Grovetown City Council voted in favor of annexing and rezoning some 23 acres along Whiskey Road for a proposed townhome subdivision during its regular meeting Monday evening.
Will Dozier applied on behalf of Blanchard and Calhoun Real Estate and property owners to have a 23.96-acre parcel at 409 Whiskey Road annexed within Grovetown City limits using the 100% method which, Planning and Community Development Director Ronnie Kurtz explained, refers to an occasion in which the owners of a property requests its annexation.
Concurrently with the annexation request, Dozier also petitioned to rezone the tract from Columbia County’s R-A Residential Agricultural zoning to Grovetown’s R-C2 Residential zoning.
Kurtz told the council that the purpose of the annexation and rezoning requests was to make way for the development of approximately 72 townhomes, with a density of about three dwelling units per acre.
Kurtz noted that the maximum allowable density in an R-C2 zone was 10 units per acre.
The townhome units would be dispersed across 18 four-unit buildings, Kurtz said, and plans include some 14 acres of open space.
The council also voted to approve the annexation of another parcel, less than one acre, at 0 Whiskey Road, also via the 100% method, requested by Jason Winter on behalf of Young Property Development LLC.
This tract, said Kurtz to the council members, is located between the current terminus of Whiskey Road and the Whiskey Road Extension, into the Brighton Landing development and, though presently a privately-owned parcel, would otherwise become an unincorporated island after the annexation at 409 Whiskey were approved.
The council voted on both items unanimously.
Grovetown resident Marie Geary spoke to the council regarding the county’s feasibility study, approved by the Columbia County Board of Commissioners in March, to assess the feasibility of incorporating the non-incorporated areas of Columbia County into a new city.
Geary noted that county officials were awaiting the results of the study, and she mentioned that he unincorporated area of Grovetown is approximately 10 times larger than the city.
“Should the county decide to move forward with incorporating the unincorporated areas around Harlem and Grovetown… Grovetown’s ability to grow would be nonexistent,” said Geary, before asking the council and Grovetown Mayor Gary Jones how residents in unincorporated areas be educated on the matter.
Jones posited the idea of forming a committee to prepare for what the results of the study might bring. Mayor Pro Tem Eric Blair stated that most city leaders in both Grovetown and Harlem are against the proposed incorporation, and that Grovetown would be landlocked.
“If the law changes, to change the conditions of it not being in the hands of the citizens, then… that that will be huge,” said Councilmember Ceretta Smith. “If they can get our legislators to take it to the gold dome and write a law that takes our vote out of it, that’s where my concern is.”
Jones ultimately asked city attorney Christopher Dube to investigate the matter and see what the county’s legal options were, and report back in the council’s next meeting.
Monday also marked Deborah Fisher’s final meeting as a member of the Grovetown City Council, as she prepares to qualify to run for mayor of the city. Fisher announced she would be stepping down from her seat, in which she served two terms.
“I want to take this opportunity to thank each of the citizens in this city who supported me or voted for me, for your trust and confidence in my abilities,” said Fisher. “I would also like to thank each and every one of our city employees for your superior level of service that you offer to our city each and every day. You all are the subject matter experts in your fields, and you have taught me a lot about how it really works, and I thank you for that. And lastly, I would like to thank Mayor, council for working with me over the years. It has been real.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
