Commission gives OK for structures as high as 250 feet
by Keith Laing, The Brunswick News
Buildings in Brunswick could be quite a bit taller along the city’s waterfront.
The city commission at its regular meeting Wednesday gave developers of the proposed Liberty Harbor project the freedom to build residential high-rises as tall as 250 feet.
Commissioners cleared the way for the taller structures by approving rezoning requests for the new waterfront village proposed in the shadows of the Sidney Lanier Bridge.
In doing so, the commission granted the developers permission to build structures 14 stories high, with each floor taking an estimated 15 feet of height, said Bryan Thompson, president of Blueprint Brunswick, a nonprofit development agency that helped facilitate the independent Liberty Harbor project.
By contrast, the St. Simons Lighthouse is 104 feet high and St. Mark’s Towers, currently the tallest structure on city waterfront property, is six stories high. The towers of the Sidney Lanier Bridge reach 486 feet into the air from the top of the footing, while the highest vertical clearance of the road itself is 186 feet.
But don’t worry about the waterfront becoming a forest of tall buildings. City planner Arne Glaeser said the additional building height would be used only on select areas of the 110-acre facility, preventing it from becoming a block of skyscrapers.
During a public hearing the commission held before the voting on rezoning requests, several citizens asked if allowing Liberty Harbor to build tall structures would set a precedent for future development. City attorney Lynn Frey said that the height allowance would come in the form of an ordinance specific to the project.
“From my perspective, this is a unique piece of property because of the proximity to the bridge,” Frey said. “I don’t (think) it sets any precedent for other pieces of property.”
Mayor Brad Brown, an advocate of the project, said the structures would be unlike anything else in the city and offered his own prediction.
“The height we’ve allowed is definitely going to change the skyline of Brunswick,” he said.
Developers have previously targeted late November for putting properties in the site on sale, with mid-2006 as the goal for groundbreaking.
In other business, the commission:
* Discussed flooding resulting from Tropical Storm Tammy Oct. 13. The commission said it will see what can be done to improve the situation after about 20 city residents requested assistance from City Hall in dealing with flood damage in the College Park and Magnolia Park neighborhoods.
* Adopted a resolution in support of Georgia Senate Bill 86, which restricts the use of eminent domain, by which governments can force the sale of private property for public use. The measure, introduced by Sen. Jeff Chapman, R-Brunswick, would prevent government from condemning private property purely for the sake of economic development.
* Received but did not act on a resolution calling for removing the petition requirement in the candidate nomination process for future elections. The resolution follows a controversial qualifying period in which four of 11 candidates seeking election on the city’s Nov. 8 ballot were disqualified because of petition problems.
