More than 200 homes are expected to be built on Colonels Island, after Liberty County commissioners agreed to a rezoning request from property owners — but not to the rezoning they originally sought.

In a 6-0-1 vote, with Commissioner Eddie Walden abstaining, commissioners voted Tuesday night to rezone 211 acres from A-1 to R-20, which requires at least 20,000 square feet for lots. The developers, Kings Plantation LLC, sought R-12, which has minimum lot sizes of 12,000 square feet, though plans call for halfacre lots, or about 22,000 square feet.

While R-20 requires a 35-foot setback, commissioners stipulated that there be a 40-foot vegetative buffer between the development and Fig Tree, Lake Bluff and Kings roads and Timmons View Drive. There also will be no access from Timmons View Drive and no lots will face Timmons View.

Adam Wilkinson of Goose Creek said the owners were amenable to going to R-20 but added larger setbacks and buffers could affect their plans to save as many as trees as possible. The plans call for 237 homes to be built in the development.

“We want to do large lots,” he said. “We want to do a nice development. We want to keep the feel of what is there. We’re intentionally doing larger lots to do a nice subdivision with nice houses.”

The tract is almost entirely uplands, Liberty Consolidated Planning Commission executive director Jeff Ricketson said.

Many nearby residents questioned the rezoning request, with concerns ranging from increased traffic on Kings Road to the effect of the septic tanks on nearby marshlands and waterways.

Diane Adams asked if any environmental impact studies had been conducted, since there are endangered species on Colonels Island.

“We have a delicate ecosystem on Colonels Island,” she said. “I don’t know what the environmental impact would be of allowing 237 septic systems.”

Ricketson said because this is a private development an environmental study is not required but could be done.

Adams also pointed out there are as many as 15 fishing tournaments held each year at the nearby Half Moon Marina, and sewage leeching into the creeks could be detrimental.

Commissioners agreed, also in a 6-0-1 vote, for a variance request, allowing the developers to put in individual septic systems for each lot.

Wilkinson said the state mandates a 50-foot buffer between septic systems and marshlands, and said the soil conditions on the tract are some of the best in the county.

Traffic on Kings Road

In reviewing the questions the LCPC asks of each rezoning, the LCPC’s answer of no to will the zoning proposal create an undue burden on transportation, including streets and transit, drew laughter from some of the nearby residents in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting.

“We are very worried about the road system in that area,” Adams said, “and the speed limits are very high on Kings Road.”

Adams added she would like to see sidewalks and bike paths installed as many people walk up and down Kings Road. Chairman Donald Lovette said the transportation special purpose local option sales tax, which is up for renewal this November, could provide the funding for sidewalks on Kings Road.

Carol Grinstead asked if a traffic study had been done or if one will be done.

“The addition of 500 more cars on a dead-end road is going to create a problem,” she said. “There is going to be a whole lot more traffic.”

Grinstead also pointed out that Kings Road would have to be improved with the additional traffic. She also asked for a 50-foot buffer down Kings Road. She also asked for a study on the impact of that many septic tanks close to the marsh.

Paul Rose, who lives in the Fig Tree neighborhood, asked commissioners to protect the integrity of the existing neighborhoods.

“We think it is incompatible. We think it is inconsistent,” Rose, who is an Atlantic Judicial Circuit superior court judge, said. “We’ve only got one road in and one road out so there is a significant impact with traffic.

“When I first saw the petition, I was a little bit shocked to see they were asking for 237 lots.”

Rose said in looking at the R-12 definition in the unified development ordinance, it calls for that zoning in an orderly and urban development.

“This is remote, its rural, it’s pristine,” he said. “The closest traffic signal is 10 miles away. The closest grocery store is 14 miles away.”

Wilkinson said he average daily traffic for Kings Road is 2,000 trips and that a two-lane road with a 45 mph speed limit, as Kings Road has, can handle up to 10,000 trips a day.

“Though it will be more,” he said, “it won’t be enough where the road can’t handle the traffic.”

The development will have sidewalks, per county regulations, Wilkinson said, and will have sidewalks with its frontage.

More neighbors’ concerns

Bubba Grinstead said his main concern, having lots that would front Timmons View Road, has been addressed by the developers, as all the lots will face toward the center of the tract.

Kim Ryon, who lives in the Fig Tree Landing development, also issued her concerns. Ryon, who is the City of Hinesville’s chief financial officer, asked for R-20 zoning with one-acre lots.

“I’m against the rezoning as it’s presented, even with the special conditions,” she said. “I’m all for rezoning and the progress, but I echo Mr. Rose’s sentiment that we preserve the integrity of the neighborhood.”

Ryon asked commissioners to prevent access from either Fig Tree or Lake Bluff roads and to enact 50-foot buffers.

Wilkinson said they did not seek R-20 zoning because of the requirements of going over a certain lot count for a community septic system, both in land and cost to go along with a community water system.

“You’re taking away 20 acres of buildable land, and then you’re adding several million dollars to the project,” he said. “It would require the smaller zoning sizes to make the project economically viable. We don’t want to go that route. We would rather give that 20 acres to the property owners for a bigger backyard. We don’t want to build quarter-acre lots; we want to build halfacre lots.”

Wilkinson also added the lots in the adjacent Fig Tree Landing development are R-12. He requested that commissioners, if they approved R-20 zoning, leave in place the setbacks that go with R-12 zoning, but several audience members said “no” to his suggestion.

He added that the water system will provide sufficient water for fire suppression in the development.