Imagine if you will: gravel crunching beneath the wheels of a large dully pickup truck as its driver turns sharply while backing a boat or RV under a covered metal lean to.
Ten minutes later a metal roll-up door scrapes against the metal skin of a warehouse causing a screeching sound that bounces around the open areas and trees. An hour later, you hear the grinding of a chain running on a rail as it lifts open a 15-foot-long steel gate. You can hear two guys talking just loud enough to know they are there but not loud enough to make out what they are saying. Clearly, they are inebriated after a day of relaxation and leisure, of which you have not had in months.
Every time a new customer visits this process repeats. Only the noise isn’t the worst problem. It’s the lights. Anytime the gate opens motion lights illuminate the property and stay on causing many sleepless nights for neighbors.
Most folks would move if this type of development moved in next door to their home. What if you have lived at the property for decades? What if it’s the family estate that you inherited? What if you just chose to move away from the noise and lights of the city and raise your children in a more peaceful environment?
If Columbia County approves the new boat storage at Ridge Road this will be a reality for many property owners. The only one who will benefit from the development are the developers earning $99.99 per slip per month.
The peaceful lifestyle of those who decided to build houses on Ridge Road and the surrounding area deserve better than being sold out for this type of development.
Not a small development
The developers are proposing to build a giant 73,500 square foot boat warehouse on 10 acres at the corner of Ridge Road and Washington Road. This is right in the middle of an area zoned R-4 (rural residential).
The topography of the site makes it challenging for any development other than residential. Boat storage facilities need to be flat because they have a lot of vehicles driving across the site daily. The proposed grade of the site has a small detention pond that appears as though it will dump downhill into Mims Branch Creek. The drawings submitted to Columbia County are not clear on how storm water is going to be shed off of the property. When this much impervious surface is added, developers must push that water somewhere.
Ten years from now the current developers will be gone. The property will be sold to some out of state investors looking for the best dollar for dollar return on their investment. There is nothing wrong with that. But metal rusts, gravel washes away, light bulbs go bad and start to flicker and a variety of maintenance issues come up.
Some of the same residents in the vicinity of this metal and steel development will still be there. Many will have moved because of the new developments up and down Washington Rd in the same area. After approval of this site a precedent will be set allowing for other similar, if not more intrusive, uses to move to Appling.
In order to preserve the lifestyle of the residents in Appling the county should vote down this project and any similar one that attempts to open in primarily residential areas. There are plenty of sites that are less abusive to residents where this type of development could be built.
Upcoming Planning Commission meeting
What I believe will be a volatile public meeting, will be held Thursday, May 1 during which the Planning Commission will discuss the future of the project. My prediction is that this meeting will have many protestors showing up against the project.
The applicants provided a slick presentation from an Atlanta architectural firm but make no mistake about what this development will entail; it is gravel, concrete, asphalt, steel and metal skinned buildings…and a few plants.
Columbia County planning staff has recommended that the project be disapproved. You can read their entire commentary at the link below.
