A new residential development off Pleasant Home Road got a stamp of approval from the Augusta Planning Commission Monday, with the requirement a traffic signal is added.
Winchester Homes’ proposal to build 133 single-family units on the 20-acre site received a favorable recommendation from the planning commission and now goes before the Augusta Commission for a final OK.
The plan, approved Monday to include 51 detached units and 72 attached townhome units, is a decrease from what developers have previously proposed building at the site. Last year a 191-unit complex failed to pass after neighboring homeowners opposed it.
Zach Mahaffey, president of the Fox Hall Property Owners’ Association, said homeowners in Fox Hall and several adjoining neighborhoods, including Ravenwood, Sugar Mill and Montclair, want no more than 99 units built. They also want the traffic situation on busy Pleasant Home Road addressed.
Current volume at the site is about 11,000 cars per day, said city Traffic Engineer John Ussery. Ussery’s recommendation is for two traffic lights to be installed on Pleasant Home near the subdivision.
Representing Winchester, Charlie Hall with Benesch Engineers said the site’s location and size make it difficult for the developer to adjust the number of units and still make a profit.
“At this point he cannot make those numbers work,” Hall said.
The city department’s recommendation was to approve the rezoning with the condition of “a traffic signal with acceleration and deceleration lanes” at a “cost yet to be determined.”
