Glynn County — The Board of Appeals on Nov. 13 approved a parking-variance request that will allow a former hotel at 150 Venture Drive in Brunswick to be converted into 102 multifamily rental units with 126 parking spaces instead of the 204 spaces cited in the zoning calculation.

Planning and zoning staff presented the request, saying the applicant seeks rezoning from Freeway Commercial to High Residential. Maurice Postal, planning and zoning, told the board the applicant proposed 102 units and requested a parking ratio of 1.2 spaces per unit instead of the 2 spaces-per-unit the HR zoning requires. Postal said the Metropolitan Planning Commission recommended approval contingent on the Board of Commissioners approving the rezoning at a hearing the following week.

Applicant representative Kesho Panduri, the project’s development manager, described the firm’s experience converting underused extended-stay hotels into micro-apartments. He said the project would include about 50 studio apartments and 52 one-bedroom units (average unit size about 400 square feet) and that other conversions typically require roughly 1–1.5 parking spaces per unit. “Most of the properties that we convert tend to have between 1 and 1.5 parking spaces per unit,” Panduri said.

Board members asked how the project compared with previous conversions; Panduri cited a Savannah project with 101 units and 96 parking spaces (about 0.96 spaces per unit) and said the Venture Drive site would have more parking than that project. After brief Q&A and no public opposition, a board member moved to approve the variance and the motion carried by voice vote.

Next steps: the Board of Commissioners will consider the companion rezoning application on the county’s agenda. If the BOC does not approve the rezoning, the BOA’s variance approval would be contingent on that outcome.