Lot size, that is. The required size of buildable lots has been a
subject of heated discussion on the island for some time. But at a recent
meeting of city council, Tybee Councilman Walter Crawford got permission to
establish two 6000-square-foot lots in an R-1 district which, according to
Tybee's municipal code, generally requires lots to be 12,000 square feet or
larger.
Crawford invoked section 3-030 of city code which says that lots
can't be reduced to less than the minimum size dictated by the district
unless the lot proposed is "consistent with the existing surrounding
development pattern." Crawford argued that his proposed 6000-foot lots will
be immediately surrounded by other lots of similar, in some cases smaller,
size.
Several people, including Susan Carey and Dennis (on behalf of his
father Mike) Cunihan, spoke on behalf of Crawford's construction project.
Cunihan said Crawford is "well within legal and moral boundaries."
Crawford's neighbor Brooks Haymans expressed concern about how
further construction would aggravate flooding he's already experienced on
his property. After the last storm, Haymans had four feet of water in his
back yard, he said.
"It's going to be even worse than what it is . . . I need to
know where the water's going to go," says Haymans. "City's created a problem
where I have the lowest land."
Crawford said, "I don't think it has a whole lot of pertinence on
what I'm asking for," but the councilman said he would support a project to
improve drainage in the neighborhood that would give the Haymans family some
relief.
Both Freda Rutherford and Kathryn Williams said, before planning
commission, that a decision on the subdivision should wait until the city's
master plan has been updated. Rutherford said that, at an earlier workshop
on zoning revisions, there was consensus to wait for a master plan update
before making changes to R-1 zones.
"I don't think you're being treated fairly. Many of you are new
members," Rutherford said to planning commission.
Williams expressed concern about density on the island. She also said
that Crawford and planning commission should "avoid any suggestions of
conflict of interest."
The heat surrounding Crawford's petition was intensified by an
anonymous letter that circulated around the island accusing Crawford of
attacking green space and infrastructure.
"For an elected city official to increase development and increase
density in our community already suffering from stresses to our
infrastructure for his own personal profit is an atrocity committed up us,
the citizens of Tybee, and on our environment," says the letter.
Crawford publically accused a Tybee resident of committing a felony
by putting the letter in local mail boxes. Cunihan called the attack on
Crawford "fraudulent."
Planning commission voted, five to one, to grant the variance.
Commission member Lawanna Tsoulos, who voted against, said she had no
problem with the lot sizes. She did, however, think the vote should wait on
a drainage plan.
"I'd like to see it done in such a way that it would not further his
[Haymans'] problem," she said.
City council also approved the project, by a vote of three to one.
Crawford and Reynolds abstained from voting. Councilman Jason Buelterman,
who dissented, indicated that he saw a conflict of interest and that, as a
councilman, he would hesitate to ask for even a small variance from building
codes, even to build a porch.
|
