Space available
He says he is not “anti-government” and sees value in the scrutiny, but Duncan said the number of restrictions compared to 10 years ago is noteworthy.
Ray Mehalko, owner of Tri-County Contractors and a former Army engineer, has been in construction for three decades.
“The government is holding up the development,” Mehalko said. “There’s definitely enough contractors out there to build the houses in a safe amount of time.”
But he thinks the community should have got started earlier.
“They knew all these troops were coming in two years ago,” Mehalko said. “We’re definitely going to be behind.”
It is not too late, according to Liberty Consolidated Planning Commission Director Sonny Timmerman.
“We could, if we start soon, have that housing available,” Timmerman said. “It’s not a quick process, but all of those troops will not be here at one time.”
There will also be the opportunity for incoming soldiers to “backfill” homes and apartments as existing soldiers rotate out or are deployed.
And people should come to grips that all the thousands of soldiers are not going to choose to live here, “but Liberty County is most attractive because it is closest to Fort Stewart.”
With a wait of up to 60 days for zoning application approval, Timmerman admitted administrative procedures do take time, but it’s mainly because the “ordinances are not that simple.”
“The ordinances are there for a good reason,” he said. “Bottom line is to protect the purchasing public.”
Developers have to put together constructions drawings, preliminary plats and other construction details as part of the approval process.
“There’s a whole lot of gory engineering details that goes on in that analysis,” Timmerman said.
“You might could shave off, if we’re lucky, a week or two, here and there,” Timmerman said.
And because local governments want to see new development plans before approval, some of the wait comes from county and city council meeting dates.
“That’s not all bad, because we elected them for a reason,” Timmerman added.
The state also requires a 15-day delay after receiving a land disturbing permit, the final construction authorization.
Once land is cleared, permitting is a “one day issue,” for builders, according to Mehalko.
“I can go out and build a house tomorrow if they have their own property,” Mehalko said.
Depending on size, it takes up to four months to build a house.
Another factor in construction schedules is utility access.
“You can build all the houses you want to, but if you don’t have water and sewer, you can’t move in to them,” Mehalko said, citing some overburdened systems with some municipalities having to piggyback off neighboring facilities.
Hinesville, the county’s largest water and sewage treatment supplier, completed a second sewage plant last year. It shares its first plant with Fort Stewart and engineers said that plant was nearing capacity.
Liberty County may have the housing ready for the estimated 10,000 soldiers and family members set to arrive with Fort Stewart’s new brigade by October 2010.
But a couple of local builders and developers say a lot depends on local governments, especially their permitting.
“The biggest obstacle for expanding in the county is just the permitting process,” said Aaron Duncan, vice president of operations for Dennis Waters Development.
“We’re ready to go to work today, but…sometimes something we can start next week takes about five or six months to get off the ground.”
He says he is not “anti-government” and sees value in the scrutiny, but Duncan said the number of restrictions compared to 10 years ago is noteworthy.
Ray Mehalko, owner of Tri-County Contractors and a former Army engineer, has been in construction for three decades.
“The government is holding up the development,” Mehalko said. “There’s definitely enough contractors out there to build the houses in a safe amount of time.”
But he thinks the community should have got started earlier.
“They knew all these troops were coming in two years ago,” Mehalko said. “We’re definitely going to be behind.”
It is not too late, according to Liberty Consolidated Planning Commission Director Sonny Timmerman.
“We could, if we start soon, have that housing available,” Timmerman said. “It’s not a quick process, but all of those troops will not be here at one time.”
There will also be the opportunity for incoming soldiers to “backfill” homes and apartments as existing soldiers rotate out or are deployed.
And people should come to grips that all the thousands of soldiers are not going to choose to live here, “but Liberty County is most attractive because it is closest to Fort Stewart.”
With a wait of up to 60 days for zoning application approval, Timmerman admitted administrative procedures do take time, but it’s mainly because the “ordinances are not that simple.”
“The ordinances are there for a good reason,” he said. “Bottom line is to protect the purchasing public.”
Developers have to put together constructions drawings, preliminary plats and other construction details as part of the approval process.
“There’s a whole lot of gory engineering details that goes on in that analysis,” Timmerman said.
“You might could shave off, if we’re lucky, a week or two, here and there,” Timmerman said.
And because local governments want to see new development plans before approval, some of the wait comes from county and city council meeting dates.
“That’s not all bad, because we elected them for a reason,” Timmerman added.
The state also requires a 15-day delay after receiving a land disturbing permit, the final construction authorization.
Once land is cleared, permitting is a “one day issue,” for builders, according to Mehalko.
“I can go out and build a house tomorrow if they have their own property,” Mehalko said.
Depending on size, it takes up to four months to build a house.
Another factor in construction schedules is utility access.
“You can build all the houses you want to, but if you don’t have water and sewer, you can’t move in to them,” Mehalko said, citing some overburdened systems with some municipalities having to piggyback off neighboring facilities.
Hinesville, the county’s largest water and sewage treatment supplier, completed a second sewage plant last year. It shares its first plant with Fort Stewart and engineers said that plant was nearing capacity.