The Augusta Commission bowed to the will of the people and rejected a developer’s request to add 29 units to a townhome development off Harper Franklin Avenue.
Residents in the rapidly developing area off Jimmie Dyess Parkway, which funnels traffic into Fort Gordon, have spoken out against new development that will increase congestion in the area, with the Elderberry subdivision homeowners’ association among the loudest.
Cypress Crossing Phase 2 would be an extension of Cypress Crossing Phase 1, a 47-townhome development accessed via Harper Franklin on land already zoned B-2, the most permissive.
Three Elderberry homeowners spoke on behalf of 60 who attended the commission in opposition to the expansion.
“They’re trying to put 72 units on this one piece of property, and that’s too many,” James Geter said. “We’re already having enough problems trying to get to the school as it is.”
The neighborhood is home to Belair K-8 and soon will add a Kroger Marketplace. Much of its residential area is accessible only by two-lane Harper Franklin Boulevard.
“It’s a Fort Knox they’re trying to build on top of Elderberry,” Patricia Geter said.
Robert Titus, the development’s engineer of record, said the developer already conceded to the neighborhood by changing from an apartment complex to townhomes.
The townhomes will have no access via Elders Drive, the main road into Elderberry off Harper Franklin, and they intend to add a right-turn lane off Harper Franklin into Phase 1, Titus said.
Developer Matt Eschelbach said market research reflected a high demand for one-bedroom units. “I have no plans of doing daily or weekly rentals,” he said. “We plan to cater to the military more than anything else on this.”
The development’s two- and three-bedroom units will be valued at $250,000 to $300,000 each, he said.
Without the approval, Eschelbach said they may need to “get the density up,” in Phase 1, with smaller units of lesser value.
The planning commission recently approved the expansion as a better option than the developer’s earlier proposal of five townhomes and a 29-unit apartment complex, Planning Director Carla DeLaney said.
“We thought this would be a palatable alternative,” DeLaney said.
The B-2 zoning of Phase 1, however, means the developer could develop the site in “full commercial capacity,” she said.
Commissioner Bobby Williams, who represents Elderberry, said he would not support the development “until we get them some relief on Harper Franklin Avenue,” meaning a new access road. “The city is not going to build that road, so it has to be something that comes from a developer,” he said.
Williams’ motion to deny the application passed 7-1, with Commissioner Wayne Guilfoyle opposed and commissioners Brandon Garrett and Alvin Mason out.
Activist Monique Braswell, who lives in Elderberry, said she believed the developer would exercise his right to construct numerous apartments instead.
“If we don’t give this man what he’s out here for, he’s going to be able to put 180 apartments that under no circumstances you (can) stop,” she said.
Commissioner Catherine Smith McKnight, who represented the area prior to redistricting, said she opposed the application due to existing congestion.
“You have traffic backed up so bad, sometimes someone would have to sit through a light twice,” she said. “They need to get some more commercial out here and slow down on some of this residential.”
AEDA appointments postponed
In other business, the commission postponed to a future meeting proposed appointments to the Augusta Economic Development Authority after Guilfoyle motioned to add them to the consent agenda.
The agenda items included two different appointments for a single seat, now held by Brenda Bonner.
General Counsel Wayne Brown said the proper process was for commissioners to make nominations on the floor then vote on them
