Dear Editor:

The Richmond Hill Presbyterian Church, Burnt Church Committee, releases the following statement concerning the application of the Drayton-Parker Companies to rezone 3.832 acres of a 127.67 acre tract on SR Hwy 144 at Belfast River Road from A-5 Agricultural to B-2 General Commercial, which was withdrawn by the applicant on August 5, 2025, one week before the fourth and final public hearing at which this matter would have been finally voted on by the Bryan County Commission: 

We are extremely thankful that the proposed development of a large convenience store immediately next door to the Burnt Church Cemetery has been abandoned by the applicant. The immediate and intense public outcry over the irreparable harm posed to one of Bryan County’s oldest historic sites, first opened as a cemetery with our original Presbyterian Church in 1830, was impossible to deny. Folks were worried about the noise, environmental degradation, potential for disturbing unmarked graves, and danger to public safety. SR Hwy 144 just East of the traffic circle on Capt. Matthew Freeman Drive is already full of heavy traffic in peak traffic periods in the mornings and afternoons.

We are also grateful to the Bryan County Commission and staff for listening to public concerns and the worries of the church that the cemetery would no longer be able to function as a viable business should a heavy commercial use like a convenience store be located on the property at issue.

We will remain vigilant for future similar threats to the cemetery, and urge the owner to consider office or light commercial uses that, with proper buffers and other necessary measures, would not harm the Burnt Church Cemetery as a resting place for present and future Bryan County citizens.

Brice Ladson, Bryan County, Georgia

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