Augusta Christian Schools is planning to expand its Baston Road campus, and is seeking a rezoning to allow for it.
Property owner Baston Village LLC and Augusta Christian have applied to rezone 316 Baston Road from Special zoning (S-1) and Single-family Residential (R-3) to S-1 alone. The parcel, just under five acres, is located across the street from the school’s main campus at 313 Baston Road, and is bordered to its south by a row of residential homes along Revere Place.
Currently the school manages between two locations: its primary campus on Baston Road, where it has been located since 1978, for students in second through 12th grade; and its kindergarten through first grade campus at 470 Furys Ferry Road, acquired by the school in 2005, according to property records.
The kindergarten school has roughly 90 students enrolled, about 16% of Augusta Christian’s total student population according to the narrative accompanying the rezoning application. The Baston Road location has more than 500 students.
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Amid the challenges of managing these two locations, the school is opting to develop a new two-story elementary school building on the 316 Baston property, between 42,000 and 55,000 square feet. The school will also include a second, 8,000-square foot multipurpose gym building, some 184 parking spaces, a “modest playground” area and a detention pond.
The narrative also states that the Augusta Christian has conferred with Columbia County’s traffic department to discuss providing a more efficient means of stacking vehicles at the campuses.
The document mentions the possibility of the school selling its Furys Ferry property and leasing it back while the proposed Baston Road building is under construction. The project would be the latest phase in an overarching growth and management plan, making way for future development projects with the completion of its current main campus building in 2020.
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The Columbia County Planning Commission is slated to consider Augusta Christian’s rezoning request in its meeting on April 17.
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
