A $50 million medical office complex is planned for the former site of Bel Air Elementary School, provided the Columbia County Planning Commission approves a rezoning request.
The request was filed Sept. 9 by The Columbia County Board of Education and seeks to change the zoning from R-2 to C-1, residential to commercial. The approval process for the request starts at the Planning Commission so that the public has an opportunity to offer comments on the zoning change and planned project, according to the Columbia County government website.
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The first public hearing for the 325 North Belair Rd. property is set for the Oct. 7 Planning Commission meeting. The rezoning application is dated August 1 but was not submitted until Sept. 9. The narrative on the application states that traffic-related challenges as well as water and sewer line expansions have already been worked out with Columbia County.
The board of education has not yet revealed any information about the prospective buyer. All that is publicly known is the type of project planned for the property and that RW Allen Construction is helping the undisclosed purchaser behind the scenes.
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David Dekle, chairman of the Board of Education, refused to comment on the matter, citing a confidentiality agreement he signed.
RW Allen is helping the developer “clear some hurdles,” according to District 1 Commission Connie Melear, who is CFO for the construction company.
Melear said she “truly knew nothing” about the project and directed questions to Scott Clark, the president and CEO of RW Allen Construction.
Clark said he knew who the developer was but would reveal no more, citing a confidentiality agreement he signed.
Few details of the pending transaction have been made public, including who the buyer is or the purchase price for the property.
According to Augusta attorney David Hudson, a public vote is required for any board of education to sell property, and any deal that is agreed to without a public meeting isn’t binding until that vote occurs.
Dekle declined to respond to question about whether the Columbia County Board of Education held a public hearing or vote on the property sale.
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“We’re going to be responding to you in a few days. Can you wait?” Dekle said, referencing an open records request filed earlier in the week.
Local governments are required to put real estate they sell out for public sealed bid, according to the Georgia code section 36-37-6. It is unclear, though, if this provision applies to property owned by a board of education.
A source within the Columbia County government said they were “unsure” if the board of education operated with the same rules and stipulations as the county itself with regard to selling land.
“I’ll have to ask the board attorney on clarification, because I don’t know that we are required to do that” said Dekle. “Over the course of two or three years, I don’t recall if there were other interested parties.”
The state of Georgia Department of Education spokesperson also did not know whether the law that governs property sales by municipalities and other county-level government entities also applies to boards of education.
“I’ve talked with our facilities and legal folks on this, and unfortunately, it’s not something we’re able to answer. This isn’t an area GaDOE has issued guidance on; the school district would be responsible for seeking the advice of their legal counsel on interpretation of the law,” said Meghan Frick, director of communications.
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According to Melear, “There is nothing nefarious going on. Just some business that is not public yet.”
She said the information would remain confidential for the moment.
“This is for a reason,” Melear added. “And the developer doesn’t necessarily want his business in the newspaper.”
According to the zoning request, if rezoning occurs in October 2021, site development and construction will begin in mid-2022.
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The proposed development consists of up to 150,000 square feet in as many as two buildings, according to the request. The larger of two buildings is expected to closer to North Belair Road and the smaller building behind it.
The concept plan shows the larger building as a three-story, 90,000 square feet facility, and the rear building is shown as a two-story, 50,000 square feet building. The actual building sizes could vary with the maximum square footage between the two buildings being 150,000 square feet, according to the zoning request.
Tyler Strong is the Business Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at tyler@theaugustapress.com.
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