‘Moving too fast’: Bryan County residents share concerns over warehouse growth

Residents fighting against warehouse growth in the north end of Bryan County got a small victory Tuesday night.

The Planning and Zoning Commission denied the rezoning of 259 acres of land from agriculture use to industrial for the development of warehouses. Applicant Northpoint Development Inc. proposed constructing three buildings that back up to the Ogeechee River, a cherished waterway community members want to preserve. The development also borders Bulloch and Effingham counties.

Known as the Williamson tract, the buildings would comprise 2.5 million square feet of warehouse space.

Bryan County resident Wayne Carney raised concern that fuel from diesel trucks and battery acid could flow into the river.

“I am listening to all these things from Thomas and Hutton,” said Carney. “I remember the last time I came up on a master plan for Eldora Road where it wasn’t going to have any truck entrances and exits. At that time, I was a nice guy, and I told him I knew they were only kidding about it. I didn’t want to tell them I knew they were lying…I just don’t want to see the place laid to waste like they laid to waste the other end of Eldora Road. We don’t want them to be dumping anything in the river.”

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Star Lee purchased five acres of land in Ellabell, thinking she was escaping warehouse growth on Eldora Road. Now she worries it is catching up to her.

Lee spoke before the commission to share concerns over the proposed development, which would be in close proximity to her property. “I’ve been there all my life,” said Lee. “My kids used to go back there through the woods with their daddy in a little red wagon. He would pull them back there. Now we have five grandkids that he is not going to be able to do that to because of what the county is doing. I really think you all need to stop with the growth. Let it slow down and catch up because we are moving too fast.”

Lee pointed to long commute times, saying what was once a 7-minute ride to work at the Bryan County Board of Education is now 22 and fears more developments will lengthen her travel time.

“I had no idea warehouses are coming by my dream home,” said Lee. “We are moving back in the woods to enjoy the quiet, the nature, the deer and everything else, and now I have a warehouse coming behind me, and I’m not very happy about it. I worry about the river. We are avid fishermen and we hunt. We are worried about the wildlife in the river. This is going to destroy that river. We are going to have warehouses across the road, behind us and to the side of us. We feel like we are being pushed out by the county.”

Alex Floyd, vice chairman of the Planning and Zoning Commission, said he does not like the idea of adding warehouses in that area.

“I have the same concerns with this that I did with the Haiseal Tract on Old Culyer Road,” said Floyd. “I’ve never been in favor of developments east of Eldora Road because of the proximity to the river. I am pretty sure I was against it, I would have to go back and look, but I think we made a big mistake putting industrial and conservation slap up against each other with no transition in between. I don’t like it guys. I’m going to make a motion to deny.”

None of the board members opposed Floyd's motion.

The development will go before the Bryan County Board of Commissioners June 11.

Latrice Williams is a general assignment reporter covering Bryan and Effingham County. She can be reached at lwilliams6@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Planning and zoning pumps brakes on warehouse growth in Bryan County