Correction note: an earlier version of this story reported that Planning Commissioners Trisha Mallis voted against postponing the subject zoning request, and that Commissioners George Lock McKnight and Stephanie Clarke abstained from voting. Regarding the agenda item that is the subject of this article, this is inaccurate. These responses from Mallis, McKnight and Clarke were to another item on the same meeting’s agenda. The error has been corrected.
The Augusta Planning Commission, during its final regular meeting of 2024 on Monday, elected to table a request by former Georgia Senator Charles Walker to rezone a property in the South Turpin Hill district for a proposed residential development.
Walker, via his company Outlook LLC, petitioned to rezone a vacant 3.13-acre parcel at 1924 Grand Blvd. from R-1B to R-1C One-family Residential, to allow for the construction of a neighborhood of 14 detached homes called Walker Village.
Bill Corder of Bluewater Engineering, speaking on behalf of Outlook and Walker, who was not present at the meeting, told the planning commissioners that the applicant was seeking a “slight increase in density” for the homes.
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Opposing the rezoning request on behalf of the South Turpin Hill neighborhood’s community association, Keiyonna Lighten-Solomon cited drainage issues on the property and asked if the community would be able to offer input with the developers. She mentioned that the neighborhood is currently engaged in a three-year grant process, stewarded by Augusta Housing and Community Development, to facilitate more collaborative planning in the area.
“If we’re in development like this, we would want to have developer actually engage with us and incorporate our concerns, or at least be able to be open to a discussion about how the development is going to impact the community’s future,” said Lighten-Solomon, telling commissioners that residents attempted to contact Outlook on two occasions, including once on Nov. 18, but none of the calls or emails were returned.
She also noted the area is the site of Camp Dyer, an Army post for Black troops established during the Spanish-American War.
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Another South Turpin Hill homeowner, Belle Clark, echoed Lighten-Solomon’s concerns about the possible historical significance of the site, saying that the neighborhood recently learned that the site was also the location of a camp for Black Confederate troops.
“That land should be set aside as a memorial. The city should take a hard look at it,” Clark said. “Go back and research the history before you build these houses.”
Corder noted to the commissioners that Bluewater had designed a stormwater detention pond to address drainage. Regarding any historical significance of the location, he acknowledged that the lot was formerly the site of A.C. Griggs School, which was demolished in 2012. The city sold the property to Walker for $15,000 in 2021.
“I assume that before the city sold it, they would have looked into any historic reasons why they might have wanted to keep it,” said Corder. “It’s already zoned for residential development… Today, we’re looking for zoning to make the lot sizes a little bit smaller.”
Commissioner Debra Spencer motioned to postpone the rezoning request until January’s meeting, to allow the developer and South Turpin Hill residents to confer address concerns. Corder accepted this suggestion, stressing that Walker aims to improve the area.
“I’m not sure that [Outlook LLC’s] open to preserving it in perpetuity, unless someone wanted to purchase the property back,” he said. “But if the commission feels like the best thing to do is to table it to another meeting, then I wouldn’t be opposed to that.”
The commissioners voted in favor of postponing the request unanimously.
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
