The Augusta-Richmond County Planning Commission voted in its monthly meeting on Monday, April 10 in favor of a proposed wine club along Central Avenue with the aim of attracting Masters clientele.
Jason Jones told the commissioners his plan to open a wine club at the office building located at 1918 Central Ave., drawing from his nine years’ experience as a sommelier for Augusta National Golf Club to attract elite clients for wine tasting and sales. To do this, he has requested to rezone the property from B1 Neighborhood Business to B2 General Business.
“This is going to be something very special, very unique,” said Jones about the facility’s business model, which would entail tastings of fine wines by appointment. “It’s going to bring [sponsors such as] Rolex, AT&T, UPS, to this area, to this building, to taste with me, whom they’ve tasted with many times for their wine consumption during the Masters.”
To clarify the wine tasting aspect of the enterprise for the commissioners, Jones compared it sampling a caterer’s menu while planning a wedding reception.
“You’ll give me a price point, you’ll tell me how many people are coming to your wedding, I’ll prop up a tasting for you,” he said.
Commissioner George McKnight raised the concern of whether the club’s operation would overwhelm parking availability in the area. Jones insisted that, as wine tastings would be by appointment, with companies sending individual representatives, the wine club would not be a hospitality venue, would not host large groups and would not be used for social alcohol consumption, and that spitting out the samples would be encouraged per common wine tasting etiquette.
Jones also said that if the strict appointment business model was not successful after six months, he may begin operating at regular business hours to be available for wine sales via foot traffic.
The Planning Commission ultimately voted unanimously in favor of Jones’ request. The commissioners were also unanimous in their vote to recommend approving a request by Charles Dunstan to rezone 3632 Wheeler Road from Neighborhood to General Business, for the development of a Valvoline oil change facility.
The board nearly unanimously rejected a petition by Hull Barnett PC law firm on behalf of Highway 56 Investors to rezone a seven-acre parcel at 2522 Mike Padgett Highway. from Agricultural and R-1C One-family Residential to LI Light Industrial.
Thomas Whiddon, an associate attorney with the firm, told commissioners that Highway 56 had originally intended to use the property for freight parking, but has since decided to sell it along with adjacent property to its south currently zoned LI, and sought the rezoning to for make the properties uniform.
Per the recommendation of the planning staff to deny, all of the commissioners voted against the request, save for Vice Chair Jeffrey Pooser, who abstained.
A petition by Bo Slaughter on behalf of Jeb Boggus to rezone 43 acres along Mike Padgett Highway to develop a mobile home park had been withdrawn without prejudice.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
