A Wilmington Island marina’s expansion plan was headed for troubled waters after its petition to get a commercial zoning change was denied Tuesday.
Richard Long, owner of Sail Harbor Marina on Wilmington Island Road, had requested an adjacent property he owned be rezoned from multi-family residential to tourist-business to accommodate more parking and allow better access for his marina’s members.
The Metropolitan Planning Commission voted to deny his petition after hearing unified opposition from concerned homeowners with neighboring properties.
Many of the neighbors who spoke during public comment cited long-standing problems with the marina and its owner and said rezoning would be detrimental to the mostly residential area surrounding it.
“We’re upset because residential zoning has been requested to tourist-business, but we’re also upset because this waterway has been abused for so long,” said Penny Butler Rossiter, whose nearby property has been in her family since 1942. “That waterway has been abused by Mr. Long for years and years, and that needs to be stopped.”
Wilmington Island resident James Martin said within days of Long purchasing the property, he allowed motorboats and recreational vehicles to park on it despite not being rezoned yet.
“We don’t trust this guy,” Martin told commissioners.
Of particular concern, according to the neighbors, is that the piece of property had been rezoned three times already since 2002 as the property changed hands.
“Is this zoning shopping?” asked Commissioner Timothy Mackey, who said he was concerned that allowing a piece of property to be rezoned perpetually creates a burden on nearby homeowners.
The last zoning change, around 2006, was to allow a developer to build a half dozen housing units on the waterfront plot. However, after the housing crisis hit, the project floundered and Long bought the property a few years later.
Long defended his business, saying he had agreed to conditions set forth by MPC staff to the proposed site plan, including a buffer zone.
“We have the opportunity to give the neighborhood a quiet 125-foot buffer from that boatyard. We’ve been willing to invest a quarter of a million dollars ... to do that,” said Long. “We’ve done every single thing we said we were going to do.”
Long said the issues weren’t with the current zoning proposal but the 60 or so boats docked downstream.
“I do not believe the majority of their issues are with (this property),” said Long, “it’s with the Marina.”
Residents say the marina’s lengthy dock, which extends past its own waterfront, was never meant to be permanent. The floating dock was originally built for temporary use by sailing competitors in the 1996 Olympics and later purchased by Long for his marina.
Current litigation against the marina’s use of those docks is pending, according to Long, who said he is “in discussion” with the Department of Natural Resources and Army Corps of Engineers.
The neighbors disputed this account, saying a judge had ordered their removal. Asked for clarification by commissioners, Long said the judge had said he “might want to remove them.”
“If they tell us we have to move them, we will move them, that’s the law,” said Long. “The most environmentally friendly thing to do along Turner’s Creek is to not have a single dock for every single house an screw up the marsh. There’s one downramp going to 62 boats.”
Neighbors disputed his environmental record and said if he’s ordered to remove the docks, he’ll be left with only 25-30 spots, making expansion unecessary.
“He’s fixing to lose half his floating docks, why does he need all that?” asked Dennis Chandler, who lives two properties down. “My problem with TB (tourist-business) is that it’s a wide-open door. If Mr. Long sells it or decides later on down the line to put in high-stack boat storage, we don’t need that. There’s enough commercial.”
Since the petition was denied, the issue now moves to the Chatham County Commission for final action.