The Columbia County Planning Commission voted in favor of a proposed retirement community north of Furys Ferry during its meeting Thursday evening.
The Planning Staff recommended approval, with conditions, for a request to revise the S-1 Special zoning of a 10-acre parcel at 2221 Indigo Hall Dr. to decrease the density and increase the building height of a proposed complex of independent living senior apartments.
Robert Muirhead of developer Winterpast Capital Partners submitted the request in October with the aim of constructing an H-shaped building with three- and four-story sections, due to the 50-foot drop on the property.
The area was rezoned to S-1 in 2015 for the purpose of building a retirement community. The zoning was revised in 2017, where Thrive Senior Living built Thrive Augusta, with different planned land uses and medical offices added to the plans.
The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the revision request. The board also voted in favor of the clubhouse development planned for Gracewood Farms’ proposed Timber Creek subdivision along Mullikin Road.
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Planner Will Butler noted to the planning commissioners that most clubhouses are built within the development, whereas this proposed 5,000 square foot house, called the Manor at Timber Creek, is designed to be adjacent to its subdivision.
Responding to a question from Commissioner Al Dempsey, Bill Corder with Bluewater Engineering, the firm that drew the plans for the clubhouse, told the commissioners that for now that it would have to connect with public sewers by extending from the nearby Sumter Landing neighborhood.
Corder then said that engineers are currently in the process of further developing plans for the neighborhood to include provisions to get sewer connection to the clubhouse area and to the home of property owner Adam Kotter.
“We may be looking at a short-term temporary septic system,” Corder said. “But it may be possible that we get the sewer in to the clubhouse before it’s constructed; but the long-term plan is it would definitely be on public sewer.”
Both requests will be forwarded to the Board of Commissioners for consideration during its meeting on Dec. 6.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering business for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
