A recent rezoning request for a rural property at Appling Harlem Road is an attempt to get ahead of inevitable progress along a burgeoning corridor near I-20 Exit 183, said local convenient store magnate Deep Patel.
“There’s just so much growth over there, with all the development that’s happening on either side of Wrightsboro Road,” Patel said.
The young CEO of GasWorld is seeking to rezone a two-acre parcel at 1535 Appling Harlem Roaad from R-A Residential Agricultural to C-1 Neighborhood Commercial, as well as a variance allowing the reduction of the required buffer from 100 to 50 feet. There, he plans to build a new GasWorld location, complete with gas pumps.
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The property, currently owned by John and Linda Smith, is surrounded on three sides by an 18-acre tract, also zoned R-A. GasWorld has had the Smiths’ land contract for about three months, Patel says, with the aim of purchasing it to build the convenience store.
The site lies across the road from the 600-acre White Oak Business Park, where both the Club Car and Amazon facilities are located.
“Eventually it’s going to trickle down, nobody makes that much industrial space, without any hopes of commercial development over there,” said Patel.
With no residential developments on the horizon nearby, Patel believes commercial development is only going to continue to grow. Anticipating concerns about his new convenience store contributing to increased traffic along the interchange, he notes the proximity to the interstate.
The Georgia Department of Transportation recorded a total annual average daily traffic volume (AADT) volume of 10,430 vehicles along Exit 183 for 2022, east and west bound, a number likely to increase with further development.
Rather than attract new traffic, GasWorld aims to pick up a percentage of those travelers, Patel says, including diesel trucks coming in and out of Amazon and Club Car that would already be going to the Circle K and Sprint fuel stops on the opposite ends of the strip.
“Nobody’s going to get off the exit to just come to a GasWorld,” he said. “We’re not Buc-ee’s, by any means.”
This would be the third Columbia County location of GasWorld. The others are on Old Evans Road in Martinez and South Belair Road. locations. There are currently 10 of the fuel stops in the Augusta area.
If the county approves the rezoning and variance, Patel hopes to have the new station constructed and ready to open with eight months to a year, he said.
The Columbia County Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the requests in its meeting on March 7.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
