Statesboro’s latest annexations – the first for 2024 – bring roughly 168 acres and spaces for more than 420 proposed houses and townhouse units into the city limits, all around Burkhalter Road.

The annexation of a 113.4-acre tract at 6922 Burkhalter Road for the creation of a mixed single-family house and townhome subdivision with 337 total units had been requested by Five Guys Development LLC. City Council had postponed a decision in November to allow the developers and city staff time to discuss ways to address concerns about added traffic on Burkhalter.

Meanwhile, Four Guys Development LLC (one limited-liability company named “Five Guys” and the other “Four Guys,” are owned by mostly the same set of local businessmen) purchased additional land and requested that the city annex a 26.94-acre parcel adjacent to the existing Cottage Row subdivision, also on Burkhalter Road. This will be for a new “cottage court” subdivision for approximately 87 small-lot, single-family detached homes.

City Council, by two separate motions and 4-0 votes Jan.  16, approved both of the annexations. Combined into those same two motions, the council also unanimously approved the requested zoning changes from R-40 residential – Statesboro’s default classification for newly annexed property – to R-2 townhouse residential for the 113.4-acre tract and R-4 high-density residential for the 26.94-acre parcel.

Unexpected ‘cottage’ plan

Applying high-density zoning for cottage court homes to something as large as an 87-house subdivision on 26-plus acres wasn’t something that city staff anticipated with the 2022-2023 zoning rewrite adopted as part of the Unified Development Code in September. But it meets the requirements, Planning and Development Director Kathy Field told the mayor and council.

“The cottage-court concept was originally planned as an infill development for an acre or less …,” she said. “However, I will say that (the project) meets all the requirements of our new zoning ordinance, so there is nothing in here that would be holding them up.

“However, I am concerned about this development pattern. …, Field continued. “We will keep an eye on it, and if other developers are looking at this same type of development pattern, I’ll have to discuss with the consultant a proposed amendment to the zoning ordinance.”

But of the two subdivision tracts annexed, the one rezoned to R-4 for “cottage courts” was the one that drew no comments of concern from neighbors or other citizens during the council hearing. City staff recommended approval with conditions, including that the developers must submit a traffic study and “ensure appropriate right of way is provided to the city to ensure road improvements can be made” on Burkhalter Road.

The city’s appointed Planning Commission had unanimously recommended approval with the staff’s conditions.

Right of way provided

During last week’s City Council hearing, Steve Rushing, local attorney, spoke on behalf of the Four Guys and Five Guys developers for both projects. He noted that they wanted the property annexed because connecting to the city’s water and sewer systems was necessary to make subdivisions of this density possible.

“We are certainly aware of the traffic issues in that area, though we did not create those issues,” Rushing said. “We’re new to the area. We want to be a part of the solution to those issues, and in so doing we are planning on actually donating part of this property we just purchased, on both sides of the road.”

In other words, the developers are providing right of way. They expect one to two years of preparatory work before actual homes are built. During that time, they will be working with the city and the county on improvements, Rushing said.

District 5 Councilmember Shari Barr expressed concern about the Burkhalter Road-Fair Road (Georgia Highway 67) intersection.

“I know they’re doing what they can to contribute enough of the land to widen the road, but we need to get the intersection fixed,” she said. “It’s already terrible, and this many more people is going to make it that much worse. So, we don’t want to hold up progress in the meanwhile, but something’s got to happen before these people are actually moving here.”

To be a city road

After Barr mentioned the Georgia Department of Transportation being involved, City Manager Charles Penny asserted that the city and county governments would have to take the lead on improving Burkhalter Road.

“We are trying to have some conversations with the county to talk about improvements to that road. …,” he said. “And I’m serious about the fact that we can’t keep putting people in this area without making major improvements to the roadway because the way it is right now it’s not a pretty sight, because people don’t want to travel Burkhalter and try to come back to the city because they have to sit through three of four lights before they make a right turn.”

He also acknowledged that the city will not be able to continue to see Burkhalter as a county road while annexing all around it. Both the city and county receive shares of the Transportation-Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.

“At some point, the city is going to have to step up and accept responsibility, and our voters have given us access to T-SPLOST, and we need to commit T-SPLOST to make these improvements, and Steve getting the landowners to give us the right of way to make those improvements,” Penny said.

That, he said, “can’t wait till five or six years down the road,” but “needs to happen pretty quickly.”

When the now annexed 113.4-acre tract at 6922 Burkhalter Road was presented for its rezoning hearing before the council, three residents of the nearby Chatham Place subdivision voiced concerns. The developers propose 145 single family homes and 192 townhome units for this property, but Rushing noted that the final numbers can change and that the developers are working around some wetlands.

“One thing that all of the residents of Chatham Place (are) worried about is the traffic, not only on Burkhalter, but Herman Rushing (Road),” said Tiffany Ross, the first area resident to speak.

She said she has lived there since about 2006, and “nothing has been done with the road,” even while thousands more residents have moved into the area.

The two other Chatham Place residents mentioned traffic, but also concerns about the water supply and existing issues in the subdivision. However, Chatham Place is on a private water system. Penny and council members noted that the newly annexed development will be served by city water, and said this and the private system should not affect each other.