At the July 19 meeting, the Augusta Commission heard from residents of the Manchester subdivision in south Augusta who are opposed to a small densely packed neighborhood planned for 4309 Windsor Spring Rd.
Two of the 42 Manchester neighborhood residents present at the meeting spoke on behalf of the group and raised their objections to the development. The commission overwhelmingly voted not to allow the project to move forward.
Robert Cooks, speaking on behalf of B.A. Johnson Construction LLC, told commissioners the plan was to build 28 houses on property that spans 5.52 acres. The finished homes, according to Cooks, would be sold for around $179,000.
Manchester representative Raymond Dick said the homes of Manchester are valued at almost double the value of the proposed homes and that such a neighborhood would have an immediate effect on property values. Dick said residents were concerned the proposed homes would be built with materials other than brick, and the development would also have an adverse effect on traffic.
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“There is only one way in and one way out – that’s on Windsor Spring Road, and you can’t turn left. You can only turn right and make a U-turn, which is dangerous,” Dick said.
Christopher Leslie, another Manchester resident, told the commission that he grew up in Hyde Park, a notoriously poverty stricken area, and that he and his wife worked hard all their lives to be able to live in a house they could never even dreamed of as children.
“I’m certainly not against anyone making a profit; I want Mr. Cooks to make a profit. I just don’t want him to make a profit out of my wallet,” Leslie said.
District 4 Commissioner Alvin Mason took the unusual step of leaving the dais and addressing his colleagues from the podium as a citizen.
“We want growth, but we want smart growth. We want the same things you put out in west Augusta put out in south Augusta. We’re tired. We’re 100% tired of people coming into our communities and dumping what they want into where we live and then going back to where they live and leaving us with it,” Mason said, inciting applause from the gallery.
Cooks, who is a current member of the Augusta Planning Commission, told the body the neighbors were being “NIMBYs” (not in my back yard) and the commission had a duty to follow the Planning Commission’s recommendations.
“The zoning has been met; the development has been vetted. I recused myself, as I am a member of the Planning Commission. I recused myself from making the presentation. I think there is a lack of understanding around this,” Cooks said.
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Not only does Cooks currently sit on the Planning Commission, he is the former director of the Augusta Neighborhood Improvement Corporation, which, during its 20 years of building homes in the Laney Walker area, was repeatedly accused of hiring contractors who used substandard materials in building homes.
When asked for his opinion, city attorney Wayne Brown told commissioners they were not bound to follow the recommendations of the Planning Commission and the buck stopped with them.
In the final vote, only District 2 Commissioner Dennis Williams voted in favor of allowing the development to proceed.
Dick says it should be a lesson for all landowners in Richmond County to pay attention to what is being planned around them and to speak up if necessary.
“If you don’t show up to the game, you can’t play. If you plan to have a stake, you have to invest. That means you have to be organized, you have to show up and be careful with your words,” Dick said.
