In a case of déjà vu all over again, the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners has filed an objection to a city of Statesboro annexation for a private developer’s planned subdivision, and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs has initially declined to name an arbitration panel.
But this time the pending annexation is of a much larger area, 714 acres on Burkhalter Road for proposed creation of a 1,794-unit housing subdivision, and the objection didn’t take as long to hit an obstacle in the Georgia DCA’s process. The last time something similar occurred, from early April until early June 2023, the county’s objection was to annexation of a roughly 37-acre tract on Beasley Road, originally proposed for 212 townhome units and eventually scaled down to 126 single-family detached homes.
That time, the arbitration process went as far as the DCA recommending panelists to the city and county before a DCA official cited the city government’s having missed a deadline to strike some of the names from the list as a reason to halt the process. City and county officials then negotiated a settlement on their own.
This time, after county officials notified the city and DCA of the county’s objection 44 to 45 days after receiving the city’s annexation notice, the same DCA official on Monday – Day 47 – stated that the county missed a 45-day deadline to file “a complete petition.”
Blue Fern Village
Blue Fern Development, a Redmond, Washington-based company, and local property owner Jeff Pope of JCWSJR LLC, requested the Burkhalter Road annexation for the proposed housing development the city calls Blue Fern Village. Statesboro Planning and Housing Administrator Justin Wiliams sent a notice to the county dated July 2, which the DCA has stated was received by the county July 3.
The county commissioners, during their Aug. 12 meeting rescheduled because of Tropical Storm Debby and with flooding and road conditions on their minds, heard concerns about the Blue Fern annexation during public comments time.
“We’re talking about an unprecedented size,” said Billy Anderson, a resident of Golf Club Road. “You’re talking about 1,794 housing units. That’s 430 acres that they’re talking about developing.”
Not all of the 714-acre expanse would be developed, since some is already mapped as “preserved jurisdictional wetlands.” But Anderson said he estimated that just the removal of pine trees from the portion to be built on would mean the lost absorption of 2 million to 28 million gallons of water a day. The latter number, he said, was “the size of Cypress Lake if it was five feet deeper.”
“You can’t tell me that that is not going to have a tremendous effect on that creek,” Anderson said. “We are already getting flooded out.”
He also said he was concerned that the county owns the roads, which would not be the city’s to repair, downstream from the site.
Anderson noted that Aug. 16, Friday, would be the deadline for the county to file an objection and asked the commissioners to do so.
Then County Manager Tom Couch spoke, noting that county Planning and Development Director James Pope – no relation to the property owner – had exchanged emails with Anderson about his concern. Because of the size of the proposed Blue Fern Village project, it had been the subject of a Development of Regional Impact report – Couch called it “a cursory review” – completed by Georgia’s Coastal Regional Commission.
The CRC report includes objections from the county and other organizations, particularly Ogeechee Riverkeeper. But Couch noted that the CRC did not actually recommend against the project.
“However, we did put on the record what our concerns were with the development, like you mentioned, the road, the drainage,” Couch said, addressing some remarks to Anderson. “I mean, you can look at any GIS (Global Information System) map and see the property really is great for being a hunting preserve, but outside of that, it’s going to be difficult to develop at that scale.”
Couch observed that the DCA had presented “obstacles” to naming an arbitration panel during the Beasley Road annexation controversy. But an objection, he said, could still “send a message” if the board wanted. County Attorney Jeff Akins, because of a medical procedure, was not present for the meeting.
Commissioner Timmy Rushing noted that at the end of the Beasley Road annexation negotiation, the city agreed to accept responsibility for the road.
“I don’t think that we can stop it anyway, legal-wise, but we can make them accept full responsibility for anything that goes on with it,” Rushing said. “I don’t know if I’m correct in saying that or not.”
Couch said “maybe not” but that if the county retains control of road encroachment permits it could potentially not allow any, which “would pretty much seal off the development” but that this would be “in a way … dirty pool.”
If the commissioners wanted, they could pass a resolution calling for staff and chairman to file an objection to the annexation, Couch said. Commissioner Anthony Simmons made the motion, seconded by Commissioner Jappy Stringer, and the vote was 6-0.
Signed by commissioners Chairman Roy Thompson and attested by Clerk Venus Mincey-White, the Aug. 15 objection letter was hand-delivered to City Hall and emailed to Mayor Jonathan McCollar, City Council members, and city staff members and sent via Federal Express overnight delivery to the Georgia DCA.
Burden on roads
The “Board of Commissioners objects ... on the grounds that the proposed change in zoning and land use and the proposed increase in density will impose infrastructure demands on Bulloch County,” having “a significant financial impact,” the letter states. It asserts that the increased burden on the county would include but not be limited “to intersection improvements, road repairs and resurfacing” from “substantially increased traffic.”
“The likely number of trip generations caused by the proposed development may range from 16,000-20,000 per day. Additionally, the base construction of Burkhalter Road is not favorable to the level of traffic proposed,” the letter concludes, echoing language already included in the county contribution to the CRC report.
Juli M. Yoder, a principal planner and manager at the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, on Monday, Aug. 19, emailed Chairman Thompson and Mayor McCollar. Citing the “Annexation Arbitration Process Rules,” Yoder stated that a required “HB2a Form” was “not readily found in the submitted petition for annexation.” She also referred to a state law as requiring that the county provide a complete notice of its objection “not later than the end of the forty-fifth calendar day.”
“The failure to submit a complete petition for annexation to DCA within the 45 day timeframe, render the request for arbitration void,” Yoder concluded to the local officials. “The Georgia Department of Community Affairs respectfully declines to appoint a panel in this matter.”
But County Attorney Jeff Akins replied to Yoder with an email, copied to other Bulloch and Statesboro officials, at midday Monday, beginning, “We respectfully request that you reconsider your refusal to appoint an arbitration panel in this matter.”
Akins noted that, in a previous email Friday, Yoder had requested additional information, including the HB2a form, without specifying a deadline for sending this information. The county had sent all the other info Friday and intended to send the completed form Monday, according to Akins’ response.
“We would argue that the County substantially complied with the requirement to submit an objection within the 45-day deadline and that the omission of the HB2a form from the initial submission is a mere technicality that should not void the request for an arbitration panel…,” Akins wrote.
Meanwhile, Statesboro City Council’s agenda for its 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20 regular meeting was updated Monday to include a potential public hearing and motion on the Blue Fern Management LLC requests for the annexation, zoning change from R-40 single-family residential to PUD, planned unit development and mixed-use variance, all for the 714-acre tract on Burkhalter Road.
“In the meantime we are keeping it on the agenda because the DCA has an opinion right now; however, the county has submitted a request that it be reconsidered and that they convene the panel,” said Statesboro City Attorney Cain Smith.
Also on agenda …
The council’s agenda also includes the previously postponed preliminary plat approval for a 111-unit subdivision on Cypress Lake Road, which also drew neighborhood opposition and concerns about traffic.
The 5:30 p.m. regular meeting follows a 4 p.m. mayor and council work session – also open to the public – for updates on the development process, the building permit fee, project incentives, a fire equipment assessment and the Urban Redevelopment Plan.