The main point is that Rincon, in 2015, was voted the best small community for young families and we are rapidly on the way to becoming Garden City ...Wade Britt, president of Silverwood Plantation Homeowners Association
SPRINGFIELD — A group of homeowners on the south edge of Rincon aren’t rolling out the red carpet for a potential new neighbor.
Nearly two dozen people from the Silverwood, Mill Creek and Ridgecrest area asked the Effingham County Planning Board to deny a request to rezone 741.6 acres from R-1 and AR-1 to I-1 so that it can be used for a commercial warehouse complex. The request was made by Kern & Co. on behalf of Old Pines LLC at the Effingham County Administrative Complex.
“We were flatly caught off guard,” said Wade Britt, president of the Silverwood Plantation Homeowners Association.
Britt rejected a claim by a Kern & Co. official that he had spoken with nearby residents about the warehouse plans.
“We find out about it when see the sign (about Monday’s meeting) go up (on Chimney Road,” Britt said.
Britt stated a several reasons to deny the rezoning request, including noise and increased traffic. He presented the board a letter from Silverwood residents with more details about their concerns.
“The main point is that Rincon, in 2015, was voted the best small community for young families and (now) we are rapidly on the way to becoming Garden City ...”
That remark drew applause and cheers from the audience.
Only about half of the tract is usable because of the presence of wetlands. It would be accessible only on the Old Augusta Road side in attempt to eliminate heavy truck traffic on Chimney Road..
Planning Board staffers recommended approval of the request — with some stipulations — but the board rejected it unanimously. It will now be considered by the Effingham County Board of Commissioners, which has the final say-so on the matter.
That public hearing is set Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. at the administrative complex.
