The Parker’s Kitchen chain of convenience stores is making way for its presence along Jimmie Dyess Parkway, near the I-20 off ramp in Columbia County.
Drayton-Parker Industries, the owner of the Savannah-based store franchise, has requested two variances from county ordinances for a gas station it aims to develop at 4099 Jimmie Dyess Parkway.
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The subject parcel sits between two intersections at Jimmie Dyess, one with Park West Drive and the other with the I-20 East exit.
One of the petitions seek permission to operate the store for 24 hours, against the Columbia County ordinance restricting operations between 6 a.m. and 11 p.m. A letter from EMC Engineering Services on behalf of Parker’s Kitchen notes that the neighboring Pilot truck stop across Park West is already open 24 hours, and that guests of the several hotels in the area often arrive and depart during the overnight hours.
The proposed 5,175 square foot convenience store would have 30 parking spaces, two of them for disabled patrons, above the 25 maximum allowable spaces for general commercial developments.
Last year, the Board of Commissioners voted down Parker’s Kitchen’s attempt to set up a location along this same thoroughfare, at 170 South Belair Road. Parker’s Kitchen gas stations are already underway at Lewiston Road and William Few Parkway.
Appling-based Red Rock Development has requested a variance for 125 acres at 0 Cobbham Road, seeking permission to install longer cul-de-sacs on private roads.
Concept plans submitted with the request show a proposed neighborhood, called Rabbit Run Farms, with 20 residential lots, roughly five to six acres each. The accompanying addendum notes that a stream divides the property down its center, cutting through where several of the lots would be. The county ordinances limit cul-de-sacs to 700 feet in length. The addendum states, however, that to comply with this, instead of long cul-de-sacs the developer would have to build long roads impacting the waters.
Both items are scheduled for consideration by the Columbia County Planning Commission for its meeting on June 6.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
