A new shopping center could be on its way to Martinez.
Developer Christian Wahl has requested Columbia County rezone an 8.46-acre parcel at 170 South Belair Road from R2 Single-family Residential to General Commercial and Community Commercial.
The property is owned by Joan Knowles and Mark Prosnak, children of the late Veronica Ferlitch Prosnak, owner of the former Martinez Laundromat.
The tract is undeveloped save for one unoccupied house, which the narrative states are to be torn down. Nearby is another shopping center, anchored by a Dollar General, that also includes Kirkwood’s Music and Repair and Kyoto Japanese Cuisine.
On the opposite adjacent side of the Dollar General is 216 South Belair Road, a parcel of just more than four acres that the county rezoned to Special in 2018 to build a self-storage facility. Adjacent to that property, further south, is the Walmart Neighborhood Market grocery store.
Wahl intends to develop a retail plaza, anchored by a tunnel car wash comprised of a 38-by-125-foot building, vacuum stations and parking.
The car wash would be accompanied by three other structures. A proposed 5,000 square foot building with 40 parking spaces would have a “likely use of retail [or] restaurants,” according to the narrative document.
Two other buildings, one more than 17,500 square feet with 79 parking spaces and a 14,000 square foot structure with 66 spaces would bring a total of more than 36,000 square feet of potential commercial space.
Last spring, Wahl opened Moby’s Car Wash in North Augusta on East Martintown Road.
The Columbia County Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the rezoning request during its April 4 meeting.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
