By Stephen Prudhomme

Smaller cities face the challenge of encouraging business 
development while maintaining a quality of life that brought 
residents to the area in the first place. Frequently, this compels 
local government to make some tough choices as it tries to maintain 
the delicate balance between development and the status quo. Such was 
the case in Pooler earlier this month.
On July 7th, the Pooler City Council approved a request to rezone an 
area on Jimmy Deloach Parkway, near The Farm at Morgan Lakes, from 
residential to light industrial. This paves the way for a 950,000 
square-foot distribution center/warehouse to be built next to the 
residential development.
Then, two weeks later, in a largely unprecedented move, City Council 
voted again on the rezoning, adding conditions for development that 
had been left out during the first vote. With Councilman Bruce Allen 
absent, the remaining council members voted the same: 4-1 in favor of 
the rezoning.
Longtime Councilman Wayne Seay provided one of the majority votes. 
Remarking that he understands the concerns expressed by the residents 
of The Farm and would probably feel the same way if he lived there, 
Seay says he looked at the bigger picture when casting his vote. “We 
need the business, industry and jobs, especially with the way the 
economy’s going,” Seay says. “The majority of people in Pooler wanted 
this. I have to look at how the citizens of Pooler will benefit from 
something and not just one neighborhood.”
Seay adds that the developer, Jerry Wardlaw, did everything “humanly 
possible” to minimize the impact of the warehouse on the neighborhood 
by redesigning the building and putting buffers in to reduce the 
noise. He notes that the warehouse will be some two football fields 
in length away from the nearest home. “That’s a pretty good 
distance,” Seay says.
As to traffic and safety concerns, especially with schoolchildren, 
Seay says people walk down sidewalks with traffic on both sides in 
other parts of the city. “You have traffic wherever you go. You can’t 
help individuals who are being careless.”
City Councilwoman Rebecca Benton also voted to approve the rezoning. 
Echoing Seay’s comments that it’s in the best interests of the city 
of Pooler, she points out that the city’s planning & zoning board 
unanimously approved the rezoning request. Regarding concerns of 
safety, noise and traffic expressed by residents of The Farm, Benton 
says: “Those have been adequately addressed.”
Travis Cowart wasn’t quite as loquacious in his rationale for voting 
for the rezoning. “I  voted on it because I thought it was in the 
best interest for the city of Pooler. That’s all I have to say.”
Councilman Bruce Allen, on the other hand, voted against the 
rezoning proposal. He says he had concerns regarding issues of noise, 
truck traffic and especially safety, adding that residents moved 
there with the idea of having houses nearby and not warehouses. “I 
like to serve the residents of Pooler,” Allen explains. “I don’t 
think the zoning should be changed so you have warehouses right next 
to residential. I wouldn’t want a warehouse next to me.”
Mayor Mike Lamb says he thought the vote was going to be close and 
he might have to provide the deciding vote in the event of a tie. He 
adds he was surprised when the vote went toward the rezoning for a 
second time.
Lamb notes that he’s not in favor of changing zoning from 
residential to light industrial zoning. “The people did not want it 
next to the subdivision,” Lamb says.
Just as he would have voted from the heart, Lamb says the council 
members who voted for the rezoning were probably doing what they 
thought was best for the city of Pooler. “I can’t condemn them for 
that,” Lamb says. “I wouldn’t want to second-guess Council. At least 
we did something to improve it (adding conditions).”