The Columbia County Board of Commissioners approved, with conditions, a request for a major PUD revision for the new Parker’s Kitchen that’s coming to William Few Parkway.
The property, tax map 065 parcel 934, is located at the intersection of William Few Parkway and Washington Road across the street from TPS. The revision is to allow for it to be opened 24/7, which was the only thing commissioners were voting on. During the meeting a few community members spoke out against having another 24/7 gas station in the area. Beth Connell spoke to commissioners stating she against the gas station and said it being open 24/7 would burden the residents.
“(A letter from Parker) said not being allowed to be open 24/7 would restrict and burden the residents of Columbia County who do not work typical day hours,” Connell said. “Now my challenge is, I live in this area, I see the heavy traffic which is in the mornings and the evenings. We are basically a bedroom community, we don’t have hotels out there. The majority of the folks work normal daytime hours. So, my challenge is why would we allow this… exception to accommodate the minority of the population that lives in this area. We should be respectful of the people that have the majority, which are day workers.”
Marlena Bergeron also spoke against it for several reasons, including stating she and her husband moved to the area 10 years ago because they didn’t want to live in Martinez or Augusta.
“My husband and I did not invest in this community 10 years ago because we wanted to live near 24 hours convenience stores and gas stations. We chose this place because of its natural resources and its beauty,” Bergeron said. “You will have whatever tax revenue is generated, it will be diminishing returns because we are not Martinez. We deserve better and we know better, so we need to do better.”
Don Skinner mentioned that Martinez is part of Columbia County in reference to it being mentioned.
“You mentioned Martinez several times, Martinez is part of Columbia County and I’m very proud of Martinez,” Skinner said.
Bergeron also mentioned the saying that nothing good happens after midnight and two places would be open after midnight.
“We have schools there, residences there. We have like Beth said, morning traffic and evening traffic and we have established very nice high-end shopping, Publix and other businesses…it is nice that there is a bedtime for that corner,” Bergeron said.
Commissioners heard a presentation from a representative from Parker’s Kitchen about the facility, plans for future building, etc. Robert Titus, the applicant, told commissioners that stormwater quality and stormwater management are being addressed, permits are being sought for the underground storage tanks from the EPD and more work is being done. He added Parker’s Kitchen wants to be able to compete with the TPS across the street, which is currently 24/7.
“I don’t know if ya’ll have seen Parker’s. They are coming to this area and it’s going to make TPS think twice about how they present themselves,” Titus said.
The conditions of the approval are that a photometric plan will be provided showing the location of where the lighting will be, footcandle readings at the property line and further and any proposed shielding.
Stephanie Hill is a staff writer covering Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com
