A local industry is expanding and bringing more of its capacity to Liberty County, though residents living nearby expressed their concerns and some voiced opposition.

County commissioners approved the rezoning of 88 acres off Highway 17 and Oak Creek Road from A-1 and AR-1 to light industrial, allowing SNF to put warehouses on the property. The concept plan calls for five warehouses to store material made at its Riceboro plant and an administrative office, meaning there will be several new jobs. The planned warehouses will free up space at the Riceboro campus for expanded direction, Liberty Consolidated Planning Commission executive director Jeff Ricketson said.

As part of the rezoning, there will be a 75-foot vegetated buffer along Oak Creek and Highway 17 and there will be no direct access to the warehouses from Oak Creek. A traffic study also will be required and SNF must conduct a sound study and dampen any sound coming from the warehouses.

Marcus Sack, the project engineer representing SNF, said the company is proposing to put in a left-turn lane and a deceleration lane. He also acknowledged they wanted to put in a 50-foot buffer but increased after residents spoke at the LCPC meeting.

Sack added they may rearrange the site so the buildings block the sound and will look at putting in lighting that shines downward on the buildings.

“There are a lot of other things we can do to protect the neighbors and do the right thing,” he said.

Ricketson said the comprehensive plan designates the property on the southeastern end of the tract as low density residential. The land closer to Highway 17 is in a mixed use corridor, and industrial is a secondary use in that zone.

Currently, SNF stores the Polyacrylamide power in warehouses at its Riceboro facility and also in warehouse space it rents in Savannah. Polyacrylamide is used in municipal water systems and is used to treat wastewater.

Sack addressed concerns over what will be stored at the warehouse, noting the majority of their hazardous material comes in on rail.

“Most of it comes in bulk and couldn’t be stored in the warehouse,” he said.

Some residents, though, asked commissioners to deny the rezoning request. Joseph Cook, who disagreed with the LCPC’s finding that it was not spot zoning, said a 75-foot buffer isn’t enough.

“(It) equates to a fourlane road with no median,” he said. “Midway Industrial Park is 1.9 miles up the road - put it there.”

Cook further urged that SNF not be allowed to withdraw water from the aquifer for the warehouse site and asked about potential groundwater contamination from runoff. Cook also raised issue with a nearby property that was rezoned industrial.

“Just because you do something wrong the first time means you get a second chance at it. Daybreak was in before it was rezoned,” he said. “We don’t want it. In closing, don’t do to me what you would not have happen to you.”

Sack said the warehouses will be using very little water, and the City of Riceboro will be supplying water and sewer to the site.

Steve Houston, who also lives near the tract, said he too was opposed to the rezoning and asked if a sound proof fence can be installed. Sack replied the tree buffer will help to block some of the sound. They also will use computer modeling to see how much noise the site will generate and see what can be done to lessen the noise from it.

“We agreed to a noise study and when the noise study is done, whatever suggestions it makes, we would take and implement on site to attenuate any noise on site,” Sack said.

Olin Garbeth said he conducted his own traffic survey and counted 136 trucks and 180 cars on that stretch of Highway 17 during rush hour.

“That’s a lot of traffic,” he said.

Garbeth also pointed out that many animals, such as hogs and deer, have fled that tract when its trees were cut down previously.

“When they do a clear cut, we get hogs all over the place,” he said. “You’re taking a habitat from animals. Please vote no. I’m asking from the bottom of my heart.”

Sack said the traffic burden would be much greater if the land was turned into single-family residential homes, as it could become under the previous zoning. With the off-site warehouse in Savannah, there are trucks already on the road from SNF, though they will perform a traffic impact analysis.

“Every bit of product that is made in Riceboro is getting trucked already. So the traffic impact is minimal,” he said.

Commissioners also stipulated that no hazardous materials be stored on the site. Ricketson added if the need ever rose to store hazardous material, they would have to come back through LCPC with another application.

Since the property is on what is considered one of the county’s gateways, SNF will have to return before the commissioners with a site plan for approval. That will include the buffers, the lighting and the entrances and exits from the property.