The Augusta Planning Commission has recommended approving former Sen. Charles Walker’s proposed South Turpin Hill neighborhood project.
Last month, the Planning Commission tabled a petition by Walker’s company Outlook LLC to rezone 1924 Grand Blvd. from R-1B to R-1C One-family Residential. The vacant, three-acre parcel is the site for The Walker Group’s planned residential development, called Walker Village, which would consist of 14 single-family homes.
During the December meeting, South Turpin Hill residents opposed the request, citing, among other concerns, that the site had historical significance as the location of a Camp Dyer, an Army post for Black soldiers during the Spanish-American War.
In the Planning Commission’s first meeting of 2025 on Monday, planning staff acknowledged that South Turpin’s neighborhood association met with The Walker Group on Dec. 12, to discuss how the development could move forward while honoring the history of the site.
Bill Corder of Blue Water Engineering, speaking to the commissioners on behalf of The Walker Group, reiterated this, noting that The Walker Group agreed to leave space for a historical marker, and confirmed that sidewalks would be put in the development.
Keiyonna Lighten-Solomon, who in December spoke on behalf of the neighborhood association in opposition to the rezoning petition, attended Monday’s meeting as well, this time to express the South Turpin Hill homeowners’ concerns rather than to actively protest the rezoning. She noted that some of those concerns could only be addressed over the course of the development process.
“This is not a matter that we want to postpone the actual application,” said Lighten-Solomon, telling the commissioners that residents of the area would still want to confer with The Walker Group in other meeting, to discuss the development further and decide the specific location of a historical marker. “Because of the [short] timeline of us finding out… that this was going to be a development area, the neighborhood and the members who are concerned about this didn’t have a chance to speak or engage with the actual developers.”
The Planning Commission, per staff’s recommendations, unanimously voted in favor of the request. The Augusta Commission is slated to consider the rezoning during its meeting on Jan. 21.
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
