WALTHOURVILLE – Walthourville City Council members have turned down, by a 3-2 margin, a moratorium on residential construction.

Mayor Sarah Hayes proposed a moratorium on additional residential construction, asking during a recent meeting for a stop, of at least a year, on single-family housing. “We have so many new houses being built,” Hayes said. “Some of them are pricey. We don’t have any low-income housing being built out there.”

Hayes said she had been approached by potential businesses, but the issue is the city’s sewer capacity.

“If we keep building homes, we are going to have to have more sewer capacity,” she said.

Hayes asked for the moratorium in order to provide potential businesses with needed sewer capacity. The city has enough water capacity, she said.

“If we build more homes, we won’t have sewer capacity,” Hayes said. “No matter who builds, we’re going to have to go back and buy more sewer capacity.”

Mayor pro tem Mitchell Boston proposed a moratorium on mobile home parks, stating he opposed a halt to single-family housing construction.

“The city should be embracing growth,” he said. “New homes are not a bad thing, if the city is generating new revenue, which the city should be doing. The only moratorium I am willing to agree to is on mobile homes.”

Hayes said that for the houses now under construction, the city is going to have to acquire more sewer capacity from Hinesville. Three subdivisions have been built on Shaw Road, with another underway, she pointed out.

The Boundary Hall subdivision is bringing 111 additional homes to the city.

Potential businesses have reached out to her, she said, but the lack of sewer capacity is an issue.

“They can’t do anything because we don’t have sewer capacity. There is not going to be any sewer capacity for a while,” she said. “I want to see Walthourville grow. I think we all want to see Walthourville grow.”

Boston countered that businesses also want to see homes being built.

“They want people living near their businesses,” he said.