No less than four massage operation businesses are on the agenda for the Columbia County Planning Commission’s upcoming meeting next Thursday.
Wellness & Harmony at 4434 Columbia Road, Moves 2 Make at 331 Padrick St., Comfort Care Massage & Bodywork at 1011 Pleasant View Circle in Lincolnton and Katie Keaton Medical Massage at 548 Blackburn Drive will all be seeking approval from the Planning Commission for their operator’s licenses.
These items are alongside a conditional use request by licensed massage therapist Yurui Huang and the owners of the Evans storefront plaza at 4158 Washington Road to allow a massage business to run in one of its suites.
The staff report for the request notes that “a massage business has been in operation at this location for roughly 10 years under different ownership, predating the change in code that requires conditional use approval for massage businesses.”
The same location was previously the site of Oriental Massage, whose owner, Jinggui Song, had been subject to a revocation inquiry when the county found she had allowed unlicensed workers to perform massage therapy on the premises.
“This application is being submitted because the sale and change in ownership provides an opportunity to bring this business into required compliance with these code changes,” staff said in the report.
CSX Transportation and Ignite Wireless, a contractor based in Cumming, Ga., are requesting the intersection of Baston and Washington Roads, which is currently unzoned, to be rezoned to S-1 Special, to allow a proposed wireless AT&T colocation equipment to be installed on an existing monopole tower on the property.
According to the accompanying narrative document, AT&T aims to relocate equipment from a nearby location — which the staff report notes “appears to be the tower across Baston Road from this location,” in order to “allow for improved coverage, provide FirstNet emergency response, enhance 5G support, and other new technologies for the community.”
Planning staff notes that in September of 2021 Ignite Wireless approached the county about constructing a telecommunications tower within the right-of-way at the intersection for exclusive use by CSX.
If a proposed use were solely for CSX, the staff report says, the applicant would not have to comply with local zoning requirements, but must still obtain building permits.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
