With second home buyers out of the market right now, many owners of properties in our second home/resort market are opting to cover their costs by renting. Of course, many people own homes and condos here as investment, taking advantage of our area as a vacation destination. But for a lot of other people, they simply owned single family homes for their own use, to enjoy on sporadic weekends or for entire seasons and are entering the rental market for the first time.
Well, the members of the Golden Isles Association of REALTORS® recently were sent a friendly reminder from the Glynn County Community Development in regards to the ‘proliferation of single family vacation rental properties‘ and I suppose it’s with good reason. They cite that:
These are being advertised as having a capacity in terms of the number of guests accommodated, but that number may exceed the capacity established by zoning limitations.
In vacation rental speak, we look at how many people can sleep in a given property. Say you have a three bedroom house in which you have a king size bed in one bedroom, a queen in another, and one twin bed and a bunkbed in the 3rd. You also have a full-size pull out sofa in the family room. That house might be advertised as ‘sleeping 9′ and three couples with their combined three children sign on to rent the house for two weeks. The problem here is that the house is zoned residential and is meant to be occupied by one family only. In most cases, a three bedroom house would be zoned for a family of five or six: parents in one room, up to two children of the same sex in the next room and up to two children of the same sex in the other. By three non-related families occupying this house, they are violating the local zoning ordinance.
Dwelling units are defined as being intended for occupancy by one family. A family is defined as including any number of people who are related by blood or marriage, but limits to five (5) the number of people who are not related by blood or marriage. To clarify, if three people who are related by blood or marriage occupy a dwelling unit together with three other people who are related by blood or marriage, but the two groups are not related to each other, the definition of family is NOT met and the situation constitutes a violation of the Zoning Ordinance.
So if you’re a property owner in this or any vacation market, keep in mind that you many be violating local zoning ordinances. Don’t say you haven’t been warned! For more information, contact the Glynn County Community Development office at 912-554-7428.
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As with any community, change is always in the air. I’ve noticed changes occur most frequently in the restaurant business… so this post should bear no surprises when you see that it mostly has to do with places to eat…
Noticed the other day that the two empty store fronts next to Target was being combined into one space. They had formerly been home to a mattress store and a discount shoe store. I did a general Twitter call out to see if anyone knew what was going in and a friend said she thought it was a buffalo wing place. Seems my friend might be right. I just did a search of the Buffalo Wild Wings site and while Brunswick didn’t show up on their ‘Coming Soon’ section, I did find two job openings for a Buffalo Wild Wings ‘opening soon in Brunswick’ on Indeed.com, a job search site. We’re always excited when there’s a new place to eat around here!
More on the food front, Pranzos has taken up the spot in the small retail center along Frederica by the Shops at Sea Island, behind Oglethorpe Bank at 44 Midway. It had been home to Frankie G’s, which started out with some promise for me but ended up being fairly inconsistent in their quality. Some other restaurant went in and I can’t even recall the name – all I know is that it didn’t last very long. So now, Pranzos has taken over that location. I’m assuming they are expanding and haven’t closed their downtown Brunswick location which I really like. But the one on the Island is much closer to home!
They’ve torn down the facade of the old Gisco Seafood building which was most recently the home of Southern Soul Barbecue which burned down at the end of March (See post). Not sure what they’re doing with the place but I find it sad that the bit of character that old building brought to the ‘new’ traffic circle is gone. I’m sure whatever the owners build on that spot will never have the campy charm that the old seafood shack turned into a bbq joint did.
Down in the Village, I’ve noticed the empty space where Subway used to be now has a sign saying that ‘John’s Pizza’ was coming. Don’t know when… and don’t know who this John is. Subway, by the way, moved into their new digs on Mallery sometime earlier this year or at the end of last year… under Rafter’s. The space had been empty ever since. I’m particularly intrigued as it’s in the building next to the one my office is in… so any decent lunch place in walking distance is always welcome!
So aside from my on-going gripes about the new entrance to the Island with the psuedo-traffic circle – which I’ve decided is more of a jug-handle turn (anyone from New Jersey out there?) than a circle… and the fact that no one seems to pay any attention to the yield sign as they merge from King’s Way… that’s all for now!
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by Midi on April 16, 2010
On the eve of the Annual Blessing of the Fleet in Darien, GA, several shrimp boats caught fire late last night. According to my sources, officials are looking into two theories on how this fire may have started. One theory is that someone may have left a generator on overnight which leaked gas and started the fire which spread to neighboring boats. The other theory is that someone was welding on a boat and a spark may have landed on combustible material and smoldered for awhile before catching into a full blaze. I don’t believe that arson is suspected though I’m sure they are investigating all avenues.
Here’s a photo sent by a friend of the fire last night…
The Darien Annual Blessing of the Fleet is a huge event for this small community located just north of the Glynn County line in McIntosh County and part of what is considered the Golden Isles. It’s a full weekend event beginning today (Friday) with vendor booths of all types, helicopter rides, concerts, food, and a parade on Saturday morning. Basically, it’s a big ol’ weekend party to celebrate their shrimp boat fleet…
Does anyone think it’s odd that two of my last four posts have to do with things burning down??? Well, the other two posts had to do with taxes… hmmm.
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