The Columbia County Planning Commission shot down requests submitted for development projects during its meeting on Thursday, including one for a retail development on Furys Ferry Road that was recommended for approval by the planning department staff.
David Maner and Pranav Patel applied on May 24 to rezone Maner’s vacant 2.95-acre property on the northeast side of Furys Ferry from R-2 single family residential to C-C community commercial. The proposed shopping center would include both a 9,200 square foot and 2,500 square foot building, and a 3,000 square foot restaurant with an associated drive thru.
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In its staff report for the rezoning request, the planning department did express concerns regarding the noise from drive thru and the lighting at the site being potential nuisances for residential lots in nearby West Lake. The report goes on to note, however, that the “plan does show that the drive thru lane does not encroach into the 50-foot setback from adjacent residential property,” and that “there will be a 30-foot structural buffer between the property and the adjacent residential properties.”
The staff recommended approval of the request, under the conditions that the applicants provide a photometric plan and that the site be connected to the county sewer.
However, without discussion, and no expression of disapproval save for one nearby resident expressing concern over whether a liquor store would be one of the building’s tenants (planning director Scott Sterling assured Chairman Jim Cox that a liquor would not be permitted due to the site’s proximity to a church), the Planning Commission unanimously voted to disapprove the rezoning.
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The Planning Commission also voted unanimously to disapprove Grovetown-based Columbia Concrete Company’s request to rezone some 17 acres at 3448 Gordon Hwy. from residential agricultural to special district, in order to build a mobile concrete plant.
“A key point of the Vision 2035 plan for this corridor is that the development of industrial and professional uses should not encroach on the existing residential neighborhoods,” said the staff report. “Similarly, heavy industrial uses are typically found away from residential uses due to their potential to have noise, light, dust, and other nuisances that could impact adjacent properties.”
Amid the planning department’s recommendations to disapprove, and six residents attending the meeting to oppose the rezoning, the Planning Commission voted it down.
Both requests still must go before the Board of Commissioners in its meeting scheduled on Aug. 2.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
