Southeastern Development is seeking a variance to accommodate further progress in its Highland Lakes subdivision.
The Columbia County Code of Ordinances requires a minimum 50-foot buffer along the exterior boundary of a site affected by major grading intended for residential development. In February, Southeastern requested to waive this requirement for a tract of land less than two acres, some 600 feet from the intersection of Belle Rose Drive and William Few Parkway.
The property is slated for six proposed residential lots, to part of the second section of the Highland Lakes neighborhood.
The narrative accompanying the variance application notes that the site was cleared as part of the planned unit development (PUD) approved by the county, and did not undergo any major grading.
Columbia County approved rezoning the area to Single-family Residential, for the development in 2018, and approved the concept plan for Highland Lakes in 2019.
The narrative also observes that PUD zoning required the development to tie into a 50-foot right-of-way, Honey Lane, which “dictated the overall design of the lots in question,” and that the tract is bordered to its north by professionally-zoned parcels with their own buffer requirements in relation to residential areas.
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EMC Engineering, on behalf of Meybohm Realty’s River Gate Development LLC, submitted two separate variance requests regarding seven of the latter’s properties, five parcels on Carillon Way and two on Campana Drive.
All the parcels are proposed sites of residential lots, part of River Gate’s 67-home Bell Tower on the River neighborhood in Evans. Both petitions request reducing the required front setbacks of the lots from 55 to 45 feet from the center line of the street.
The narratives for the variance requests cite the parcels’ topography as the reason for the variance, with steep slopes down the rear of all the proposed lots on both Campana and Carillon.
The Augusta National Women’s Amateur (ANWA) has submitted its temporary use permit application to Columbia County for the year, to use parts of Champions Retreat and Grace Baptist Church on Hardy McManus Road. The 2024 ANWA will be on April 3 and 4 at Champions Retreat and April 6 at The Augusta National..
The Columbia County Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the above variance requests during its April 4 meeting.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
