A subdivision proposed for development off Hereford Farm Road in Evans is making its way back to the county’s docket. is coming back to Evans.
In early 2024, property owner Roger Screws and building company D.R. Horton requested to rezone some 62 acres at 414 Calloway Road Ext. from R-1 to R-2 Single-family Residential to develop a neighborhood comprised of 118 detached home lots, no less than 10,000 square feet. The development would have included two detention ponds and one entrance off Calloway Road Extension.
Planning staff recommended approval for the project, adding a condition that from the traffic engineering department requiring portions of Calloway Road Ext. be widened to 24 feet and be analyzed in anticipation of other road improvements. On May 2, 2024, the Columbia County Planning Commission would vote unanimously to approve the rezoning request.
Neighboring residents attended that meeting to air concerns about the potential development, including increased traffic and stormwater runoff.
On May 21, 2024, Board of Commissioners were split on a motion by Commissioner Don Skinner to approve the rezoning, with Skinner and Chairman Doug Duncan voting in favor, and Commissioners Connie Melear and Alison Couch voting to oppose, effectively killing the motion.
Now the parcel is again the subject of a new residential development project and the site for another rezoning request from R-1 to R-2. This time landowner Screws is applying alongside builder Bo Slaughter.
This iteration of the development is proposing 70 residential lots, no smaller than 10,000 square feet in area and 75 feet wide, billed in the concept plans as the fifth phase of the nearby Southwind Village subdivision.
A letter of intent for the project from Bolt Engineering notes that the water main would be rerouted as needed from Hereford Farm Road, amid the alignment change of Calloway Road Ext., and that the owner of the land would provide a sewer easement.
The letter also acknowledges the concerns about stormwater that surrounded the previous attempt at rezoning the parcel, stating a “comprehensive stormwater management plan will be implemented to address runoff and ensure compliance with [county] regulations.”
This is followed by a request for a variance to install an approximately 1,700 foot street to service a section of the lots.
The Columbia County Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the new rezoning request during its meeting on March 20.
Skyler Andrews is a reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
