Final chance to speak out
Last Updated on 12/4/2008
Published on 10/14/2008
By Scott Harper
sharper@gtowntimes.com
Residents and property owners in the Choppee, Dunbar, Oatland, Rhems, Browns Ferry, Lanes Creek and Big Dam Swamp areas will have one final chance to speak out about zoning in those areas Thursday evening.
A public hearing on the matter will be held at the Georgetown County Planning Commission meeting.
At a community meeting in June, Director Boyd Johnson of the Planning Department said zoning is being put in place now because "development is headed this way" and this "will cause the least amount of problems" as development takes place.
Most of the area will be zoned Forest Agriculture, which will allow one house per acre of land, if the current proposal is accepted. In the Oatland, Dunbar and Lanes Creek communities, the lots are proposed to be a quarter-acre in size.
South Island Bait House
A public hearing will also be held on a proposal to rezone 4.4 acres on South Island Road where the South Island Bait House is located.
The owner of the property, Bob Mimms, wants to rebuild the convenience store and add a restaurant, boat storage and camping facilities on the site.
Mimms, at a meeting in August, said he wants a place for shrimpers and fishermen who use the nearby South Island Boat Landing to stay temporarily.
He wants to have ten campsites on the property which will have only electric hookups. He said if he had water and sewer hookups on each campsite it would encourage campers to stay longer, which is not his goal.
Several people who live in the area and/or attend a church across from the property expressed concerns at the August meeting. Their main point of contention are the campsites.
Thursday's meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. in Council Chambers on the second floor of the Courthouse in Georgetown.
