At the Aug. 15 meeting of the North Augusta City Council, the members briefly discussed a proposed development, a pending demolition and entertained a motion regarding replacement of the 13th Street-Georgia Avenue Bridge.
The planned Bluegrass Place development, located at East Buena Vista and East Martintown Road hit a snag even though the North Augusta Planning Commission has approved the 51.5-acre site for mixed-use housing.
According to City Administrator Jim Clifford, the language used by the developer, SC North Augusta LLC, does not conform to language in the city code. One section of the proposed development is listed under “single family homes” and referred to as “town houses,” is actually what city code considers to be apartments.
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Townhomes are generally multi-story side-by-side units that can be sold as condos, therefore are considered to be single family homes. However, the approximately 96 units on six acres proposed are multi-tiered separate units that more resemble apartments, according to Clifford.
The issue all boiled down to semantics, but semantics are important when it comes to city ordinances, Clifford said, quoting from the dictionary at times.
Several council members spoke up and said they wanted the development to be successful and didn’t want to hamper progress, but the development must live up to city code as being a true mixed-use development.
Rather than force the developers to wait another year by being rejected, the council instructed the developer to go back to the Planning Commission and fix the language.
The council unanimously approved allowing the Arts and Heritage Center of North Augusta to enter the property of the future Public Safety Headquarters on Georgia Avenue to remove any relics from the historic site once asbestos abatement is complete.
The site was once home to nationally known fiction writer and poet Starkey Flythe and the Arts and Heritage center would like to scour the property to find any relics of public interest that can be displayed.
Flythe lived from 1935 to 2013 and called North Augusta home for most of his life.
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The council also rubber stamped a decision made during the Aug. 8 special called meeting to declare the Georgia Department of Transportation’s planned replacement of the 13th Street-Georgia Avenue Bridge over the Savannah River into North Augusta will cause no adverse impact on recreation in the city.
At the August 8 meeting, Erin Murphy, an environmental engineer with Parsons, the GADOT’s contractor, explained how the construction will affect the trails at Brick Pond Park, Waterway Park and the Greeneway Trail. During the construction, some access will be limited for safety reasons, but the final product will have no adverse impact on any of the South Carolina side parks, according to Murphy.
“Section 4(f) of the U.S. The Department of Transportation Act protects parks and recreation areas, so we will be asking the city of North Augusta to sign a letter agreeing that there will be no adverse impact on the trails,” Murphy said.
The decision will allow Parsons to move forward with the project that is set to begin in 2025 and should be completed by 2029, according to GDOT’s website.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
