Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon everyone. I hope everyone had a safe and a warm weekend. We're going to um ask the staff to go ahead and read the opening statements.

Right. Good afternoon. The Augusta, Georgia Planning Commission is a recommended body. The final decisions on all zoning matters coming before it today will be heard by the Augusta Commission on Tuesday, February the 17th, 2026 at 2 p.m. in the Augusta Commission chambers at the municipal building. The planning commission makes the final decisions on all variances, including subdivision regulations. A handout describing the zoning procedures by which these cases are decided is available upon request. These procedures also require that any applicant for a reszoning action or any opponent to an application for a resoning action who has made contributions agreing $250 or more to a local government official within two years of the resoning application to file a disclosure report with the governing authority. The disclosure report must be filed within 10 calendar days of filing the application and at least 10 calendar days prior to today's hearing. A minimum of 10 minutes shall be afforded for the presentation of data, evidence, and opinions on each side of a resoning of of a reszoning petition or a special exception. If more than 10 minutes is afforded to one side, then the equal amount of time shall be afforded to the other side. The commission encourages its participation in this hearing and there is no restriction on who may address the commission within the allotted time but the commission asks that the public comments be brief on subject and non-repetitive and directed to the to the commission not to any individual or group.

Thank you. Do you have any other and staff? Do we have any items that need to be um write in for postponement? Yes, we do. Did you want me to read those? Yes, sir.

Okay. All right. SC-26-03 petition by Linda Williams. I'm sorry, that's the wrong one. Excuse me. F number five. SC-26-04 petition by Tom Lewis on behalf of Georgia Waste System, Inc. requesting a special assessment per section 24-2A of the comprehensive zoning ordinance to develop an indoor waste sorting and transfer station affecting property containing approximately 10.33 acres located at 3946 and 3946 at go industrial boulevard. The next one, Z-26-04, a petition by Keon Williams on behalf of Jack Stewart requesting a reszoning from zone LI light industrial to a zoning R-3B multif family residence to develop single family attached dwelling units affecting approximately containing 0.34 acres located at 827 7th Street. That that concludes the postponements.

Thank you, staff. And it looks like we can take the agenda from the top to the bottom. Okay. Number one, final plaque. S-959, the final mystical rose garden petition by Craig Winnol on behalf of NEK Commercial Properties LLC requesting a final PL approval by for Mystical Rose Gardens containing 16 lots located at 2368 Tobacco Road. Reviewing agency approval on 29, 2026.

Approved and and second.

All in favor of the approval fin say I. Any oppose? No. Thank you. Good. Go. Okay. Z-25-41 a petition by Irvington LLC on behalf of I want to say Asmus LLC requesting a reszoning from zone R1B one federal residential and R1C1 family resident to zone R-3B multif family residentials to develop student housing affecting approxim properties containing approximately 3.33 acres located at 616 708 and 710 Win Street weed street at 2450 50 Willer Road staff represent.

Good afternoon. Ashley Caterton, development services administrator. The applicant is proposing reszoning 616 Weed Street, 708 and 710 Weed Street and 2450 Wheeler Road to R3B multiple family residential to allow development of off-campus student housing. All four of these properties are currently vacant and located in the Sand Hills neighborhood. For comprehensive plan consistency, according to the 2023 comp plan, the properties are located within the old Augusta character area. The vision for old Augusta character area reflects to maintain and and enhance its historic and unique mix of land uses while maintaining stability in established neighborhoods. Redevelopment should include the removal of deteriorated and dilapitated structures. Construct or rehabilitation of single family housing, new medium and high density housing, additional commercial and office development, and new civic and instit institutional facilities. This request supports the rehabilitation of the old Augusta character area by establishing the new medium density housing and therefore is consistent with the recommendations of the 2023 comp plan. For findings, the applicant's letter of intent states that the proposed development is intended to provide housing for approximately 130 students. The project will consist of residential style attached buildings with amenities such as on-site management, a leasing office, gym, co-working space, laundry, gathering areas, and potential mini limited to residents only. There is no recent zoning history for the subject properties. The applicant submitted a letter of support from Augusta

University and participated in community outreach through a Sand Hills Neighborhood Association meeting. They also um attended multiple Sand Hills Neighborhood Associating Association meetings and the development is situated roughly four to five blocks south of Augusta University within walking distance. Based on the proposed concept plan, each unit will have six bedrooms and one shared kitchen with a dining room. This development provides 98 parking spaces for the 22 proposed units. Additionally, there are seven parking spaces provided at the two proposed amenity units located at 2450 Wheeler Road. In the case of a use not specifically mentioned in section 42, the requirements for off- streetet parking facility shall be determined by the staff. Such determination shall be based upon the requirements set for the most comparable use specified in section 42. The most comparable use as determined by staff is loading the lodging or boarding house which requires one space for each two individuals in residence and one space for the owner/resident manager. This would require a total of four spaces per units and a total of 88 spaces for the development. Additionally, the number of required off- streetet vehicle parking spaces may be reduced where bicycle parking is provided per section 4812 of the um comprehensive zoning ordinance. Up to a maximum of 5% of the total vehicle parking spaces required may be replaced with bicycle parking spaces. nearby 2403 Mount Auburn Street directly south of 708 and 710 Wii Street was reszoned to R3C multifamily residential

in 2020. The property is not located within a special flood hazard area. There are no wetlands located on this on these properties or within these properties. The nearest public transit transit stop is located approximately 7700 ft away directly south on Walton Way. And according to Georgia Department of Transportation, Weed Street and Wheeler Road are classified as local streets. The surrounding zoning is um includes mostly single family residential areas along with some multi multiple family residential neighborhood business and planned unit development district. The proposed reszoning request to R3B is consistent with aspects of the 2023 comprehensive plan and compatible with surrounding zoning and land uses. And at the time of completion of this report, staff has received some inquiries. Um I believe I've had three um nothing opposed or four, just more curious of attending and hearing out what this development is. Um for this petition as it was advertised and for engineering and utilities comments um for traffic engineering, there were none received at this time. for engineering storm on track A must overdetain for tracks B and C not having storm systems and there were no utilities comments at this time. Um and that concludes staff's presentation.

Thank you. Is the petitioner um here? Please come up and state your name and your address. Afternoon. Uh name is Wayne Miller. Address uh business address 2500 Trade Center Drive Evans 30809. Thank you. Could you tell us a little bit about um what you have before us here?

Um we came before the board I believe early December. We tabled it for two months which gave us a chance to do uh several things. One was increase the amount of parking. We understand that there was concern about parking. So I believe and staff can correct me. We we added approximately 30 to 35 more parking spaces. Um we have attended um a couple more meetings with the neighborhood association specifically to talk about uh two things. One was the Sand Hills Estates projects which we're almost contiguous to to listen to their presentation how they were dealing with transportation and um to talk a little bit about our transportation options. Um I've also met with members of AU staff to talk about how traffic moves, how they move people from the upper campus to the lower campus and vice versa. Um, we did provide uh the staff with that map. That's a live app that sits on all students um if they choose to download. It's an app that shows how transportation happens. And the relevance to where we are is that if you're coming up or going west on uh Walton Way, they all currently turn right on Fleming. And so the idea is for that that bus system uh either at certain times of the day or in certain instances to go down all the way to I say down it's it's a walking distance but down to um somewhere near the the current uh Sand Hills Community Center and have a drop off and a pickup down there. Um meeting with Have you got that? Yeah.

Okay. Um Okay. Meeting meeting with the university. They have people there was some concern about people having classes downtown and having to get from uptown. They have pe people that live in the downtown dorms now that commute via buses to uptown. They walk across campus to pick up the buses. And so again, there are details that we will need to resolve both with the neighborhood association and Miss Veronica is here um with the neighborhood association and the university. But I believe that it's solvable and I do think that this community has a need for student housing. And I think that, you know, we put our hands up and said we'll go into a neighborhood that um is a walk away from AU. So I've walked it with members of staff of AU. Um I've also heard concerns about the number of bedrooms. uh a quick review online for six-bedroom student housing. We'll we'll show that there's a bunch of it around the country. In fact, uh North Avenue Cottages in Athens uh describes itself as a short way short walk from the University of Georgia campus. There there are many um examples of six bedrooms if memory serves me correctly. Tulsa, um Buffalo, I mean there there are a bunch of these. what I'd call big houses. It's not that big. They're 2300 square feet. And um not perfect just in terms of of listening to some of the comments. When I say not perfect, we're going into a historical neighborhood that has a street configuration that's been

determined for many years. So, I heard discussions about one-way traffic, but there's no intention to bring a bus uh for these units into the neighborhood. The bus is not going to be into the neighborhood. And interestingly, after our last neighborhood association meeting where Sand Hills Estates was presenting, we had a consultant come up and ask us how we were going to focus on walking. The emphasis is, you know, the wellness piece is walk to campus. And I would say I think we're 700 yards from the front gate of AU on Walton Way. I don't know if there there are any other questions or concerns, but happy to try and address them.

Thank you. Yeah. Do we have any people in support of this project? And do we have any people in opposition for this project? I'm going to get you all to come to the front. You have 10 minutes collectively. How you doing? Brian Green, 2429 Mount Alburn. Thank you.

I hate that I was put in a little box that's for and against. Of course, I'm not development. No, I just like to clarify something. I heard the gentleman say 133. Is that 133 units or 133 people? 132 bedrooms, which will translate to 132 uh students. So, so student housing is by the bedroom as opposed to by the unit. Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying that. Um, excuse me, Madam Chair. Um, please direct the um the questions to the staff and we'll get that over to you.

Thank you. I just like to say it seems like there and I've made my own calls and I like to try to get to the bottom of something before I just assume. I have been to one of those meetings. I didn't make the last one that y'all were talking about, but I heard it was very informative and I know there are people at the meetings that, you know, agree with the project. I happen to live very close to that building. Uh I was at another one maybe late last year, another meeting at Sand Hills where that subject was discussed by the director at that time. And yes, God knows we need development. My concern here today is twofold. One is the course of the impact on the traffic. Uh we had I had requested and we had done a couple of uh speed studies on the street and I believe it's 25 miles an hour. I should know that, right? But speeds were clocked at up to 60 m an hour. Uh that wasn't the usual. That's not most, but somebody was come through at 60. And any of us right here, if a car pass us by at 40 and another car passes by at 60, we could tell the difference for the most part, even though we don't have calibrated eyes. So the that concern, that was one concern. And if I might say, just suppose this building that y'all proposing right here, and you probably already thought about this. Just say this is Mount Auburn right here. This is the front of the building. And I'd like to ask the gentleman there, are you directing the traffic like when you whatever the plan is, are y'all directing where the traffic will have to come out and go to the stop sign or are you have y'all drafted something that traffic is easing directly into traffic? I just want to ask that question. So, um, am I is that is this protocol

for me to respond? Hold on one moment. Are you finished with your discussion? Okay. Well, I'll finish it. Finish. No. No. Well, you keep going. All right. Sorry. That was the one uh concern that I had because how these cars really fly down this road. And we are talking about students because I've heard two different things. I heard the uh uh different level like like income type for families and all that. So this structure here is for students. Is that correct? This this project here, please continue your questions to the commission and then we we will ask the presenter to respond.

All right, I'll get it straight. And that was a concern, you know, or whatever cuz I was told a little bit both and I don't want to be confused. I want to hear it straight from you all. And the reason is this. When the impact that this will have on the community, hopefully a real positive, I'm all for love students and everybody else. But when we when this project is up and finished, if there are these other and I call you all, you're going to say, "Oh, Mr. Green, we don't that's that's not something I handle." So, I'm here today for your part in the planning aspect of it. And I will say I'm not a against I'm against maybe the 132 number. I think that's a little over the top. That that street is very weird, folks. That the the the the range of traffic coming down that street is pretty intense. I have a sleep deprivation. So I'm up all night. That's my problem. That's my you know, but I hear these cars through the night coming. It's just a little bit more enhanced traffic than what you may imagine. And I just have a concern about the 132 units. That's, you know, for the most part. Um, so the units and how they will exit. And the reason I mentioned the exit, that's for their safety because you don't want to have a building that you may put a beautiful entrance to it and all that. If that thing eases out into Mount Auburn, you could have the possibility of a high impact accident kind of waiting to happen because of how people fly down through that road. So, those are my main concerns at this time.

Thank you, Mr. Green. Does anyone else want to voice their We have about four minutes left on the clock.

Good afternoon. I'm Carolyn Cones Robinson and we my sister and I are opposed. We are concerned about the traffic. It is a relatively quiet neighborhood. Okay. Mo most of us are old even though my parents bought the house when we were when I was four. All right. But at any rate, and we try to maintain tame the house. Uh we're concerned about the traffic. We know that students like to drive. Okay. I was recently hit and hit. Well, I was hit and I didn't get my car back for two months. And this was on the corner. This was on Weed Street. Okay. All right. We're concerned about exhaust fumes, people traveling, always getting lost. Our property is on Delano Street, but there are people always coming on Delano Street, Earl Street, trying to find whatever. All right. And then Earl Street is a one-way street. You have people who purposely come down oneway street and people who get lost and come down that one-way street into Delano Street. And that's an accident waiting to happen right there. So, we don't need the extra traffic. We don't need the fumes. As I said before, students like to drive and we're concerned about the the whole spectrum here. It's a small community. Um, and we just don't think it's a good idea for these reasons. The streets up there are already partially in disrepair. Okay. All right. So, this will put extra stress on the streets. So this is the re these are the reasons that we would not like to see this particular property go up. Students will I guess when they're out

of class what will they do? They might roam. They might walk. I know. Okay. All right. So my sister has something she would like to say. Thank you. Miss Robinson, please state your name.

My name is My name is Henrietta Combmes. 510 Delonor Street, Augusta. And my concern is um navigating to through the construction as it is as it had happened happening. Example, there's a house being worked on right across the street from me and there were three vehicles there for that one house and I could barely get out of my neighbor out of my driveway. Just think what it would be like with all of that heavy machinery and construction up there. You know, Weed Street. I have to go Weed Street. Anyway, I come out, I have to hit Weed Street to go out and Montgomery. So, it's just going to be just an awful thing. I'm thinking about the structure itself. This a two-story structure and most of the houses in the neighborhood of one. And I'm thinking about aesthetics as well. um how this is going to look this huge structure in the middle of you know these small one-story houses um I want construction I want um development but I the way that's going to be done uh I don't know whether they take into consideration the people who are in the neighborhood you know how we're going to navigate through all of this I that's a a great concern of mine um you have the students, you can't limit, you can say you're going to limit the number of cars that the students will be driving and just from people just getting lost in there, it you know um already is an issue and I'm quite sure some of them going to end up down there too and there's a curb down at the end of a of Delanor Street going into Earl and it's dangerous. We have tried to get something done for that. I I don't know, maybe this development will be an improvement. Maybe they will do

something for the neighborhood now that that development is coming. I don't know. So, um those are my concerns right now. Thank you, Miss Commes. U Mr. Mar, I think the topics that they talked about was the traffic flow, the stress on the streets. U someone asked, Mr. Green asked a question about the 132 um units. Is that student housing and then the direction of the traffic? Would you be able to speak on any of those? I can. Thank you.

Staff can comment on for traffic specifically. Um we definitely hear the community and the um feedback, but we do have one of our traffic engineerings here that can speak to any specific requirements. Um, again, we are only looking at the zoning. Um, we don't regulate or can't speak to specifically anything with, you know, that technicality, but um, I do have Marcus Jacobs here. If there's specifics that want to be addressed, is that something that Okay. And then Mr. Miller was speak to um, anything after that.

Thank you. Good afternoon. Um, Marcus Jacobs, 2644 Port Place, Chable, Georgia. Um, originally when this plan first came around, I didn't require for a preliminary impact study. However, I want to say within the last two weeks or so, I've actually spoke with Mr. Malar. Um, and I did require him to provide a traffic impact study because the property on Weed Street in uh the front of his um, Mont Auburn. And I believe the other question that was brought about speaking of traffic was also the speeding. I've spoke with Mr. Green for a couple of years now and we've done numerous studies and it never met requirements for um mitigation such as speed humps or whatever. But now with this new development going in of course pending depending on the results from the impact study it can be expanded on even more.

Thank you. Jamie, I I had a question for the I have a question. M transportation, Mr. Jacob, Mr. I I I've been there a couple times and I have concerns with the the width of the streets. Have y'all looked at the the width of the streets to see if they are within modern guidelines or or or what what your thoughts are if you have on street parking. what's that's going to do for emergency access,

right? Not recently as far as for this project in particular, but over time we has been looked at because I know there's been whispers for a long time about development being put there. Um, but we just haven't moved forward as far as future planning with that as yet.

Yeah. Well, maybe one more and I don't want to get outside of our realm, but it it the one big problem I have here is emergency access, traffic access to to once this is done and and and there may be some on site um is is it out of the ordinary for us to ask for emergency traffic access feasibility plan when we go through and and and um when staff's reviewing. No, a lot of time that's where it gets brought up during these um DRC meetings, everything on access.

Okay. So, that's something that could be done, right? Thank you, Commissioner.

I'm excuse me, Commissioner Spencer. I'm sorry. Um first of all, I I had a question about um the housing. Will it be limited to students only? Yes. Yes.

And second, I also had concerns about how that um those um the housing will look compared to the historic area of the neighborhood. And even though we don't really choose your your um the elevation of your property, it seems like it should more meet. These look like modern square boxes going into a very historic area. two stories around one-story homes and I just I just found it difficult to imagine that being there. So, have you seen the um Sand Hills Estates approved project? I believe so. We have that.

I mean, they have a two they have twotory project. They have a two-story component to that property. Is it in the dead center of um of the one-story homes? Well, it's right next door to this property. I mean, literally adjacent to this property. I was out there twice. I'm sorry, I missed that.

No, they haven't built it yet. They started in the next uh three or four months according to the the presentation they did um in uh at at the Sand Hills Neighborhood Association meeting two weeks ago. So, so they have a plan. They've come in with a plan. This is for 40 affordable housing units. It's the redevelopment of the old weed school and then adding some additional units contiguous to that which is in essence contiguous to us. We have two properties that are directly contiguous to the old weed school. We have one out parcel and then there's the broad the larger piece. In terms of traffic, let me say that um we came with an application I think it was around 68 parking spaces. We don't want cars there. We want this to be a walking community. Uh the response the response to 100 or get it up to 100 in fact we were asked to do one parking space per bedroom is really a response to comments that were made uh from the commission excuse me from the commission. But our preference and some of the conversations we've had with AU is that uh students who have a car can park it on the campus and walk to and from. Now we know that students are students. I've got eight kids. I understand how they are. There's one there who's at AU. Um so I understand that the best laid plans of mice and men uh don't always work out. But we agree that the automobile should be deemphasized and that bus transportation, bicycles and walking should be part of the experience that certainly I had when I went to university. Um, and that would

be the goal here. In terms of architecture, I mean there are many different options. This is just this is a rendering. It's conceptual so people can understand what it is that we're talking about. But um you know the idea is to be harmonious to and respectful to the two ladies there, the gentlemen and anyone else that lives in the community. But whether we come or not, you're going to get construction at the weed school. That is coming as as far as I'm aware. And they confirmed it. and the Harold Jackson, I think the gentleman's name is head of housing. He was there. He excuse me, he confirmed it's coming. So, you're going to have construction there. And uh it's perhaps regrettable, but it's just it's in the path of progress. And just anecdotally, I sat in a housing in a meeting 10 year 12 years ago at the neighborhood center where there was a discussion about development that was supposed to happen based on a plan that was done 20 years ago. So, um I've been talking to the Williams family for a long time about about how we do something that's respectful to the residents and beneficial to the community and the university. And I think as members of Richmond County, residents of Richmond County, the university is an important part of our society here. Not the most important, but an important part. And right now, we are woefully underserved if we aspire to have 16,000 students. Um there are many kids that are sharing what used to be a single room because there's just there's not enough underassmen or undergraduate housing. So this is not going to solve the whole problem. It is just perhaps part of a

solution and um obviously we respectful of the fact that your grandparents or your parents owned this. I mean you've been there a long time. Um and so our only commitment to the community is to do the best we can. Weeds weed is from anyone that wants to know about uh cross-sections of road. It is undersized as a two-way road. It doesn't work. All of our entrances and exits at least to the large the large property the the bulk of the units off of Montgomery not off of weed because of that issue. So, we've tried to be understanding of that. Uh, as I think the engineer said in the in the earlier meeting, we we we inherited a grid um that we're just trying to work around. We can't relocate roads and sewer services and water services.

Thank you. I don't know if that's answering your questions, Commissioner Smith. Yes, sir. I have a couple of questions. You have repeatedly uh talked about this is going to enhance Augusta State as if to tie your wagon to Augusta State. And I know that's a southern term. You may not understand that, but there are many here that do. Do you have a contract with Augusta State to provide these 132 rooms to Augusta State? We do not. So this is a free enterprise.

Correct. So, what law are you going to use to stop John Doe from coming and renting six bedrooms from you that are not students at Augusta State? or um if John Doe is not a student and doesn't present um evidence proof that he or she he is a student, then he would not be eligible to rent under what law? Oh, I I have to I'll have to because I can assure you that that would be discriminatory.

Well, there's the Fair Housing Act that covers everything. But we at King Mill, we set out to rent to the medical community. As it's turned out, we have a disproportionately high number of students. And so there's no law we couldn't discriminate against students. We took them on. They pay the rent. And uh

and and that's all I want is for everybody in this room to understand and for the news media that's covering it. You've tied your wagon in every presentation you've had that you're going to serve Augusta State and only Augusta State students. And the truth of the matter is you're going to serve anybody that comes over there and gives you a monthly check. Am I correct? Um, I'd have to confirm with a fair housing act and student and

I just want all I ask is that when you come here that you present the facts to us in an accurate manner and not represent this as only benefiting 132 students because that's not the truth. The truth is you're going to rent to anybody that wants to rent. And I just want everybody to understand that is the inference that there's some dishonesty going on here.

I what I'm saying is that you are selling this project as something that you've been in in conjunction with Augusta State because you had some guy write us a letter from Augusta State. And the people that live over there, those three people there deserve to know that this is not going to just be Augusta State students. there can be other people there because you can't discriminate and stop them and all I want is the truth to be told about it

and fair and fair housing which governs rental property in the US governs and so whatever that application is the the the six-bedroom cottages that I just referenced in Athens who are deal who who are precisely targeting the University of Georgia have tied their wagon to the University of Georgia. Landmark Properties, the largest student housing developer maybe in the world, but certainly in this country, builds student housing. I could find out quickly if they ever have a situation of uh Donnie Smith showing up to rent a bedroom and how they deal with that. I don't know the answer. And that that's all I want is for everybody to know the truth and so that the people that live in that community can know what to expect as far as who is going to be inhabiting their neighborhood. Those people have been there for a long, long time. That neighborhood's very well established and been here for a long time and they deserve to know who is going to be into their community. So that's all I ask and I thank you for your answer.

Legal. Uh yes ma'am. So, this is a little uh we've gotten a little bit off topic because applications have nothing to do applications for the property have nothing to do with the zoning of the property, but what I will say is I believe he has um stated that their intent is to do student housing and that's what he's conveyed um to the body um to he can't control that. That is true. But I just that part of it has nothing to do with just the zoning. So we should try to stick with the zoning which is what we're picking up today. Thank you, Commissioner Cook.

Chairman, I got one question for legal also. So could we put a stipulation limiting it to student a AU student housing? Well, as he stated, we can't do that because fair housing, but I believe that the terms that they do those leases in anyway are terms of um school. And the prices that they charge for each of these rooms are such a rate that if you rent six of them, you're paying about $4,000. So, it wouldn't make sense. And that's how they cut down. They tried to cut down. He can correct me if I'm wrong, but

Thank you, Commissioner Cook. Yes. I have a question for the developer and that is how many buildings are you developing? Um 24 22 22 22 buildings 132 bedrooms. Is that the correct? Thank you. Thank you. And we spoke to the people who were in opposition. Is there anyone in support of this project? Yes, ma'am. Please come and state your name and your address. I just pull up here.

Hi, I'm Veronica Bogens. I'm the president of Sand Hill Neighborhood Association. Uh we uh invited uh the Malars out to our community meetings and um they gave us presentation and in the mere fact that the way that they gave the presentation we uh we really enjoyed it. We looked into it and uh we uh had a overall vote of yes that we were for it. And I do know that um this young lady uh just said and and this gentleman here has stated um about uh about the control of who rents. So I'm right now being a a constituent and a resident. I'm just wondering where was all of this when we had meetings and sharetses at the San Hill Community Center about the weed school project. You know, we we had we had meetings about that and then it turned out to be something else. Here it is now. We are we're most of the residents are for this project. Um, I know that we need uh new development uh there and yes, it's a historical. I was born and raised there. I was born on Fort Gordon and brought back to Gardener Street. My mom was a nurse. I mean, I've retired as an anesthesia technician. And I love Sand Hills. I wouldn't even come here and stand in front of you, ladies and gentlemen, without knowing that I'm coming to you asking you to really take a look at something that could benefit us. This could possibly, not only this project, but any other project, but particularly this one could bring us people on the hill on Sand Hill jobs. We you can just walk to them to the job wherein you don't have to walk way up or

way out to try to catch a Uber. Th this could be jobs here. We could be in the in the beginning of something new and something fresh. Surely we've been to Atlanta. You can't hardly We know what to kind of scoot around to get to and from by the colleges. Almost any of them. My son was down to Georgia Southern.

Yeah. and he stayed off campus in a gated community. I don't It supposed to been just students, but I don't think those I think this is weird. It supposed to been just for students, but how can you and you're right, maybe there is some verbiage or something that can we could uh uh try to look into to see or to uh way to um make sure that we have that there. But having a sergeant in arms, having them to comply with them saying about their security, them having security. Um I think also um you know uh if we can just really think about this because we do need development. Maybe yes, we can critique it or talk with him to get something if we wanted to critique certain areas of the buildings or maybe come down one or two buildings or or something that I I could understand that. I could see that happening, you know. But in the beginning, he didn't want all that parking space. No way. That's not what they asked for. He had they he had to come back here for more and they told him to bring back more parking space. That wasn't his idea. And I think sometimes we just and at a time like this and where we are in Augusta, let's really really pick and choose what we want to battle against because we really need to build our future from these students coming. We want we want these students to stay here because Augusta is going to be something really hot and popping because we in the we in the beginning of it now. So again, Veronica Bogens, 721 Weed Street, the president of Sand Hill Neighborhood Association, and I am for this and the majority. And they were there. We have commissioners who were

there as well at the meetings that could say, I'm not just saying this by myself. We have commissioners who were there and heard and saw the hands go up for what the community wanted. Thanks for listening. Thank you, Miss Bogans. Staff staff recommendation. Staff recommendations.

The planning development staff recommends approval of the reszoning request to R-3B multif family residence with the following condition. Number one, the parcel at 708 and 710 Weed Street must be combined via a combination plat filled with the clerk of courts or a combination request with the tax assessor. The property owner must record the deed plat and provide planning and development with a copy so that the real estate tax records and GIS maps can be updated. Any proposed lighting fixes must be directed downwards and not towards any nearby residents must comply with all aspects of the Augusta tree ordinance. Approval of the this resoning request does not constitute approval of the conceptual site plan submitted with the resoning application. The proposed development shall obtain site plan approval in compliance with the site plan regulation of Augusta, Georgia prior to construction construction commence on this property. The development of the property shall comply with all development standards and regulations set forward by the city of Augusta Richmond County, Georgia as amended at this time of development. That concludes staff recommendation.

Move to move to approve. Madam Chairman, second with conditions. All right. So, we have a motion to approve Z2541 with staff recommendations. I am going to do a roll call vote. So, Commissioner Prince, how do you vote? Approve. Approve. Okay. Commissioner Davis, do not. Commissioner Malice, approve. Commissioner Larry, approve. Commissioner Mcnite, deny. Commissioner Cooks, approve.

Commissioner Spencer, you said deny. Okay. Commissioner Owens, approve. And Commissioner Smith, deny. All right. We got one, two, three. All right. So, Z254 to1 has been approved. have five to four with staff recommendations.

Do you agree to those recommendations? Mr. Mar, Mr. Mar, do you agree to those recommendations? I do. Your project has been approved. Thank you. Yeah. Thanks,

Madam Chair. Does he have to return on the the 17th? Yes. 17th or February, Mr. You'll be back on August the 17th for the Gust Commission for the final approval or or denial. February 17th. What did I say? August. February the 17th. But you'll get a letter in the mail. Okay. by the way.

Good. All right. All right. S E-26-02 a petition by Diamond Communication on behalf of Georgia Power Company requesting a special session per section 28-8-5A of the comprehensive zoning ordinance to establish a telecommunication tower affecting property containing approximately 3.66 acres located at 4436 Deansbridge Road. staff represent

Rachel Martin with planner with planner and planning and development. Uh this special exception pertains to a 3.66 acre property located in the Hepsuba neighborhood and is zoned a agriculture. The property is con currently developed as a Georgia Power substation which provides wireless communications service to Georgia Powerfield employees and systems as well as the general public. Based on the plan, the substation will remain in operation alongside the proposed tower. The applicant intends to lease 1,750 square ft of space and construct a 199.5 ft tall lattice style tower. The site will have limited access and will not be accessible to the general public. Uh this property is situated in the South Augusta character area. Um the the two the I'm sorry, the 2023 um comprehensive plans vision for the South Augusta character area includes the continuation of mixed housing types at a low to medium density to preserve the suburban style single family residential character that is predominant in the area. Recommended development patterns for the South Augusta character area include maintaining lowdensity single family residential development in areas where it is already the predominant land use infill residential development at densities compatible with the surrounding area and to place additional commercial development at major intersections. The applicant proposes to construct a 199.5 foot tall lattice style communication tower on the subject property. Telecommunication towers are

permissible in the agriculture zone upon the granting of a special exception. The subject property is currently developed as a Georgia power substation and is surrounded by single family homes. The nearest residence measures approximately 197.6 6 ft from the proposed tower. There is no minimum distance requirement from a residence. The structure is proposed to be placed 197.6 ft from the nearest residence. However, telecommunication towers must be set back a distance equal to the height of the tower from any existing offsite residential structure. The propo the required setback is half the total height of the tower. Based on the submittal site plan, the proposed tower measures approximately 108 ft from the northwest property line, 138 ft from the southwest property line and over 200 ft from the northeast and southeast property lines. According to the letter of intent submitted with the application, the applicant stated Diamond will shorten the tower to comply with the zoning requirement. The Federal Aviation Administration conducted an aeronautical study that determined the proposed tower would not exceed obstruction standards and would not be a hazard to air navigation. The subject parcel is served by public water but not sewer. However, the proposed use will likely not require utilities. The least area will be enclosed with a six-foot chainlength fence with three strands of bob wire on top. Fencing already exists along the perimeter of the existing Georgia Power substation. This tower is proposed to be um with the George is supposed to be collated with the Georgia power facility due to the um propriety

nature of the communication system and to be implicated um implemented by southern line and it would have the structural capacity to collate up to three wireless providers on the tower. According to the Georgia Department state functional classification map, Deansbridge Road is um classified as a principal arterial route. The street is a limited access highway where sidewalks and pedestrian activity are restricted. According to FEMA, uh this property is not located in a special flood hazard area and there are also no uh wetlands located on the property. The proposal is compatible with the surrounding land uses and consistent with the 2023 comprehensive plan. And at the time of completion of this report, staff has not received any notification of opposition regarding this um petition as advertised. And we did not receive any um engineering or utility comments. And that completes staff's presentation. Thank you.

Thank you. Is the practitioner um here? Please provide your name and your address.

Good afternoon. Mattayia John, 935 Main Street Suite, C4 Safety Harbor, Florida, 34695 for uh Diamond Communications in Georgia Power. As you heard, I come before you today with staff recommendation of approval for the special exception for 197.5 foot tall a lattice style communication tower. We did show on our plans as 199 ft tall, but as mentioned by staff because the nearest house is 197 and a half ft away. Uh just for closing up the record, we do respectfully amend our application shorter. This is proposed for Southern Link. Yes, please. As you heard and specifically, I just wanted to bring your attention to so the the lattice style communic in all maps I show you today up will be north. The lattice is right here in this dark area. There's a small equipment compound. It's immediately adjacent to the um substation. As you can see, it meets the 100% tower height separation from the nearest house. And of course, you can see the setbacks. We would be deeper into the property except you run into issues with the substation being there. That has to be kept separate. Um it has received its FAA determination of no hazard to air navigation. Uh it will be completely dark at night. It'll have a dull gray finish. Um and of course the type of access is technician type access. So one trip per user per month. I'm available for any questions that you may have. That does conclude my presentation. I'm avail and u I reserve

time for rebuttal. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Cook. Uh yes. Um the the distance from the nearest property is that the property line or the structure itself that is the nearest structure. The nearest property line is 108 ft sir. So 197 would hit the basically the nearest structure if it fell over based on based on the math. So, um, it is designed with a 100 foot fall zone radius. Okay.

And what that means is that it's designed to fold over upon itself. If you would like, I can pull a picture from my files from down in Florida where Hurricane Matthew folded one of these over to show how it works. No, I understand. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Is there any in the anyone in the staff that supports this? Anyone excuse me, anyone in the audience that supports this? Anyone in the audience that is against it? Staff, can we have uh the staff recommendations?

Sure. The planning development staff recommends approval of the special session to establish a telecommunication facility with the following condition. Issuance of the development permit shall be contingent upon submission of the plans meeting engineering environmental and all other pertinent development regulations. The total height of the tower cannot exceed 197.6 ft including the lightning rod. There shall be a 30-foot access with utility easement that ties into the Deansbridge road. The 50ft undisturbed tree buffer shall be maintained between the new enclosure and the property line adjacent to the northern residential property. The development must comply with all aspect of the guss tree ordinance. Approval of this special exception request does not constitute approval of the conceptual site plan submitted with the special exception application. The proposed development shall obtain site plan approval in compliance with the site plan regulations of Augusta, Georgia prior to construction commence on the property. The development of the property shall comply with all development standards and regulations set forth by the city of Augusta Richmond County, Georgia as amended at the time of development. This concludes staff's recommendation.

Thank you. Do you have any questions about that? Matt, John, no questions. And for the benefit of the record, we agree and accept agree to all staff's proposed conditions of approval and accept them into our application by reference. Thank you. Move to approve. Madam Chair, it's been approved and second. All right. So, a special exception 2602 approved with staff recommendations. All in favor of approval, say I. I. Any oppose? Say no. All right. So, you have been approved. Thank you for your time today.

But again, you'll be back on February the 17th at 2, but I'll send you something in the mail. Okay.

Yes, ma'am. All right, moving forward. SC-26-0 0 03. So, make sure I got this right. Yeah. Petition by Linda Williams requesting a special session per section 26-1H of the comprehensive zoning ordinance to establish a family personal care home with four clients affecting prop property containing approximately 0.27 27 acres located at 3403 King Sen Drive Kenson Kson Drive. Sorry about that. Zone R1A one family resident staff present.

Hello again. Ashley Caterton, development services administrator and the special exception pertains to a 0.2 27 acre lot um located in the Georgetown South subdivision and is zoned R1A single family residential. The property features a onestory 1,386qt residence that was constructed in 1971. The applicant is seeking approval for a special exception to establish a family personal care home with four clients. The facility will be staff operated for comprehensive plan consistency. This property is situated in the South Augusta character area and the 2023 comp plans vision for the South Augusta character area includes the continuation of mixed housing types at low to medium density to preserve the suburban style. Single family residential character that is predominant in this area. Recommended development patterns for the South Augusta Carrick area include maintaining lowdensity single family residential development in areas where it is already a predominant land use, infill residential development at densities compatible with the surrounding area and to place additional commercial development at major intersections. For findings, the applicant is proposing to establish a family personal care home providing care for four residents. The residence contains three bedrooms and two bathrooms along with a living room, kitchen, dining room, laundry room, and a den. No additions have been proposed at this time. The home will be operated

by one staff member per shift which will care for a maximum of four clients. There are no other established family personal care homes within 1,200 square ft of the subject property. And according to the Georgia Department Transportation State functional classification map, um Kensington D South is classified as a local road. The nearest bus stop is located across from the neighborhood entrance on Deansbridge Road and is approximately 0.37 miles from the subject property. Um public water and sewer are present in this area and um there the property is not located within a special flood hazard area and there are no wetlands located on or within the property. The proposal is compatible with surrounding land uses and consistent with the 2023 comp plan and at the time of completion of this report, staff has not received notifications in opposition regarding this petition as advertised. And for engineering and utilities comments, there were none for um all three received at this time. And that concludes staff's um presentation. Thank you. Hello. Please provide your name and your address. Uh, Linda Williams and my address is 343 Kingsington South Drive, Augusta, Georgia 30906. Good afternoon, members of the board. I am the owner and operator of the proposed family personal care located at 3403 Kingsington South Drive in the Georgetown subdivision. This request is for a small non-medical

residential home care serving three to four adult residents who need assistance with daily living. The home will maintain the appearance and character of a single family residence with no signage, no exterior changes, and no commercial activity. The property is not governed by a homeowners association, and all operations will comply with Georgia Department of Community Health licensing and safety requirements. Parking will be fully accommodated on site with capacity for up to six vehicles, including limited staff, and will not require street parking or create traffic congestion. This request allows a quiet, compatible residential use that meets a community need while respecting the surrounding neighborhood. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you. Is there anyone in the audience that is for this project? Anyone in the audience that is against the project? Staff, any questions? Excuse me. I've got a question. We're going to make sure that the four people that stay there are strictly it's for personal care and nothing else beyond personal care. Yes. Yes. Okay. And the neighbors next door and they're all good with that. Yes. Okay. Thank you.

Staff recommendations, please.

Okay. The planning development staff recommends approval of the special exception to establish a family personal care home with the final condition. The home shall be limited to no more than four residents with full supervision. Any living staff will be counted towards the maximum occupancy of the home. The rear of the property shall be enclosed by a four or 5ft chain link fence. Successful completion of code enforcement inspection is required before insurance of the business license. The applicant must receive a city of Augusta business license and continue to maintain license with the state of Georgia proof of compliance with the minimum requirements of chapter 2902-5-18 of the OCGA must be provided and the applicant must provide annual inspection reports. The home shall be staffed and maintained in compliance with all state department of community health regulations for family personal care homes. No signage is permitted on this property. That concludes staff's recommendation.

Thank you. Do you have any questions, Madam Chair? Mr. Chairman, do that. I would like to make a substitute I mean a substitution to the conditions that we um propose a 6ft privacy fence around the rear of the property in addition to all the conditions. Okay. Do I need to re read that? Yes, please. Okay. All right. Number two, the rear of the property shall be enclosed by a privacy fence of six feet. That concludes staff recommendation. Move to approve, Madam Chair. I second.

Do you approve of that? I have one question. Yes, ma'am. Oh, what type of fence? It's a chain link or privacy fence. Privacy fence. Privacy fence. Just a privacy fence. Okay. It could be shadow box. It could be stockade. Whatever you choose. But not chain link. Not no chain link. No chain on the back of it. Thank you. I approve of this. You accept that? Like you said. Okay. I'm sorry. I accept. I motion

approval of was just staff recommendation special exception 2603 and for clarification that was number two to add a 6 foot privacy delivery. All in favor of the approval say I. I. Any oppose say no. Abstain. Thank you. Neighborhood. I got a house over there right around the corner.

All right. Last but not least, PV-26-01, a petition by SE James on behalf of Stables Management and Development LLC requesting a parking variance to reduce the required off- streetet parking from 129 spaces to 115 spaces affect approximately containing approximately 3.21 acres located at 728 Herd Avenue and 2083 He Street, zone R-3C. Staff represent Rachel Martin, planner with planning and development. The applicant is seeking a parking variance for Hillside Apartment Complex located at located at 728 Herd Avenue and 2083 Heckle Street. The property contains an apartment complex. According to the applicant, the proposal includes the development of a three-story apartment building as an addition to the existing complex which currently contains 47 units. The proposed development would add 27 units consisting of a mix of one and twobedroom units. In total, the complex would consist of 74 units. 38 of those would be one-bedroom units and 36 of those would be two-bedroom units. Tax records indicate that Hillside Apartment Complex was constructed in 2020. The applicant seeks to reduce the total amount of required off- streetet parking spaces from 129 spaces to 115 spaces for Hillside Apartments. Phase two, the this reduction of 14 parking spaces would be an approximate 1.5% reduction. The site consists of two parcels totaling approximately 3.21 21 acres. The applicant proposes to expand the hillside apartment complex by adding 27

new units. The overall building size will increase to 74 units, 38 of those being one-bedroom units and 36 of those being two-bedroom units. The entrances to the parking lot will remain unchanged. Section 4-2A 2 and 2.1 of the comprehensive zoning ordinance requires 1.5 parking spaces per one-bedroom unit which totals 57 spaces and two spaces per two-bedroom unit which totals um 72 spaces resulting in a grand total of 129 required spaces. The applicant is requesting a reduction in the required parking to 115 spaces representing approximately a 1.5% decrease. The applicant sites the um sites the sites proximity to nearby universities to support the reduction in parking. The site is roughly 085 miles from Augusta University Somerville campus, 1.39 miles from the medical district, and 100 I mean, I'm sorry, 810 ft from the nearest transit access stop. At the time of completion of this report, staff has not received any inquiries regarding the the application as advertised. Um, we did receive comments from traffic engineering stating that trip generation did not um did not make it necessary for the addition and engineering stated that existing ADA ramps must be removed and existing drive must be replaced at grade with existing sidewalk and provide curb and gutter. also a minimum 18inch pipe on outfall from the pond and no permanent filter brooms. Um, and that concludes staff's presentation. Thank

you. Thank you. Um, so it's going from 129 spaces to 115 spaces.

Okay. Um, we can amend that. No problem. Thank you. You're fine. Practitioner.

Hello board. I'm uh George Lo Mcnite Jr. I'm up here representing Stables LLC. Our reasoning for um asking for this reduction is in the last three years of operation, a majority of our tenants are university students or medical students, which has already given us an excess amount of parking spots at our disposal. And I believe by uh asking for this reduction, seeing as we already have an excess amount of spots, I do not believe this will cause a problem for us. and that is that we are going off assuming that we'll continue to bring in those medical college those medical students and Augusta University students. Thank you.

Mr. George, could you give us your address, please, sir? 30007 Pine Needle Road.

Thank you. Does any staff have any questions? Does any commissioners have any questions? Mr. Recuse myself. Pardon? Okay. The planning development staff recommends approval of the park and variance request. That's concludes staff's recommendation. Any questions? No ma'am. Um move to approved. Madam chair. Second. You're approved. That was a

Thank y'all for y'all's time. Hold on, baby. Then we have the motion to approve um park conveyance 2601. All in favor of the approval say I. I. No. Any want to say no? Say no. I said it wrong, but you have been approved. Huh? With a recusal of midnight.

Shake everybody's hand. Y'all, we're not done. Madam chair. Move to approve the minutes. Second. Second. All right. All in favor of the approval of January minutes say I. I. Any oppose say no. Thank you. Move to adjourn. I have I would like business. Go ahead. I would like to have us vote on us at least attending one bus tour because I disapprove this vote.

I'll be on the bus with you. I'll go. No notice. There's no notice there. There's no notice for this. I move to approve bus trip. All in favor? Disease. I thought it was a legal issue. There's one legal issue with that. They they tried to make it a legal issue. It is a work session that does not require public ads.