The next meeting scheduled for the Columbia County Planning Commission is on Thursday, Oct. 17, and has a full agenda that includes the request to rezone 20 acres on Columbia Road.
The property across from Patriots Park is for a proposed sports training complex. Originally slated for the Planning Commission’s Oct. 3 meeting, the rezoning request is one of several items postponed due to Hurricane Helene.
Another athletic facility, this one on the Martinez side of Columbia Road, is the subject of one of the next slew of items down the line, submitted to the planning department nearly 10 days before the storm hit.
Trinity Baptist Church, located at 4594 Columbia Road, has requested revision to the S-1 Special zoning at its property on 4517 Columbia Road. In 2019, the county approved the church’s petition to rezone the property to S-1 from P-1 Professional and R-2 Single-family Residential, to make way for the construction of an athletic field, gymnasium and a new road on the property’s west side.
The 5.86-acre parcel, adjacent to the Brooks Townhomes neighborhood to its west, is still undeveloped. The church has updated its project, which now entails the field on the east side of the property, according to the included narrative document.
Plans now show a 57,000-square foot field for football and soccer, capable of seating more than 800 spectators, within a fenced area totaling more than 81,100 square feet. The second phase of this project, intended for Community Christian School, a private school operated by Trinity Baptist, consists of a fieldhouse, no more than 5,000 square feet, to house restrooms, concessions and an exercise area.
The facility would be for Community Christian School, a private school operated by Trinity Baptist, and would be used for school events. Five parking spots would be at the front of the property, with bus and auxiliary parking at its rear. Patrons to school events would use parking on the church and school property, and a shuttle would transport them across Columbia Road, according to the narrative.
The request also asks to reduce the buffer to the west from 30 to 20 feet, to “allow a road to be added at the toe of the slope of the athletic field so access to the fieldhouse is possible,” says the narrative.
The Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the revision in its meeting on Nov. 7.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
