By Eric Curl
Oct. 11, 2022 update – The Metropolitan Planning Commission voted 5-4 to deny the rezoning request, after multiple residents spoke out against the change. The MPC’s recommendation will next be considered by the Savannah City Council, which has the ultimate say over whether the property will be rezoned.
Oct. 10, 2022 – The Savannah Economic Development Authority wants to rezone a bulk of a more than 600-acre site about 15 miles west of downtown Savannah, in order to allow for more intense manufacturing operations at the planned industrial park.
Meanwhile, the first announced business has submitted a site plan to locate at the park, although the proposed electronic waste recovery complex is not dependent on the requested zoning change, according to SEDA officials.
SEDA’s petition going before the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) on Tuesday would rezone about 513 acres from Light Industrial to Heavy Industrial at the site located about 2 miles from Interstate 16 and nine miles west of Interstate 95.
The rezoning would allow for four additional uses, but SEDA is excluding three of those uses, while seeking approval of Intensive Manufacturing.
The rezoning request was previously brought before the MPC in May, but consideration was postponed in order for SEDA to reach out to surrounding communities. At least four residents submitted letters of opposition, ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, with concerns related to increased industrial traffic, environmental impacts, health issues and decreased property values.
The development site, known as the Savannah Chatham Manufacturing Center, abuts residential properties to the east and a 100-foot buffer and 8-foot fence is proposed along that portion of the site. MPC staff is recommending approval of the rezoning, with the condition that a master plan be brought back to the commission for approval.
The rezoning petition comes about a month after Igneo Technologies submitted a site plan for an electronic waste recovery complex on a portion of the site. The recovery complex was originally expected to be built at the SeaPoint Industrial Terminal Complex in Savannah, as announced by Gov. Brian Kemp announced last year. The Sea Point site was no longer available for the project; however, so SEDA and Igneo partnered together to relocate the complex to the manufacturing center, according to SEDA President and CEO Trip Tollison. Igneo’s proposed facility, which is the first announced business coming to the manufacturing center, is not dependent on the zoning change, Tollison said Monday.
Touted by city and Chatham officials as a tool for investment and job creation, funding for the industrial park was approved by voters as part of a sales tax referendum in 2013. SEDA used $3 million of the sales-tax funds, along with $2 million of its own funds, to purchase the site for more than $5 million in 2016. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in 2020. The initial phases of the development have been completed, including construction of the primary spine road, Four Lakes Boulevard, stormwater detention and wetland mitigation.
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