An expansion to the Hillside Loft Apartments in Harrisburg, and a Parker’s Kitchen along Washington Road, received favorable votes from the Augusta Board of Zoning Appeals during its meeting, Monday afternoon.
Locke McKnight of McKnight Construction requested a variance from the city’s Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance to reduce the required 30-foot front yard setback along 728 Heard Ave. to 25 feet, to allow for the construction of a proposed third building to the Hillside Lofts apartment complex.
Last year, the Augusta Commissioned approved McKnight’s request to rezone the property to Multi-family Residential (R-3C), to make way for the 30-unit expansion of the apartments.
Planning staff recommended denial of the request, though also recommended the condition that the setback be no less than 25 feet, should the board decide to vote in its favor. The board would ultimately vote unanimously to approve the variance.
Parker’s Kitchen’s parent company Drayton-Parker, on behalf of property owner Concord Hill Investments, requested a variance for two parcels, 3054 and 3064 Washington Rd., totaling 1.89 acres, to allow for a rear setback reduction from the required 50 feet to 26.5 feet.
Parker’s Kitchen plans to develop one of its locations there, a 5,175-square foot, 24-hour convenience store with 16 fuel pumps. The reduced setback would make way for a dumpster enclosure at the southwest corner of the property.
The property sits just east of Chick-fil-A, and its main driveway is located at a traffic light. Tiffany Jackson, entitlement manager with Drayton-Parker, noted to the board members that contractual obligations regarding parking and cross access, along with the shape of the parcel, prohibit placement of the dumpster.
“Due to those two restraints, we have pushed the canopy in the building back slightly… where we would just slide it closer to the road,” said Kyle Logue of EMC Engineering, also on behalf of Drayton-Parker. “We’re kind of restricted there on access to Chick-fil-A and to the red light, and due to minimum dimensions which allow for safe and smooth traffic patterns around the site, the building is situated where it is.”
Planning staff recommended denial of the request, planning director Carla Delaney noted to the board that should it approve, it should require the back portion of the property line have a privacy fence installed to screen from the neighboring residential area. The board unanimously voted in favor of the request.
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
