The Atlanta Gas Light Company (AGL) is gearing up to upgrade its tap station in south Augusta, but after Monday’s Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) meeting, it will have to wait another month for a variance that could streamline the project.
The company petitioned for a variance from the city’s Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance for property at 1605 Doug Barnard Pkwy., the site of the company’s tap station and lay down yard. The variance would allow AGL to place 10 cubic yards of fill dirt into a flood hazard area.
Robert Dunn, a representative of Atlanta Gas Light, explained to board members that the company is improving the current infrastructure at the site, which he noted had not been updated since 1994. The improvements would include new piping, valves, actuators and measurement instruments.
To address integrity issues at the site, Dunn said, AGL proposes to use outside fill material—stone and grade aggregate base—to add approximately six inches of height to the flood plain.
According to Dunn, between the site’s features and the current pipeline route, the equipment cannot be moved to another location outside the flood plain, while also maintaining operations and meeting compliance schedules.
Due to that current location and pipeline route and the site’s existing features, the equipment is constrained to this location within the floodplain, and it is not possible to move equipment outside of the floor plan. Additionally,
“To protect the integrity of the equipment and to create a safe working area around the equipment, fill must be brought into the to elevate the area,” said Dunn. “Failure to implement the project as proposed would not allow for necessary upgrades to our network… The existing station would maintain its current alignment, which includes multiple buildings and infrastructure currently within the floodplain. New pipeline routing would not be able to occur.”
The Augusta Planning and Development staff had initially recommended denial of the request, but planning director Carla Delaney noted that a section in the Code of Federal Regulation’s (CFR) Criteria for Land Management Use may allow for an area variance, as opposed to the use variance for which AGL petitioned. She then asked the board if staff would be allowed to work with the applicants, to return to the matter in 30 days.
Responding to a question by board member Jerry Brigham, Dunn expressed flexibility regarding the prospect of filling the area on the floodplain with material from another part of the floodplain, but Delaney explained that disturbing any dirt on the existing floodplain would not be recommendable.
Ultimately, the board would vote unanimously to postpone the request. Amid AGL’s scheduled April date to begin the project, Delaney assured Dunn that resolving the matter by the BZA’s March meeting would provide ample time.
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
