The Augusta Commission will be meeting Thursday, June 30, instead of the regular Tuesday meeting due to most commissioners and the mayor being out of town for the Georgia Municipal Association’s annual conference in Savannah.
When the commission does meet on Thursday, the biggest topics will be tiny homes and needed infrastructure, such as security cameras being installed downtown.
The latest trend in home building across the nation has shifted from mansions to tiny homes as empty nesters, college students, the elderly and even young childless couples not wanting to take on a large mortgage find tiny homes as an alternative to apartments.
Groups that aid the homeless, such as the Salvation Army, have long advocated for cities to allow the structures to further help in getting people a stable home to live in.
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Tiny homes are different from manufactured homes, or mobile homes, in that most are individually designed and built on site. Most tiny homes are less than 450 square feet, come in loft or one-bedroom configurations and, according to Forbes magazine, the average cost for a home is around $30,000 to $45,000 depending on the amenities chosen.
Currently, Augusta building codes do not allow for tiny homes. The commission has tasked the Planning and Zoning Department to come up with recommendations.
Some of the recommendations are that the city allow for “tiny home villages” with an average lot size of 21,780 square feet that can accommodate three dwellings. Planning and Zoning also recommends requiring bike racks, scooter parking and a rideshare zone in lieu of requiring automobile parking for each unit.
Other items on the agenda focus on public infrastructure such as the long overdue cameras to be installed in downtown Augusta.
Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree is asking the Augusta Commission to prioritize getting the security cameras installed once money collected through SPLOST 8 is available.
According to sources in the Sheriff’s Office, the cameras that the Sheriff has in mind are state-of-the-art. high-definition models that offer clear facial recognition and can also pick up the lettering on license plates.
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The Sheriff’s Office has $6 million available through the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax 8, and the projected cost for the cameras is estimated to be around $500,000.
The commission will also hear an emergency request to allocate $550,000 from SPLOST 7 funding to fully replace the elevators at the Municipal Building. Recently, the elevators had to be shut down for almost a week for emergency repairs and experts with TK Elevators recommend that it is time to replace and modernize the aging elevator system.
Commissioners will also consider approving the construction of 18 streetlights for Camellia Road and Huxley Drive Corridor at a cost of $177,497.
While it may not exactly be an infrastructure request, commissioners will decide whether to spend $124,985 for downtown area Christmas decorations as requested by the Central Services Department.
Scott Hudson is the senior reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
