A new shopping center, a new industrial building and a playground at a pediatric center are among the items the Columbia County Planning Commission are set to address in June.
An approximately 11-acre parcel on Columbia Road is the site of a rezoning request and an accompanying variance request, submitted to the county on May 6 by the estate of Jenny L. McAlhany, which owns the property. The estate, along with Augusta I20 Investors, LLC, is petitioning to rezone 5221, 5225 and 5233 Columbia Rd. from R-1 single family residential to C-C community commercial, to develop a shopping center, tentatively called McAlhany Square.
MORE: Movies to return to the Miller Theater
The proposed retail center would be comprised of four buildings to provide space for stores, restaurants and a grocer, as well as parking, totaling about 57,000 square feet. The property, near the intersection of Hereford Farm Road and Columbia Road, has Four Oaks subdivision to its east and Lewis Memorial United Methodist Church to its west.
The accompanying variance request aims at permission to install a driveway to cross through a buffer at 5233 Columbia Rd.
“This is somewhat of a unique request since staff is not aware of residential properties with sole access provided through a commercial property,” said the staff report, in which the Planning Department ultimately recommended disapproval of the rezoning request and, therefore, the variance request. “However, since this is existing and is remaining in the same location that it is currently, if the rezoning were recommended for approval then this variance would also be recommended for approval.”
The Planning Commission is scheduled to address the rezoning request for McAlhany Square on Thursday, June 2, and then the Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, June 21.
MORE: Rainbow Factory provides art summer camps and classes in North Augusta
The Child Neurology Center at 460 N. Belair Rd. is also the subject of both a rezoning request and a variance request. Dr. Asma Fischer is seeking to have the location of her practice in Evans rezoned from R-2 single family to P-1 professional, as well as to reduce the 20-foot buffer zone to 10 feet.
According to the rezoning application, the purpose for both requests is to facilitate the addition of a play area on the property, which would also include a garden and walk path, in order to provide outdoor relief space for the medical center’s patients, which include children with special needs.
MORE: Dave’s Appliance Warehouse heading to Martinez
Commerce Court Properties and William Kuhlke have plans to construct a new 20,000 square foot industrial building some 800 feet from the intersection of Commerce Court and Industrial Park Drive. To do so, they and Jay Willingham of Willingham Commercial have submitted a variance request to change the maximum setback from 55 feet to 110 feet.
Willingham notes in the application that there are currently three industrial buildings on Commerce Ct., that the average setback for these buildings is 110 feet, and that the “property has been zoned M-2 (general industrial) since 1991, prior to the Evans Towne Center overlay requirements.”
The requests for both the Child Neurology Center and Commerce Court Properties are on the agenda for the Planning Commission on June 16, then for the Board of Commissioners on July 5.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering education in Columbia County and business-related topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
