Several housing development projects were on the docket Monday afternoon for the Augusta Planning Commission’s October meeting.
The Florida development company Hillpointe requested to remove a condition from the December 2023 rezoning of 210 Reservation Way from B-2 General Business to R3-C Multiple family Residential. The developer plans to build an apartment complex comprised of 480 dwelling units over several buildings.
The company had been negotiating with the owner of a hotel adjacent to the property about obtaining an egress easement for the proposed complex’s emergency access point, which was one of the rezoning conditions. Then the owner put the hotel property up for sale, said Marcus Wiedower, vice president of external affairs with Hillpointe.
“When we went to execute the easement to the hotel, [the owner] made other plans for the sale of property and refused, so we had to go back to the drawing board,” said Wiedower to the commissioners.
Richmond County traffic engineer John Ussery explained to the Planning Commission that a traffic study had been submitted to the property, which is off Gordon Highway.
The study recommended a right turn deceleration lane into the road that feeds into the subject property, Ussery stated, but that Georgia would determine whether and what improvements could be made, as Gordon Highway is a state route.
Ussery went on to say that the state is currently reviewing the traffic study.
“They’re not against the idea of a traffic signal at this location,” Ussery said. “But they haven’t approved that yet.”
Ussery also noted that the city would not be responsible for installing the traffic signal were the state to approve or require it, though it would be charged with maintaining it; and that the state and the developer would negotiate which between them would fund and design the signal.
Commissioner George McKnight put forth a motion to approve the request to remove the easement condition, with the additional condition that the petitioner cover the cost of a traffic signal should the state recommend its installation.
City attorney Samuel Meller, however, advised that since the traffic study is still under review, no new facts are on record to justify imposing such a condition. The Augusta Planning staff also observed that the Augusta Fire Department and the Traffic Engineering Department have approved removing the easement requirement.
Ultimately, the Planning Commission voted to recommend approval of the request, with all present commissioners voting in favor except Commissioners McKnight and Donnie Smith.
Gordon Group LLC petitioned to rezone 30 acres at 4200 Valencia Lane from R-1D One-family Residential and R-3C Multiple-family Residential to R-1E, to make way to build the latest phase of the Village at Goshen subdivision. The developer plans to build 77 new townhome units.
Phase III of the neighborhood and its rezoning petition was not without opposition. Patricia Jeter expressed concern about the potential affect of the development on wetlands in the area, and Judy Whitaker, a resident of the Village who lives near the subject site, decried the possibility of the construction exacerbating flooding in the area.
Linda Williams, another nearby resident, echoed the sentiments, and also raising traffic issues, saying she was “concerned that maybe we’re trying to put too much into that small space.”
Planning staff recommended approval of the request with conditions, among them being that the developer place a 25-foot buffer from the delineated wetland, and that “no structure shall be located within the wetlands, to avoid any negative impacts to this environmentally sensitive area.”
All the planning commissioners in attendance voted in favor the rezoning, save for Commissioner Trisha Mallis, who opposed, and Commissioner Smith, who abstained.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
