The Augusta Commission took no action Tuesday on a zoning request that would have allowed an apartment complex to be built on Skinner Road behind the Washington Road Chick-fil-A.
Commissioners also denied a rezoning request that would have allowed a town home development on Dennis Road in west Augusta.
Residents on Skinner Road and neighborhoods in the vicinity objected to Yagya Nidhi Puri’s zoning request that would have paved the way for construction of six apartment units on .77 acres on Skinner Road. The Augusta Planning Commission had approved the rezoning.
MORE: Augusta Commission Denies Rezoning Request for Personal-Care Home
Puri had initially proposed building 16 apartments but reduced the number to 12 and then to six after meeting with residents.
Commissioner Sean Frantom, who represents District 7 which encompasses Skinner Road, spoke against the rezoning, saying that almost everybody living in the area was against it.
Sarah Skinner, a third generation Skinner Road resident who represented the neighborhood, also spoke against the rezoning. She contended the apartments with 17 parking spaces would create more traffic, which is already heavy around Chick-fil-A, and would destroy the neighborhood’s many great qualities. Forty residents signed a petition against the rezoning.
[adrotate banner=”31″]
Commissioner Catherine McKnight made a motion to deny the request. Commissioner Ben Hasan made a substitute motion to approve the rezoning, but his motion failed 5-4 with McKnight, Frantom and commissioners John Clarke and Brandon Garrett voting no. Hasan and commissioners Jordan Johnson, Francine Scott, Bobby Williams and Dennis Williams voted yes. Commissioner Sammie Sias was out of the room.
McKnight’s motion to deny also failed with she, Clarke, Frantom and Garrett voting for it and Hasan, Johnson, Scott, Bobby Williams and Dennis Williams voting against it.
Because neither motion received six votes, no action was taken. However, Augusta’s Planning and Development Department Director Rob Sherman said the applicant may petition the commission clerk to place the item back on the agenda for further consideration if he wishes to do so.
The Dennis Road rezoning request would have allowed a development of 22 town homes, a scaled-down revision of a 2019 plan to construct 40 apartments that was denied for the same reason Tuesday’s request was denied – the condition of Dennis Road.
Frantom, who made a motion to deny the request, said it was a dangerous road, especially when Columbia County buses are traveling on it.
“It’s liked a single-car road,” he said. “I’m very concerned about adding additional traffic on Dennis Road.
[adrotate banner=”19″]
The road, which requires a $7 million fix, is on the list of projects to be improved with TIA money, Frantom said.
Resident Wesley Brown, speaking against the town homes for surrounding neighborhoods, presented a petition with 135 signatures. Key issues were the density of the town homes and the road.
James Trotter, speaking for Purko Builders Inc, said the density of the 22 townhomes was under five-and-a-half units per acre, less than the density of an existing townhome development in the area.
Hasan asked why the city’s traffic engineer signed off on the project if it wasn’t okay.
MORE: Columbia County Commission Denies Rezoning Request
Augusta Engineering Department Director Hameed Malik said the proposed 22 units would not add to existing issues. He added that traffic has to pull over to the side of the road when buses were on the road.
Hasan made a substitute motion to approve the request, but it failed on a 7-3 vote with only he, Scott and Dennis Williams voting for it.
Frantom’s original motion to deny the zoning request passed with only Hasan and Scott voting against it.
Sylvia Cooper is a Correspondent with The Augusta Press. Reach her at sylvia.cooper@theaugustapress.com.
[adrotate banner=”45″]
