By Eric Curl
June 23, 2022 update – The rezoning petition was approved by the Savannah City Council at their June 23 meeting. The approval came at the recommendation of the Metropolitan Planning Commission, which endorsed the change on May 24.
May 23, 2022 – A 323-acre site in a rural region of Savannah in west Chatham County could be rezoned to accommodate warehousing and an ice hockey rink, according to the proposal going before the Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission on Tuesday.
Cowan Investments, LLC is seeking Community Business and Light Industrial designations for what is now an Agricultural district north of Fort Argyle Road and west of I-95.
The overall site plan shows that about 222 acres would be rezoned while about 100 acres are undevelopable wetlands. Under the proposal, the back portion of the property would be designated to accommodate warehousing and related office uses. The front portion would be rezoned to allow for an indoor ice hockey facility and an outdoor sports facility along Fort Argyle, according to the application.
The ice hockey rink will be a practice arena for the city’s new minor league hockey team, the Savannah Ghost Pirates, according to the developer’s representative, Attorney Harold Yellin. The hockey team is set to play its inaugural season this year, starting in October, with home games at Savannah’s recently opened Enmarket Arena. In addition, Cowan’s proposed hockey rink will also be a year-round ice skating facility for adult and youth hockey leagues, figure skating, and other ice skating tournaments and events, Yellin said.
The proposal has generated some opposition.
The Savannah Ogeechee Canal Society, which operates a nature center along Fort Argyle about 1.5-miles west of the proposed development, is opposed to the rezoning due to concerns about noise, traffic and the impact on wildlife, according to a letter from the organization sent to the MPC.
In addition, Kerrie Bieber, representing West Chatham County Community Watch emailed the MPC a letter asking that the petition be taken off the agenda, citing concerns about public notice and engagement.
“This entire portion of West Chatham County is very rural and is being forced into a negative transition that will destroy wildlife, habitat, homesteads, and quality of life,” Biebera said in an email to Savannah Agenda on Monday about the group’s concerns.
Corridor developments
The proposed development site is located across Fort Argyle from the CreekFire Resort and just west of the Exchange Club of Savannah’s fairgrounds.
The area has been experiencing increased activity with regards to proposed and ongoing development projects in recent years and the growing interest in developing along the corridor is expected to continue.
Immediately west of the Cowan project site, another developer, Conor, has begun construction of two warehouses on parcels at 400 and 450 Fort Argyle. The development will incorporate a 1,005,000-square-foot cross-dock building and an 184,000 single-load facility, both of which can be divided to accommodate two tenants, according to the firm.
The nonprofit Nine Line Foundation also submitted plans last year to build an aquaponics greenhouse training facility for homeless veterans on the adjacent parcel.
In addition, StudioSavannah, LLC recently purchased a site on Fort Argyle about six miles west at Highgate Boulevard for $1.8 million where a film production complex is proposed to go. That development is located in New Hampstead, a 4,300-acre planned development that is expected to add thousands of single-family and multi-family housing units to the area.
MPC staff supporting rezoning with conditions
While recommending approval, MPC staff reported that existing large tracts of undeveloped land make it likely that the redevelopment of the tracts would be of a scale that is not typical in this area. The proposed transition of three zoning classifications is a way to mitigate the uses so as not to have the Community Business section transition right into Light Industrial, according to the staff report. Instead, there would be a Light Industrial Transition area in the middle of the parcel to provide a gap from the heavier industrial uses.
Staff’s recommendation for approval includes the condition that if the rezoning request is approved, the MPC would require a master plan, prior to a site development plan, to come back for approval. Staff is also recommending that a 100-foot densely landscaped buffer be required around the residentially zoned properties that the site encompasses on three sides.
The Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission meets at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday at 112 E State St and the meeting is open to the public. The full agenda for the May 24 meeting is available to view. The meetings are open to in-person attendance, but the public may also access the meeting virtually by registering via the meeting’s registration page .
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