A mixed residential neighborhood in south Augusta may be on the horizon, as a developer is seeking special exception from the county to build on approximately 60 acres of vacant land.
Widespread Properties Land Acquisitions LLC, along with property owner Dennis E Rich, have petitioned Richmond County for a special exception at 2359 Old McDuffie Road, a tract adjacent to I-520.
The land is already zoned R-1A One-family Residential. The exception would allow the construction of a subdivision comprised of 67 two-story townhome units, and 74 detached home units, at about 2.3 units per acre. The development would include a public road with two neighborhood entrances and exits, a sidewalk, a mail kiosk and two stormwater detention ponds, with 47% of the land being used as open space.
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The accompanying narrative document notes that some 23 acres of the property is inaccessible without impact wetlands, and that development is also hamstrung by a gravesite on the land.
Cranston Engineering, along with property owner Marbert Enterprises, has requested a change of conditions at 821 Stevens Creek Road to build a new office building.
In 2003, the two-acre parcel was rezoned from R-1A to B-1 General Business, under a condition that there be no traffic access to adjacent Mayo Road. In 2004, the county approved a request to remove this condition, instead requiring that property development be limited to medical professional uses, and that there be only one curb cut onto Mayo Road.
In June of 2022, the county would approve another request to remove the conditions applied in 2004, in turn imposing six new conditions, three of them being that there be no vehicle access to Stevens Creek Road, one curb cut be allowed along Mayo Road, and that the development conform to the plan filed at the time.
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With the land still undeveloped, the latest request seeks to remove those three conditions, allowing for the construction of a two-story building of more than 11,000 total square feet.
The Augusta Planning Commission is scheduled to consider both items during its meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 4.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
