By Barbara Augsdorfer, Editor for the Herald
A charette has been scheduled for Oct. 9 at the New Ebenezer Retreat Center, specifically for the 269 property owners near a historic piece of property and a proposed development. The charette is set for 6-8 p.m. New Ebenezer Retreat Center is located at 2887 Ebenezer Road, Rincon.
A charette is an intense, collaborative session where a group of stakeholders come together to address a design or planning issue.
Carson Co. had asked to rezone approximately 25.77 acres at 1369 Ebenezer Rd., from AR-1 to PDMU to allow for mixed-used development.
The property is bordered by the traffic circle at Long Bridge Road and Ebenezer Road – just passed Ebenezer Elementary and Middle schools, and about three miles from the end of GA 275 and Jerusalem Lutheran Church, the oldest continuous worshiping Lutheran Church in America, established in 1733; The Salzburger Society museum and related buildings; and the property next to the church cemetery containing the unmarked graves of the formerly enslaved people who drowned trying to cross Ebenezer Creek in December 1864.
Carson Co. had proposed to build single-family homes and townhomes, along with possibly a gas station and small retail businesses permitted in B-1 zoning on the nearly 26 acres of land.
A petition against the proposed development was circulating on Facebook and as of last week had just over 500 signatures.
The County Commissioners are in the process of developing an overlay district for the area, and according to County Commissioner Tim Callanan, the most important part of the process is public input. That is the goal of the Oct. 9 charette.
Charettes are common in community development. The one for New Ebenezer will provide a way for participants to determine the standards for a historic overlay district, which imposes additional zoning requirements to existing ones.
“(In a historic overlay district) there's got to be some extra architectural requirements, or something to that effect, if it's going to be new construction that is sensitive to the area itself,” Callanan explained. “We can basically take some concepts from previous historical overlay districts that have been created, and then we're doing a meeting next month with the property owners out here to just get some ideas.
“It's not a presentation from the county. It is feedback from the property owners to hear what it is exactly they want to see for the future of that particular area. So that's what a historic overlay is,” Callanan said.
Any new construction in a historic overlay district will have to conform to zoning requirements in addition to any conditions in the overlay ordinance. Callanan expressed confidence that the historic overlay requirements could be completed by November, be discussed in a workshop and perfected before being presented to the commissioners for their approval, possibly by January.
Callanan added that although the meeting is open to the public, only the 269 residents directly affected in the area will be allowed to participate in the group discussions and submit feedback.
“We know that there is countywide interest in this, but we must prioritize the property owners that are affected, that (own) homes within this district, so that they're the ones providing the feedback,” Callanan said. “And it's not maybe getting drowned out by interests who don't necessarily live there.”
The public will have its chance to voice their opinions about the historic overlay district when the proposed ordinances are presented to the county commissioners.
“The public participation that follows the initial draft are the public hearings at the commissioners meeting(s). Everyone can participate and share their ideas,” said Steve Candler, Effingham County development services director.
