After hearing input from residents and property owners, the Bryan County Board of Commissioners decided Oct. 11 not to move forward with the rezoning of a five-mile tract of land on Hwy. 17.
While the decision required no vote during commissioners’ regular meeting in the County Administrative Complex, Commission Chairman Jimmy Burnsed said that after hearing comments during an Oct. 4 public meeting with affected residents, the board wanted to honor the residents’ wishes.
“There were a number of citizens that wanted to leave it like it was, so we listened to that, and so it’ll stay like it is,” Burnsed said. “Each one (who wishes to rezone) can come and go through planning and zoning and take a look at those criteria as to how they can use their property.”
The rezoning would have changed the properties from various zonings, including residential and agriculture zones, to a B-2 commercial overlay district.
The topic was originally discussed at the September commissioner’s meeting when Zoning Administrator Christine Kinzie addressed commissioners regarding 53 parcels on the north side of Hwy. 17.
The Bryan County Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended the land be rezoned because that portion of Hwy. 17 is expected to be a business corridor in the future.
Read more in the Oct. 19 edition of the News.