Columbia County commissioners Tuesday rejected a developer’s request to build a ground-floor handicap-accessible apartment in a complex that was approved for second-floor apartments.
The rejection involved a proposed mix of office, retail and apartments at the Evans Trade Center at the corner of Evans to Locks Road and Columbia Industrial Boulevard.
Currently there are office buildings at the Evans location that hold office and retail businesses only, such as the Studio 285 hair salon and the Durham Bray law firm. The complex is across the street from Christ the King Lutheran Church.
The developer got approval to build 14 apartments on the second floors of new buildings in the complex. But at least one of those would have to be accessible to someone who uses a wheelchair.
“To be ADA acceptable, he would have to put in an elevator,” said Scott Johnson, the manager for Columbia County. ADA is the acronym for Americans with Disabilities Act.
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Commissioners speculated the developer wanted to save money by not installing an elevator, but because no one representing the builder was present for Tuesday evening’s meeting the commissioners could not be certain that was the true reason for the request to put a wheel-chair apartment on the ground floor.
The site is in District 1, which is represented by Commissioner Connie Melear. She made an impassioned plea to the other four commissioners to reject the proposal.
“These apartments were approved very much against the will of the people in District 1,” Melear said. “The mere existence of these units is so unsavory to my constituents.”
The plea seemed to work, with the exception of Commissioner Don Skinner, who moved to approve the developer’s request. No one seconded his motion and all the other commissioners sided with Melear.
Joshua B. Good is a staff reporter covering Columbia County and military/veterans’ issues for The Augusta Press. Reach him at joshua@theaugustapress.com
