anderson said they have completed the
installation of the infrastructure and their surveyor has drawn up the final
plat. He said Mr. Williams and Mr. Davis had both done a final inspection and
had met with the engineer over final concerns and submitted a letter to
council regarding those. Mr. Davis said there was nothing major that needed
corrections. Ms. Williams said it would be so helpful to get things in time
to review and said they did not receive this information with their council
packets. Mr. Wolff motioned to approve, Mr. Crone seconded, and the vote was
unanimous.
Amendment to the code of ordinances Section 9-5-1 (9) Designated areas for
surfboarding and fishing for 2nd reading. Mr. Wolff said he would like to
motion to amend it to read fishing is prohibited within the right of way of
the Back River boat ramp or alley #3. Mayor Buelterman asked about the
surrounding docks. Mr. Wolff said he is talking about just the 60 foot right
of way to the low water mark at Alley #3. Ms. Williams seconded, and the vote
was unanimous.
Ms. Sessions motioned to go into Executive Session to discuss Personnel,
Litigation and Real Estate. Ms. Williams seconded, and the vote was
unanimous.
Council Minutes
Page 10 of 10
Mr. Wolff motioned to come out of Executive Session and Adjourn, Mr. Pearce
seconded, and the vote was unanimous.
_____________________________
Mayor Jason Buelterman
____________________________
Vivian O. Woods
Clerk of Council