At their July 15 meeting, members of the North Augusta Planning Commission got their first look at a proposal to build the new public safety headquarters and courthouse on city-owned property on Georgia Avenue, known as the Flythe/Seven Gables property.
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Administrator Jim Clifford presented the sketch plan review, the first step in getting the property re-zoned for public use. Part of it is currently zoned for general commercial use; the remainder is zoned for single family residential use.
Three residents — two from Butler Avenue, one from Georgia Avenue — expressed concerns about using the Georgia Avenue location. Their concerns centered on the historic nature of the site, the impact the traffic will have on the residential streets of Butler Avenue and Observatory Avenue and the traffic dangers because the site is near the blind curve on Georgia Avenue.
Some of the planning commission members said they do not believe the Georgia Avenue property is a good location for public safety and court activities.
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Originally, the plan was to build on East Buena Vista Avenue near the current headquarters, but since the plan was presented to council in September 2020, site and construction costs have increased by about $850,000 more than the Georgia Avenue location.
Clifford said another concern is there is no room for future expansions at the East Buena Vista site, but extra room is available at Georgia Avenue. City officials have investigated buying more land around the East Buena Vista site.
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“We’ve had some dialogue with the property owner. My understanding is they’re not interested in selling at this time,” he said.
Because the Thursday meeting was just to present the sketch plan to the planning commission, they did not vote on rezoning the property. The city will need to make that formal request in the future.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
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