Liberty County Commission approves 237 new homes on Colonels Island

In 2 separate actions Tuesday, the Liberty County Board of Commissioners approved a 237-home development on Colonels Island in Midway, bringing hundreds more residents and cars to a remote and ecologically sensitive area near rapidly developing industrial and commercial sites.

Among those who spoke at Tuesday’s public hearing were Atlantic Judicial Circuit Judge Charles P. Rose, Jr., and Hinesville Chief Financial Officer Kim Ryon, who were not there in their official capacities but as residents near the proposed development. 

The 211.02-acre tract of woodlands and wetlands adjoins 3 other tracts also owned by King’s Plantation, LLC. Just north of those is a large tract owned by Steve Sikes; to the west across Kings Road is another owned by Half Moon Club, Inc. The King’s Plantation tract is higher than the surrounding marshland and FEMA lists its flood risk as low. The address is listed on county property records as Fig Tree Road. King’s Plantation LLC’s registered agent is Paul B. Krebs, Jr. 

The land was zoned A-1, agricultural, but the developer applied to rezone it as R-12. That would have allowed residential lots of 10,000 square feet each — just under a quarter-acre. 

At the meeting, Goose Creek’s Adam Wilkinson said his company would rather have the property zoned R-20 in order to create a “nice development” of lots just under half an acre each (20,000 square feet). The development also would rely upon a private drinking water system and septic tanks. 

Colonels Island residents like the marsh and tidal rivers where it’s quiet and wildlife abounds. Speakers said they weren’t looking forward to Liberty County’s east end getting a lot more crowded.

Several residents expressed concerns about more traffic on 2-lane Islands Highway, the only way to get on and off the peninsula. 

Recently, residents complained of untarped dump trucks, loaded with fill dirt, speeding up and down the highway, as well as increased big-rig and car traffic at Tradeport East and a Love’s truck stop. And for the next few months, drivers in both lanes will be forced to take turns at a temporary stop light while crews install a long-awaited box culvert under the road.

Average annual daily traffic on Islands Highway near Old Seabrook School Road increased by about 25% between 2019 and 2023, from 1,668 to 2,252. Average annual daily traffic (AADT) is the measure planners use to project long-term traffic demand, according to data technology company StreetLight Data. A look at GDOT’s data for that location shows a distinct upward trend. If each new home has 2 vehicles, that’s  another 474 vehicles on Islands Highway. 

“I think the addition of 500-plus cars on a dead-end road is going to create a problem for us,” Carol Grinstead said, adding that people “walk or exercise and ride their bikes” where Kings Road dead-ends, and that the county should add “ditches, a sidewalk, and a bike lane.”

District 1 Commissioner Marion Stevens asked whether the water supply would be enough to put out fires. The new development will give the county’s Islands Highway Fire Station many more structures to cover. 

Wilkinson said the Georgia Environmental Protection Division would sign off on the water system’s design, then send it to the county. Georgia EPD requires “instantaneous peak demand” of at least 205 gallons per minute for 200 connections and at least 240 gallons per minute for 250 homes. That’s before fire flows are calculated. The National Fire Protection Association says new 1- and 2-family homes require a fire flow of at least 500 gallons per minute. New developments must put in fire hydrants.

The site is near the Timmons River, home to an inshore artificial reef. Diane Adams asked how 237 septic tanks might affect recreational and commercial oyster beds, crabbing, and fishing. Liberty County Planning Commission Director Jeff Ricketson said the county doesn’t require environmental studies, but that that doesn’t prevent a developer from doing one.

The Georgia Department of Public Health outlines specific rules for placing septic tanks and drainage fields in new developments. After inspection, the Department of Health might modify required distances if it finds “unusual conditions of topography, site configuration, subsurface soil characteristics, or groundwater interference.” 

Every 1- to 4-bedroom house requires a 1,000-gallon septic tank. For each additional bedroom, the Georgia Department of Public Health requires another 250 gallons of capacity. If 237 homes with no more than 4 bedrooms are built, that means 237,000 gallons of septic tank capacity on the property.

Rose pointed out that the zoning request for R-12 was meant for urban areas: “This is remote,” he said. “It’s rural. It’s pristine. The closest traffic signal is 10 miles away. The closest grocery store is 14 miles away.”

Residents also demanded a 50-foot vegetative privacy buffer as a special condition of the zoning change, and objected to Wilkinson’s request to cut 10 feet off the required road setbacks. 

Ultimately, the board approved the R-20 zoning with a 40-foot natural buffer. District 6 Commissioner Eddie Walden abstained. A companion variance to allow septic tanks instead of a more expensive community treatment system also passed. A related county zoning ordinance change went into effect September 1

Liberty County faces a reckoning with the kind of development it wants to attract. As the warehouse boom cools nationwide, Coastal Georgia throws up new ones. Not all neighbors are thrilled with Hyundai Metaplant’s impact in terms of worker safety, water demand, and expected traffic and don’t buy into the “good-paying jobs” line touted by politicians and boosters.

Liberty County’s own 2040 Joint Comprehensive Plan update from 2020 notes that 56% of usable land not under federal jurisdiction is “some form of wetland” and calls for “protection and preservation of wetlands, as these areas provide natural flood mitigation, erosion control, pollutant filtration, and habitat for numerous aquatic and terrestrial animal species.” It also notes the wetlands “support wildlife, which in turn support the local economy by providing hunting, fishing, and wildlife observation opportunities.”

Ogeechee Riverkeeper (ORK), an environmental watchdog group that protects water quality in the Ogeechee River Basin — and which is suing the U.S Army Corps of Engineers over the Metaplant water demands — warns that “unchecked development” does irreversible damage by wiping out wildlife habitat, making flooding worse, forcing unfiltered runoff into groundwater, and increasing bacteria and litter. 

ORK says that development often happens in rural, minority, and low-income communities, like those in Liberty County, that are less able to fight back against “lax permits, unchecked industrialization, and unfair zoning practices.” Here are some resources for addressing development in your backyard.