A local business owner is developing on a parcel of land near the intersection of River Watch Parkway and Baston Road.
Thomas Banks has petitioned Columbia County Planning for a variance for his property at 3545 River Watch Parkway, to make way for a commercial structure, according to a narrative attached to the request.
The undeveloped tract is zoned C-2 Commercial, except for a portion zoned R-3 Residential. It is a triangular space sandwiched between a two-acre parcel at 0 Baston Road, also zoned R-3, to its east, owned by the county and used as a stormwater detention pond, and, to its west, lots that include a residence immediately adjacent, Pilates on Riverwatch and Bob’s Tropical Fish.
Banks aims to build a 7,200 square foot commercial building on the parcel, along with an opaque six-foot fence along the property line. The application requests the county reduce the required 30-foot buffer at the southernmost portion of the eastern property line.
The narrative states that the buffer would be “an undue hardship” because of the shape of the property, and that the R-3 zoning is “out of character” for the area.
Banks is the proprietor of T. Banks Window Tinting, which currently operates from a suite on Commerce Drive in Martinez. More than 1,000 square feet would be used for warehouse space and some 350 for office space, according to plans attached to the request.
The narrative says the enhanced buffer as required would block rear access to the proposed building and “cause the drive-in overhead doors to be placed along the River Watch Parkway front facing portion of the building.”
“Even though this may be allowed under current zoning, it is not the wishes of the applicant, nor do we believe the county had planned for this to be the case,” states the narrative document.
The Columbia County Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the variance request in its meeting on Oct. 19.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
