Augusta commissioners Tuesday denied a request to rezone property in west Augusta that would have allowed a large apartment complex to be developed in a primarily single-family residential neighborhood.
Commissioners voted 6-4 on Commissioner John Clarke’s motion to deny Ivey Development, on behalf of John Ray, to rezone 18.86 acres on Pleasant Home Road from single family residential to multiple family to allow 191 apartments to be built there.
Mayor Pro Tem Bobby Williams and commissioners Dennis Williams, Ben Hasan and Francine Scott voted against denying the request. The other commissioners voted for denial.
The Augusta-Richmond County Planning Commission had voted the request down earlier on a 4-6 vote, with six members voting against it, so it came before commissioners Tuesday as a no-action item.
Some 49 objectors attended to meeting to show their disapproval of the rezoning.
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Spokesman Randy Sasser implored the board to support the neighborhood of single-family homes and called the proposed development “a bad idea.”
“This is the wrong location for this plan,” he said. “This is our plea today to preserve this much sought-after single-family home area in Augusta. In the ‘Envision Augusta Augusta Comprehensive Plan,’ Page 204, Item 1, Top of the list, it states “Maintain, low density, single-family residential development in areas where it is the predominant land use.’”
Sasser asked commissioners not to be swayed by the lure of “easy money” and the developer’s proposal of sharing the costs of a traffic light at Ravenwood Subdivision to help control traffic.
Sasser said the neighborhood had been zoned single family since the 1980s, and if the rezoning was approved and the apartments built, only a handful of people would win and thousands of homeowners would lose.
And another traffic light on the Pleasant Home Road where 85 traffic accidents have occurred in the past 24 months would only cause traffic to back up more during peak hours.
Clarke said he’d been living in the area off Pleasant Home Road since 1977 and had seen the traffic problems increase on the road three-mile long road that is used by as many as 24 neighborhoods.
“So, I wholeheartedly ask everyone on the dais to vote against this rezoning,” he said.
Commissioners also denied a rezoning request that would have allowed for 15 townhomes to be built on 4.13 acres on Harding Road.
Spokeswoman Norma Lee, who lives on Harding Road, said putting 15 homes on four-and-a-half acres next to a one-family home is “like bringing the city into the country.”
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Commissioner Hasan asked Planning Commission Director Rob Sherman whether almost four homes per acre for a townhome development was usual or unusual.
Sherman said it was not unusual for that kind of development, which was the least restrictive of the single-family developments. He also noted that there is commercial property nearby.
Bobby Williams’ motion to approve the rezoning failed with he and commissioners Dennis Williams, Catherine McKnight and Sean Frantom voting for it.
The city’s 2022 city budget would have been among important agenda items that were approved by consent with no discussion except that Administrator Odie Donald wanted to explain some changes to commissioners for the record.
The cost of Augusta government operations next year is budgeted at $999.6 million, an 8.64 increase over this year’s $920 million budget.
The general fund portion, which supports everyday government operations, will increase to $177.6 million, a 5.44 percent, or $8 million increase over this year’s $168 million spending plan.
The increase includes a planned use of $39 million from SPLOST 8 money and a $41 million infusion of cash from the American Rescue Plan, some $4.5 million of which made it possible to balance the 2022 budget, according to Donald’s budget document.
The budget includes $3.2 million for the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office to help hire and retain deputies and $600,000 for body cameras for the Marshal’s Office.
Some $2 million will go to realign salaries in the Engineering Department and Utilities Department.
The budget was approved 9-0 with Frantom out of the room.
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Items that were approved in a single motion to consent with no public commission discussion include:
– A non-discrimination ordinance that allows citizens to file complaints about businesses or entities they believe had discriminated against them. The person filing must pay a $50 fee. The complaint goes to a hearing officer who may dismiss the complaint or refer it to a mediator for non-binding mediation. If the hearing officer finds that a violation occurred, the officer may apply a civil penalty of $500 for the first violation and $1,000 for any subsequent violation.
The non-discrimination ordinance does not apply to the Augusta government.
– An Intergovernmental Service Agreement between the Augusta-Richmond County Coliseum Authority and the city of Augusta. The agreement is for $45,000 to engage a consultant to provide a comprehensive plan for allocating federal funds for the area.
– A proposal Commissioner Francine Scott to reappoint the members of the Coliseum Authority as the terms of all have expired.
– Hiring a lobbyist to represent the city of Augusta at the next session of the Georgia General Assembly.
– Approved rezoning four acres of land owned by First Baptist Church to allow for the building of an upscale retirement community.
The church plans to sell the land to Second Fifty Communities, headquartered out of Charleston, who will own and operate the facility.
Sylvia Cooper is a Columnist with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com
