Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon everyone. Oh, I'm sorry.

I do talk loud. I'm from Mississippi. I apologize. But my mother is from Augusta, Georgia. So I was born in Burke County and was raised in Augusta, Georgia. So my name is Lisa Cameron. I am your new planning and development director. Can I just tell you guys, just look around the room, and can you give yourself a hand clap? Come on. Thank you so much for coming out. You guys are awesome. So with that being said, we're going to get the meeting started, but the first thing I would like to do is introduce you to your administrator, Ms. Allen. And we're going to ask her to come up. Ms. Allen, I hope I didn't get your mouth when you were talking. Okay. We're going to introduce Ms. Allen. This is your administrator. Come on, give her a round of applause.

She asked me if she'd catch me off guard. What they say, if you stay ready, you don't have to get ready. But I will say I apologize, but Mr. Howard has reminded me. that we have been having these meetings on Wednesdays. And that interferes with Bible study. And I know a lot of y'all looking at me like, why y'all had this meeting today? We're going to do better next time. So I apologize, Mr. Howard, because you did remind me at the budget meeting, one of the other philosophers, Mr. Howard don't miss a meeting. But I have him missing Bible study today. Pray for me, Mr. Howard. So tonight we are here to get some, first of all, present some information to you regarding the importance of our zoning ordinance and the role that you're going to play in getting that information. Our goal is to be as very transparent. This has been a process that has been going on for quite some time and we're trying to bring it to a close. We had a meeting today with our state steering committee, which are different organizations in the community, to get some feedback from them. Now, I will tell y'all, that meeting did not go as smooth as we thought it would. And let me tell you why. They had some concerns, valid concerns. But guess what? That was a good thing. Because when you have some concerns, that means we're having some discussion. And so we had some very good discussion with those steering committee members today. So we do realize that even after this presentation, there is still work to do. There is still work to be done. But we want to make sure that we are as transparent as possible in making sure that everybody has a voice in this process. Because what we're getting ready to do is something that's going to affect our community, in now and into the future, keeping in mind that whatever we determine helps to build our community. So we don't want any limitations. So we think it's very good that we have everybody in this room today that want to provide some input. Again, this ordinance has not really been truly updated since the 60s, 1960s. I mean, that's hard to believe, right? And so you can imagine this is major change. There have been some amendments to it But there has not been an overall rewrite of our audience. And it's important. So after the consultants do a great job in presenting some of the data, if you have any respective questions, please do not hesitate to ask those questions. We are listening. And we want you to know that. I thank Ms. Cameron, who just came on board with us. Give her a hand. who's taking on this challenging task with her great team and bringing this to a closure and making sure that we update our governing body on where we are, what we hear from our constituents today, and how we need to proceed to move forward to getting this done. So I'm going to turn it back over to you.

Thank you so much. The next voices you will hear will be the consultants, and I will leave them to introduce themselves. And then you can have Adam.

I'm just kidding.

Well, thank you, thank you. Thank you, Ms. Allen and Director Cameron. We're going to get right into it. How many of you know what a zoning ordinance is? Just raise your hands. Okay, about half, half. How many of you have had to use the zoning ordinance, whether you're building or in some form or fashion? Have you had to look up your zoning for anything? Good, okay. I always encourage people to look at the zoning ordinance to try to understand how it applies to your property, your neighborhood. So it's good homework just to kind of refresh and understand how it applies to where you live. So we're here tonight to talk about the zoning ordinance rewrite process. And this process has been going on for quite some time now. So I see a lot of new faces. We're going to spend today talking Giving some information explaining the process where we are with the process and then it's an interactive format We're gonna take questions. We're also live streaming so that people can access this on YouTube later on we have boards that we would love to your participation on, feel free to peruse the gallery and respond in some way or fashion. We have staff members here. We have the consultant team. So the idea is to create discussion and create dialogue about Augusta. I'm going to start with introductions. There is a QR code here. We have a project website where different documents are posted so you can look back at where we've been and what's available on the website today. I'm with Whitesmith Cousineau. We are the lead consultants on the project. My name is Justin Wallace, and my background is in planning and architecture. And I've spent 15 years working in planning in the public sector and the private sector. So we're the lead on the project. I want to introduce the sub consultants on the project as our team collaborators. Melissa and Matt, they're also going to be part of the presentation. I'll let her introduce.

Hi everyone. I really appreciate the time you took out of your busy schedules to be here. I know it's not easy. My name is Melissa Hege and my partner Matt Hege. Our company is MECP CoLab, or CoLab for short. And we've been doing planning and zoning. I personally, for over 25 years, have a master's in urban planning, and we really focus on redevelopment, downtown, master planning, and we're supporting Whitesmith Casino on the engagement piece, but also we're focusing, we're honing in on the downtown and how to understand different opportunities for downtown attorneys with the zoning.

Hello, everybody. Again, really do appreciate everybody's time and effort to be here with us tonight. And my name is Matthew Hagee. We're here to support you all and get real prior knowledge and background for what we're developing for your community. We value it. We value the input. We've had some very important meetings over the last two years. but definitely seems that we're making a very good turn here into some very, very engaging comments and very much a part of where we are in our process. We'll go ahead and start our presentation so we can get into it. We do have some questions and some discussion we have for you all, and sometimes it might be easier if we go through it. If you see something that doesn't make sense to you or you want clarification, It's okay to ask. Raise your hand. We will decide properly for whoever raised their hand first and make sure everybody gets their voice heard. But there is some key components in the presentation. I think if we get through that, we'll help educate and inform of how we got to this process today. So thank you for being here.

All right. Okay, yes, there are some papers that you have in front of you. One is a comment sheet. If, you know, you can take notes, but we'd really like to collect feedback. If you have a priority or concern, jot it down, and we can talk about it, but the goal is to get written feedback here, because that helps us later on as we're sorting through, debriefing on the meeting. It really helps us, so please write down. I encourage you to do that. You also have a quick guide that's available at the front... And that's just a summary of the process and where we've been. So that just is helpful. It gives you a quick snapshot of the project so far. Good question.

Okay, so I'm going to give you the mic a second. There's a QR code on here, and it would be really helpful if you had comments, if you posted them here as well. It's just for us, it's not for, you know, the public. But it's a nice way, sometimes it's hard to read your handwriting, if you're comfortable doing this, this would be easier. And I can, you know, if you guys can, I can walk around and see it. I can't wait to see it.

We have a second mic we will bring out into the audience, so we make sure we hear your perspective and comments. So once we're ready for that, we'll bring a mic to you.

The QR code on the board is for the website. This is for the website. Oh, wow.

Wonderful.

I just wanted to know whether the quick guide is available on the Augusta website or anything like that so that we could share with other people.

We will work with staff to get the quick guide on the website. It's not up there now, but we can work with staff to do that. All right, let's get started. As Matt mentioned, the purpose of tonight's meeting is to inform answer questions, and then have discussion after the presentation. So I did want to point out real quick, planning and development. They are leading the project. We are the consultant team that's a part of the project. We're collaborating with staff, working on the draft. And Augusta Regional Transit Study, MPO, is also associated with the project. We have an advisory committee group and a broader stakeholder group as well. So we've heard some voices throughout the process to help guide the process, but we'd like to hear more input from the community while we're here. I already mentioned tonight is a community conversation. That's what we're referring to. We are not making any official decisions here. There's not a public hearing. It's a community meeting, which means there's no official decisions. No one's voting on anything tonight. So the point is to have dialogue and discuss and ask questions. So tonight, hopefully you can take away what is the zoning ordinance rewrite, why we're updating it, how long is the process, what we've heard so far, what's changing, and how best to engage. So I always like to start with this slide, which, raise your hand if you were a part of the comprehensive plan in Vision Augusta. Was anyone a part of that process? Okay, that's okay. The Envision Augusta is the county's comprehensive plan. So that sets the overall vision and goals and objectives for how Augusta wants to grow. And those are policy provisions. So the Envision Augusta is kind of the guiding star that staff and elected officials look at to make decisions about capital improvements, rezoning decisions, and other such decisions at that level. Zoning, on the other hand, is the rule of law. It's regulation. It's what you can do with your property today. So those encompass all the development rules, so heights, setbacks, what uses are permitted, and so forth. So it's important to distinguish between policy and zoning. We're focused on zoning. So your zoning ordinance was first adopted in 1963. It's been amended over and over and over again, but it has not been comprehensively updated since 1963. So think about that. Think about how outdated that is and how much we need to update it for modern era. Not only that, we need a more clear document, a more usable, user-friendly document, We're trying to bring it up to par to deal with modern trends. Someone already mentioned data centers. But we're kind of caught off guard with these emerging uses. And so we're trying to bring the zoning ordinance up to speed to deal with those types of things that are emerging that you see in other places that are coming to Augusta as well. There are several plans already adopted, so we want to relate and cross-reference to adopted plans. And then there's Georgia state statutes, which we need to conform to at the state level. And so there's a lot of updates that naturally occur over time and we're trying to get the zoning ordinance up to that level. I already mentioned the Comprehensive Plan sets that vision, that long-term goal. And so one of the key concepts in Envision Augusta is the idea of these character areas. And these are geographic areas of the county. The county is really big. So there's downtown, there's urban areas, suburban areas, rural, agricultural areas. there's a lot of different things happening on. And so we don't need a one size fits all approach. We're trying to tailor zoning standards to those different character areas. So some of the themes that came out of Envision Augusta is protecting rural and historic areas, supporting compatible residential infill, strengthening downtown and mixed use activity centers, improving access to services and amenities, encouraging reinvestment along commercial corridors, and aligning development with the community context. Okay, so the zoning ordinance, what does it include? When you think about zoning districts and what's allowed in those districts, what uses are permitted, the dimensional requirements, heights, setbacks, types of developments, all the development rules, and also how staff administers those rules, the development review process. Those are all included in the zoning ordinance. We also have a subdivision ordinance, which is outside of the zoning. Historic preservation is outside the zoning ordinance. Tree ordinance is outside the zoning ordinance. Some communities combine all of these together, but Augusta, we are specifically focused on zoning in this process. So I just wanted to be clear on that. General timeline, so we are at about three quarters of the, and what does that mean? That means we have a detailed draft. We started with initial concepts, we had several iterations, and now we're at a detailed draft that is ready for your review. So we started with a kickoff meeting in 2024, in the fall, And we met with stakeholders in early 2025. We had a great public or community survey, which Melissa will talk about next. Then we went into drafting mode and we had several iterations of the draft. And now we're in our third draft. And so that's where we are with the star is currently at the public workshop. I'm going to let Melissa talk about what we've heard so far.

Thank you. So I wanted to say that this is a summary of what we've done so far with engagement. recognize that more needs to be done and so I just wanted to sort of frame that that we do intend to do more engagement but thus far as Justin said we started in November with a full day of in Augusta doing touring, meeting with leadership, meeting with department leadership. We did a community meeting. We met with the advisory group. So we got some initial understanding. We followed it up in February with four key stakeholder group meetings where we met to discuss in a virtual setting, environmental sustainability, land use and building design, mobility and infrastructure, and private development. That was with people that were invited to participate. So it was small groups. We also launched in May an online survey. And so the online survey was a way to capture additional input from community members. I'm sorry.

I would like to have a definition of stakeholder. Because I realize I'm just nodding my head, sure. But who is considered a stakeholder?

So a stakeholder is anyone who is interested in the project, who lives in the community or works in the community. You all are... There's... That's what a stakeholder is.

Yeah.

So I'm just going to get through this and we can have the questions at the end if that's okay. So that was the first set of meetings that we did and it sort of guided some of the initial direction and answer some questions. So in July we did our first community engagement meeting and that meeting was held in That was in July, but the location.

West Augusta. Okay.

We had, you know, we didn't have a high participation in that particular meeting. We had some participation. We came in town and we discussed, we had boards, we had an interactive session, and we got some input from the community. We had a very lively discussion, which was great. We came back. We have an advisory committee. The advisory committee met in November. They also met in July and they met in October. So this is our third public meeting. We've also done one-on-one meetings with a council member for the downtown district. So in total, we've had 555 participants in the online survey that closed in May. We've had about 172 in-person virtual participants across all the meetings. We've had 16 official meetings, so we've had four in person, including this one today. Actually five, it was the one earlier today, and then 12 virtual. So a project of this size, you know, you need a lot of additional input. This is a summary of some of the community insights and feedback. And so the boards have more information about some of the things that were said and how the code is addressing them. I think it's really important for everyone to understand. So we looked at, as Justin said, there's different areas. It's a big community. There's lots of different characters, different types of areas. You have downtown, suburban, rural areas. And so that was something that we looked at in specific community purposes for downtown. Downtown, there was support for vertical mixed use and adaptive reuse. You have a lot of historic buildings downtown. Suburban, there was support for mixed use districts and low scale housing. Rural, there was support for rural, for farm stands, farm to table and wineries. And there was really no support for mini storage. In terms of the key community concerns, it has to do with sidewalks and walkability. Sidewalks are particularly part of the zoning code, but that's important in terms of the design of the building configuration, trees and green space, building infrastructure that was poor, and then shortage of affordable housing. So those are kind of the key things. Now, the code responded generally, and like I said, there's more detail on the boards if you can walk me through after this discussion. The new code responds in the following ways. It makes the process more predictable. So the idea is to make it more simple and easier to follow and predictable. It encourages high quality design. The code is more simple. So the structure of the code is more simple with more graphics. The idea of protecting green spaces, reducing parking minimums, tree canopy requirements, and expanding housing options. So having a variety of housing choice, accessory dwelling units, duplexes, triplexes, and so forth, which Justin will talk about. This is a summary of the survey. There's a board as well that provides the same information, generally focused on housing in neighborhoods. We said we need more housing, adaptive reuse, and downtown density. There was kind of a mixed feeling on mobility and connectivity. There was really more consensus on design and character. This is from the survey. the people that participated, preserving identity, having active streets, and preserving the green canopy, and of course green space and the environment were important as well.

Thank you. So again, that was a summary of what we've heard so far. We would like to hear more. So the goal, again, is to have dialogue, answer questions, so we can collect as much feedback as possible for community members in the Augusta area. So this next slide, as we were working through initial engagement, The consultant team works on what we call a zoning diagnostic. And so we were evaluating how the zoning ordinance relates or doesn't relate to that comprehensive plan. So we looked at industry practices. We evaluated peer community in and around Georgia. We looked at some development alternatives. And we had some preferred strategies. And then we came up with some preliminary recommendations, which is included in this recommendations memo. It's available on the website. That QR code that we displayed and will display later, you can access this, and it's available to read. So the preliminary recommendations are capturing several focus areas. One of those areas, and then we'll talk in more detail, is transitioning from the old zoning district structure, which is very outdated and cumbersome to read. We're trying to move more towards a character based zoning district. We'll talk about that on the next slide. We're also creating a new downtown Augusta district. That's a huge transformation from what you have today and the goal for that is to support culture and arts, housing, reinvestment in downtown area. We have some boards and our sub-consultants are here, Melissa and Matt, to talk through that with you guys and we'd like to gain more information and feedback on that. The other area is corridors. You have a public transit system, but right now the land use along those routes aren't necessarily supporting public transit. So those routes, we're looking at the standards, development rules along those corridors to help improve businesses and development and redevelopment along those corridors. We're also looking at introducing housing along those high frequently traveled corridors. And that helps support the transit system over time. That's a long term long-term goal. So that's also new provisions that's included in the zoning ordinance. Housing. We heard so much about housing and we're still having conversations about housing and how to best implement that in the zoning ordinance. We heard accessory dwelling units, how to deal with small lots that are constrained, We heard about introducing compatible neighborhood infill and what that looks like. How to introduce open space into higher intensity housing, multi-family housing. And then different types of housing that aren't permitted today, such as triplexes, duplexes, cottage courts is another big term. So those are key components that we're looking at with housing. We're updating the permitted uses, and we're reevaluating the development standards. And I have a slide to talk a little bit about those. So this map is a concept map. It just helps us think about how the zoning ordinance, how the zoning districts can be applied to help with those character areas. So in the map, we have a dedicated area for downtown. We have a dedicated area for the traditional, more historic pattern that you see in that inner ring of neighborhoods. We have suburban areas. We have business centers. We're introducing mixed-use activity centers, which is not allowed today, so that's a new concept. We're looking at standards that addresses industrial areas and then rural and agricultural areas. So this kind of creates that spectrum from downtown, suburban, to rural. I'll let Melissa talk about the downtown.

I won't talk as long about this one. So we're specifically looking at the downtown. And the observation we had was that you have your medical districts here, your university, which is a major employer. But there's a disconnect between the medical district and your historic core. And also you have this great waterfront, but how are you going to kind of, can you activate it more? Because our understanding is during the day when we see it, there's not as much activity. On the weekends, it's more active, right? And then you have sort of this, these larger blocks here that are sort of scattered sites. You don't have a lot of development happening. You have a lot of vacant land. And a lot of it is institutional ownership. Of course, you have the James Brown Arena, which is being redone. But you have a lot of investment right now that the county, city is putting into this area with infrastructure improvements and James Brown. And so how do you bridge this gap? And we feel that there's a strategy of filling in what we're calling the cultural arts district and mixed uses and housing. to support this major employment center that you have here, which would then support the downtown core, which is really where all the entertainment uses are, and the riverfront. So more people means, more people means that you're supporting the businesses there, there's opportunity for more business. As an outsider looking in, when we first came to Augusta, we were really amazed at how beautiful the buildings are, the architecture, the quality of the streets. You have a lot. It needs some TLC, and there's a lot of reasons that we're learning for why there's not a lot of movement. But part of the thing that you can do to kind of help and push it along is allow the residential Right now, it's not allowed as of right. There's a process for getting it approved. It's permitted, but you have another layer of approvals. And so it's not easy, and that would definitely help. So this is the concept for the downtown, and what we've done for each of the sub-districts is we've created these drawings which show, it's called a massing model of how many floors and what it could look like. And so these are kind of in development, but once we have consensus on the downtown, we'll refine the graphics, we'll have information about the height and the setbacks and how much green space, and look at ways to encourage different types of uses different types of community benefits and considering bonuses.

Just going to make a comment to that. We did get some very positive feedback today about the missing middle, workforce, affordable. Where does that come into play in this update and how does that fit? And so this is one of the visions for the downtown is that might be the opportunities for that really would support the revitalization of downtown. And that would be a good approach to look at. So those are some comments we're hearing. We definitely understand it. We definitely see it. We work in other economic developed areas that are challenged for that. And so we understand the need for that. But we are looking at scenarios that could reinforce that for the community and for the viability of that. other than small lot housing, other than just traditional housing, but housing that would fit within this terrific economic area to support walkability and other things that would be related to the core.

All right, so that's just a snapshot of the downtown Augusta district. How about the rest of the county? For the agricultural areas, we are looking at, we heard a lot about farmers and rural lifestyle, but the need for more commercial uses that are appropriate for these areas. Wineries, farm to table, equestrian related activities and stables, Those types of facilities that you would find in other areas, we want to allow these in the agricultural areas so that farmers and property owners that live in these areas have options about what to do with their property and to promote a more rural economy and that would help support Augusta in the agricultural and rural areas. So that's an update of the agricultural district. And so now I'll talk about the kind of rural areas. We've introducing a new estate residential district. And so this is a zoning district that you don't have today, but it requires two acre lots. So these are larger lots that with the goal being that you can protect open space if you do grow and subdivide in the periphery of Augusta. And so it helps to optimize open space. It decreases demand on utilities, water, and sewer. And so this is a new concept that's included in the draft. Okay. There's a current zoning district called R2, which currently allows two family or duplexes. We're expanding this zoning district to include additional housing types. Right now we're looking at triplex, quadplex, and accessory dwelling units. And so this would allow a broader range of housing types, including design criteria for those types of housing, where they can be located within the block or within the neighborhood. So there's some locational criteria and some design criteria that's included. We did talk today with some other steering committee group ongoing conversation about how to effectively introduce broader range of housing types. So we're still, this is an evolving topic and we're working with staff on this in particular. Another idea, this image is from across the river, but the idea here is that you can have neighborhoods that have a little bit of a restaurant or a coffee shop, corner stores. And so this is a new district. It's a neighborhood mixed-use district. And so this is for compact, walkable areas that you have here in Augusta. But right now they're under a more suburban-type zoning. And they really need a tailored zoning district to address the unique issues that are happening for those areas. inner ring neighborhoods, the historic neighborhoods. So this is a proposed district to address those types of areas. And then we have two mixed-use districts in addition to downtown. One is the medical mixed-use center, which addresses that area just west of downtown. with all of the institutions and campuses. And so the idea here is to have housing where you're working so that you can have all of that in one place. You don't have to drive 25 miles to get to something that you need. We also have a new neighborhood center. And so this could occur throughout the county. So again, that you have services, amenities closer to neighborhoods And you're not having to drive too far to go to a coffee shop and go to a restaurant. I mentioned public transit corridors and how we're addressing commercial properties. So we're looking at somewhat relaxing what's there today. Because what we heard is that There's too much parking requirements. If a business owner wants to redevelop, they're constrained because the code currently requires way too much parking. If we relax parking and some other standards, we have more room for trees, more room for other types of things, and more room for building. And so that's the goal here along transit routes is to get more pedestrian access, more sidewalks. The focus is to help facilitate redevelopment along those important corridors. We have some new incentives that facilitate adaptive reuse. And so we heard a lot about vacant lots buildings that have sat empty for a long time, old warehouses. So how can we encourage development and redevelopment and adaptively reuse those areas to provide more housing, maybe mixed use, and things that the community wants to see. So we're trying to create incentives that would encourage a more sustainable approach and to redevelopment over time. So those are some ways that we're looking at commercial properties, particularly along those major thoroughfares. And so neighborhoods, we have several new provisions that help or are specific to neighborhoods. We talked about the housing options. We're looking at the concept of transitions, neighborhood transitions. So when new development that's more intense, maybe industrial uses, we're looking at beefing up the buffer yard standards, which we're calling neighborhood transitions. So that would include landscaping, and what's permitted the separation distance between new development and residential areas. So those are new provisions. We're also looking at the quality of development. When you think of multifamily townhouses, what does it look like? We heard a lot of concern about just the overall quality of the materials and the need for open space. to make it feel more like a neighborhood. We also are introducing a neighborhood registry and citizen participation plan. And so when you think about those uses that have high impacts, someone brought up data centers, so those types of uses have an enormous impact on the community. And so this system allows different organizations and neighborhoods to register and get a courtesy notice when an application is filed. So it just helps. It also requires a community meeting before the application is filed as well. So that's something that we're working on to try and get more community participation for those specific uses that have high impacts on the community. A few standards, we're consolidating the use, we're adding charts and tables, we're looking, updating the sign regulations, and parking regulations in another area. So those are a few kind of highlights of updates that are occurring. In terms of next steps, we are talking with staff about what that roadmap looks like. So we want more engagement, So we're gonna refine what we have and try to find ways to talk more to stakeholders as part of the next step and kind of refine what we have, course correct if needed. And so that's kind of what we're thinking with next steps. Ultimately we want an adoption ready document. So that's ultimately our goal and the adoption phase includes planning commission and then Augusta Commission with a public hearing. So there will be continued engagement as part of this process. So that is an overview. I think I've talked enough and right now we want to hear some questions and we also want to, you know, if there's certain topics that require more discussion. We can have breakouts. So let's get to questions and answers.

I just want to say, because I see someone setting up a camera there, this is also being filmed and it will be, it's being live streamed and it's also going to be available right on the city's YouTube channel. So everybody will have access to this meeting.

Okay, my name is Frank Howard, Frank G. Howard. And for the downtown person, where are the grocery stores? I haven't seen anything, never said anything about grocery stores.

So one of the things that we're going to be, that we're working on is updating the uses for the downtown. Grocery is, a lot of the things and the uses, we can allow the uses to occur. And we can incentivize certain uses if that's something that's important. But if you have more people living in the downtown and we allow for more housing, we're gonna get more grocery stores. The lack of groceries is due to lack of customers. So you're telling me that

down Ball Street, out on 15th Street. They had real grocery stores down there. And you said that, of course, that you said that people don't seem to travel long distances for things that they need. And so they have to travel all the way to Washington, D.C. to the first major grocery store. So, yes. Excuse me?

Your comment, and we've heard it for over a year in other community meetings, the same comment that you've made, and that has driven some of the look of the downtown as an opportunity for change because ultimately it needs to be livable for all the community. Well, at the moment, we're trying to incentivize a housing opportunity because there needs to be more housing. And so the zoning code there has some suggestions to be changed to allow mixed-use residential there so that it has more opportunity for redevelopment.

Okay, but I understand that where Portland used to be, you know, they took over. Well, I was going to make a comment. Chicken or egg? I mean, we need grocery stores, but you got to have the people.

to get to the grocery stores too. And so what we're trying to do with the zoning is allow housing to happen so that it may not happen tomorrow, but we're trying to get more housing downtown so that a grocery tenant wants to come to Augusta. I mean, that's what we're trying to do is make it marketable for a grocery store to happen in the future. So we need residents, we need rooftops downtown.

We can come back to you. So I think we'd like everyone who wants to participate to have a chance to talk. So I think the best approach is to have everybody ask the question, get the response, and give a follow-up. That's great. And then we can talk to you offline after as well if you want to have more discussion just so that everybody has a chance.

Alright, so my first question actually is about the stakeholders. You said you had a private meeting with stakeholders. Which stakeholders are you discussing? Because technically, we're the stakeholders because we live here. Agreed. There should not be private meetings with invitation only. That should not have been a thing at all.

Let's talk about that. I agree with you. Community members are stakeholders. I think when we say stakeholders... it's technical stakeholders. So we're talking about engineers, landscape architects, maybe architect, people that interact with the zoning ordinance on a daily, weekly basis that have kind of the They're used to the technical terms and that sort of thing. So we want to get their insight into what's not working. And so that's what we mean with stakeholders. These are focus groups that we met with early on in the process that go through the process with staff on a daily, weekly basis. And so that's what we mean when we're meeting with stakeholders. We mean technical focus groups. And so that includes the architects, the builders, landscape architects, and so just the technical expertise that, you know, deal with this on a daily basis. So that's what we're affiliated with.

Alright, so my next question has to do with everything that's happening downtown, because I actually work downtown. Yeah, all of it is is gentrification. This is what we're looking at. We are looking at gentrifying downtown and pushing lower-income families out because it's going to drive up property taxes, which we've already seen go up exponentially already. Mine's doubled. I've been here six years, and mine's already doubled since I first moved here. He made an excellent point about... You're trying to create walkable communities while you're not putting in place actual, like this has to be used for a grocery store so people can walk to it. What can we do to actually, like, this needs to be done for this, this needs to be done for this, other than, oh, well, we'll just change the zoning and then you can possibly use it for this. And why are we incentivizing people to come here? Why are we paying them to come here? Because we're going to be paying them back when they start building and everything. So we're going to be paying them. They're getting paid twice. Why?

So let me address a couple of those things. So one of the things that we're looking at is, in terms of housing, is a range of housing options, including affordable housing, including middle housing. And so the idea is not gentrification and pushing people out. That's not the intention. And I'm glad that you brought that up, because that's really important. That's always decided. It's the side of, well, it has to be designed the right way. It has to be designed the right way, and we have to be able to show, one of the things that you can do are bonuses and incentives, and you incentivize certain types of things that you'd like to see. So for example, if you'd like to have a purse restored, one of the incentives you can say is you can get additional height, you can get additional density, if you do these certain things, and certain things could be a grocery, certain things could be a certain percentage of affordable housing, you can name the percentage of the average, the area median income. So there's lots of tools, there's lots of precedents that a lot of different cities are doing that have had success in. So you're absolutely in control if you design it the right way, and that's really what we're here to help do. And we're listening to all of your input so that we know the right things to put into the code.

Yes, I have a question for you. One of the basic issues of zoning is the requirements that you have when you build things and how you design them. In Augusta, we've had for years a problem with stormwater runoff. And we look at, when we design, when you all design, the city and architects folks design subdivisions. When five years later, six years later, the runoff doesn't work anymore. There's no requirement from the zoning that will require them to do that. I know we have an engineering department, but here's what I'm saying. When you design a subdivision or you design something, one of the things you have is restrictions that can be placed there. Those restrictions in many cases are lifetime. Also, you have the same restriction as what you should have for a retention pond or a detention pond. It cannot be overgrown with trees. It starts off that way. Five years later, it's not retaining or detaining any water. There's no requirement in the zoning to require that farm be maintained. We know engineers can come out. They can be enforced with it. I'm talking about the upfront requirement. That's what we need to change in this zoning update. Thank you.

May I say something? And the team can speak more to that. Unfortunately, that is in our subdivision ordinance. My name is Lisa Cameron. Thank you so much. That is in our subdivision ordinance. It's different from the zoning. We will allure to the section, but we are not working on that particular ordinance tonight. But for that information, sir, I will take that now so that we can have that chance.

The gentleman over here raised his hand prior, so I'll make sure we get him.

Yeah, my name is Ollie Washington, Augusta resident. I had some questions related to subdivision, but since you said that, I won't ask them. I'll try to get something through another county activity. First of all, before I forget it, how do we get our name on an advisory committee to participate in some of these information gatherings?

Well, I'll speak to that. The Augusta Commission, from what I understand, selected the Advisory Commission. So they were part of that process, from what I understand. So again, they're helping to steer the direction of the project. And again, they're in an advisory capacity. So they're helping us.

Okay, before you go too far, maybe the advisory committee, just citizens, how do you get, be put in the pool of citizens who want to provide input or feedback?

That's why we're here tonight. Yeah, we're... This is just the process. We've had two community meetings so far, and this is the third one. It always feels like there aren't enough meetings. That's something we hear everywhere. That's not, and I understand your concern. So the goal of tonight is to talk and to gather those people. So this is the meeting to do.

Okay, that's fine. Back to something you all were saying in the city, and I guess, Melissa, that's your area. There should be considerations for an entertainment zone, and that overlaps into the transportation problem, because you can create an entertainment zone, but how do you get to parking? And that's another city function. You can do a trolley or something. I want to go to a club, but I don't want to walk five blocks to the parking bit. So that should be, put that in your notes to consider an entertainment zone, a place where grown folks can go without a bunch of other foolishness.

So the historic core is part of the entertainment zone, and we can look at that, because I had a couple comments about the naming and bringing back that entertainment name, so we can definitely talk about that. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Dr. Nelson. And my comment and question was, we heard a couple of people talk about how the Kroger has been moved off of 15th Street. And it created a food desert. And there have been other entities that sell produce and groceries that have moved. And we have areas in Augusta that are entertainment. I mean... food swamps as well. So there are other meetings that go on in the community. The Laney Museum and as well as the Medical College have had several meetings and discussions about food deserts and food swamps and trying to get together with the farm to table community to bring some grocery selling entities back into downtown. So like we're having this meeting here, I'm the last person that says have another meeting. However, I do think that the staff that's involved in this should be going to some of those other auxiliary meetings so that Those considerations can be made so that the communities that we have, especially if we're talking about making mixed-use communities, then they need grocery stores. I mean, I live out here. I would like to see a swimming pool. so that our kids here can do something other than what we have the capacity to do right now. So some of the things that you're looking at as far as mixed use, they do need to be bolstered with activities and diversification of what we can do when those community spaces are built.

I just want to respond to that because it wasn't in the presentation but we did have conversations about food banks and food deserts and the mixed use neighborhood centers will help facilitate that. Because right now, food banks are an industrial category, but we can allow smaller food banks in those areas, those mixed-use areas, and we can allow the farm to table, as we talked about in the agriculture. And so that is folded into the process, and I just wanted to point that out.

My name's Richard Jones, and I was involved with the Charter Review Committee. And one of my major concerns, and you mentioned it a little bit tonight, in reference to capital projects. Are you addressing, when the city gets a capital project, any kind of guaranteed warranties in relation to capital projects? Because I can cite two instances where the city, I think, got ripped off of hundreds of thousands of dollars but we didn't recover anything back. So my second question was dealing with infrastructure, which I'll pass something over to the gentleman of theme, of work orders, but capital projects. Are you addressing that with any company that wants to come in to Augusta?

No, that's outside of our scope. We're not addressing capital projects. I just mentioned that early on because the Envision Augusta Comprehensive Plan is the document that elected officials use, they look to for those types of decisions. That was just an example that I used.

Good evening. I'm Brenda Lynn Jenkins-Boseman. On your number two slide that you had revitalization opportunities, how will you incentivize that, especially if it's around affordable housing? Would you make exceptions for higher density? Would you make parking requirement burdens lessen? Are there subsidies or grants other than LIHTCS for developers that may be interested in those properties And are there incentives or abatement incentives for faith-based or mission-based organizations interested?

That's a wonderful question. A couple of the things you mentioned are included in the draft, so we are looking at relaxing some of the standards to help incentivize adaptive reuse. That is one of the things that we can do within the zoning ordinance. The abatements, the LITC, that's outside of the zoning ordinance, but those are separate parallel things that can facilitate that. But we are looking at potential uses that are appropriate, such as housing. We have not talked much about what that is, whether that's affordable housing, workforce housing. That's something we can keep talking with staff about, so I appreciate that comment.

Just as an aside, on your photo, it was seemingly a house of worship. And I hope the adaptive reuse was not reusing that building, but adding to that building.

Well, this is an example. In my community, where I'm from, Columbia, South Carolina, so this particular instance, they did reuse it. So we're not proposing that. It was just an example that they used. There's some commercial and residential, and they adoptively reused. So hopefully there's some better examples that we can use, but yeah.

Good evening. I had to come over and grab a mic. So I asked the question earlier today about the Dattletoners. My name is Dr. Zakiya Mabry, and my background is in governance consulting. And I would love to know what methodologies did you all use? Did you start off with a needs assessment, a SWOT analysis? Can you tell us what type of methods you used in the beginning throughout this process? Thank you. And also, will you be capturing the feedback from the public today and having some kind of dashboard tracker so we can see what the public actually has said and later on we can see if it hasn't been implemented, why or why not. Thank you.

You have great questions. So the second question, we will be collecting feedback. That's why the written portion is important, as I mentioned before, so that we can catalog and respond in some way or fashion. I don't know if it's a dashboard, but we will be cataloging the feedback. So that helps with the process. Your first question was, methodology for this. So there's several things. The American Planning Association is the national organization and they write different, I guess, policy documents regarding all different types of land uses. So we rely heavily on that because that's a national organization. It's highly recognized. It's what planners have to be certified in, the APA. So that's a prime source. We also look at peer communities to understand what other communities are doing. So referencing other communities, what are best practices? What are other communities? If they've already been through the process, that's a great resource to... you know, pool information from. We work in other communities too. So we're working in Clayton County now, in Georgia, different communities in South Carolina and North Carolina. So talking with other communities in meetings like this helps inform each other with different topics. And so those are the three that come to mind. We don't do studies that's out that's beyond our scope so it's mainly using references and resources that are available and industry standards good evening my name is Betty Reese and I am to a resident of Richmond County

A couple of questions. You mentioned that there was a second layer for additional approval for funding. I guess that's what you meant. Also, in your mixed-use categories, out here in South Augusta, we still have plenty of land that could be used, i.e. for some parks and amusement for our families and children, and for shore restaurants. And also, I would love to see our roadways better designed, put some landscapes, some shrubs, small plants, something out there that looks so bad, so bad, overgrown all the time. Some better signage. We need help.

Thank you for that. My name is Noel Sweers and as I'm sitting here I just have a question. There was something in the quick report about the commission was considering more time on data center approvals until the new zoning ordinance was enacted. Is this ordinance, is it data center friendly or have better guidelines? Is that something in particular that y'all are looking at for the Augusta area?

We are. So we are looking at standards for data centers. Well, let me finish. We are looking at standards that would... So let me just talk through the draft. I can't speak to the moratorium. I don't know information about that. But the draft includes... Let's see, that public participation process that I talked about earlier, when development applications come in, Neighborhood organizations will get a courtesy notice so that helps you be aware of uses and when those applications are filed. So that's another thing that we're including. Those types of uses are special use permits, which requires review by Augusta Commission and a public hearing. So that's... We're trying to... review the process for these types of uses so that the public is aware and that there's a public process so that you're not caught off guard when these things happen. As I mentioned earlier, these are uses that communities all over the nation are dealing with. We don't have standards in place that address this, so we have to have some standards, guardrails in place for these types of uses, not only data centers, but other types of uses that have these types of impacts. Another provision that we include in the draft is that environmental impact assessments, they have to work with utility companies to address water capacity, electricity capacity, And then we can handle things through the building footprints, so how big the buildings are. These are things that we can deal with in the zoning ordinance itself to prevent or protect and put the guardrails up in the future for these types of uses. So those are some of the things that we're trying to help with, with uses like dinosaurs, since it was brought up.

And that's something that, unfortunately, in Richmond County, the horse has already gotten out. So, like, you know, we've got to close that barn door now. We should have closed that barn door before this happened. And that brings something in from a while ago when you talked about stakeholders. and that the original stakeholders were the professionals that deal with the ins and outs of the zoning, performances and whatnot, building, all of that. But why not start there? Why not start with the community members who live in these areas, who have input as to what they would like to see done in those areas first? So then you have a better idea of what the community wants. The other thing with that is, is when you have these meetings that were open to the public, what time of day were they held? Because this is the fourth and the fifth one, right? Are they always at night?

They're not always at night. We do try to mix it up. We try to avoid Wednesdays. I know tonight is a Wednesday. we do try to take that into consideration. Timing, because people work, so we understand timing is important. Sometimes we do lunch meetings, sometimes we meet right at 5.30 and we try to centralize locations. Sometimes we have to deal with voting, elections, and the room is booked, so we have to go elsewhere. So there's some realities that we have to deal with when We're hosting these, but we try to pick times that as many people as possible can come to the meetings.

And I appreciate that. However, I'm a small business owner. I own my own home. More people, I think, would be able to come at night than they would during the day. I had an issue earlier today, still have an issue with it, that we did not, I did not know about this at all. There's been a lot going on in the world within the last couple of years. I was working, you said it was October 2024. If I remember correctly, that's around the time that Helene hit. Yep, so depending upon what time it was in October, a lot of us were dealing with PTSD from that. That thunderstorm we had the other day, which made me un-blue, quite frankly. I'm still having issues with it. So a lot of the planning that has gone into this doesn't seem to really take into consideration the people who live here, the rank and file who live here, who have a lot at stake with everything that is going on. With data centers, full stop, no. The one that we have going on here at Haines Station is being built by QTS, who is responsible for taking 29 million gallons of water from Fayetteville, Georgia, that the residents had no clue until they had no water. We don't want anything like that happening here. It's beyond the pale with that. Two more things. I know, I know, I know. I would like to have definitions of the different terms that you are throwing out because Not everybody knows exactly what you're talking about, and if we aren't on the same page of what you're talking about, we really have no understanding of what you're talking about. So that would have been helpful. And the last thing that I want to say is, where are areas that you have consulted on before, and the municipality in question has actually implemented your ideas and concepts? So that we can see what your work is. So we can see your resume. How do we see that? So that we know the proof is in the book.

All right. I have had my hand up. I don't know how long, and you keep bypassing me. I am angry because I have questions, and you keep walking right by me to talk to her. No. I have been as long as bed. No.

Thank you.

All right, my name is Gayla Kesey. I'm with the League of Women Voters of the CSRA. One of the things that we talk about with good governance is transparency and accountability. That's something that I don't see happening. This has been going on, as Dorothy said, for two years. This is really the first time I have even clued in, and I am one of those that... that follows what goes on in this community. So can you explain how stakeholders and advisory committee members were selected, whether that process reflected a broad cross-section of Augusta residents, what outreach methods were used to ensure that everyday residents, not just developers, planners, or insiders, knew about that survey? I never even knew about it, and it closed in May. Did y'all know about it? No. So that's why. If you get only 555 people responding when we have how many people residents, you didn't do a good job of letting people know about it. So no, you can't say people don't care when they don't know about things. The same thing is we've got to look at including us. including the people. When y'all write, this was a high level. I have a PhD. This was a high level. All the terms that you used, in fact, Dorothy even mentioned the terms. I didn't understand part of them. I don't know what an ADU is. I don't know what those things are. Institutional jargon doesn't help the everyday person. understand what y'all are talking about. Thank you.

Okay, so let's address this big elephant in the room. We have not done a great job in doing what needs to be done. That's why we're meeting here tonight. This is to get your input. This is to get some feedback. Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you, Ms. Reese. Tamika Allen, your administrator. I tell you, this has been a process. Now, I wasn't the administrator at the time, and I'm not saying anything negative toward what happened before me getting here. But I will say the goal of this, and Ms. Cameron, who is the new director, the goal was to make sure that we had everybody's input. Some of you I met today and had discussions with, right? She gave me some hints and she gave me some all kind of feedback on what we need to do better. We listen to that. You are discouraged, you're mad, you know, the gentleman right here wants to go to the club on a trolley. We will make sure that we consider all those things. That's what we're here to do. We want to hear from you. So we don't want you to think that we're not listening. We don't want you to think that this is already done. Let me tell you something. There is nobody more special than everybody sitting in this room. So don't think that we, because they're a steering committee, that we're meeting with them make them any better than you. Because we're not running with anything they said until we hear from you. So that's why we're in here. Our goal is to make sure that each one of you have an opportunity to give us some feedback. Now I can't talk to what was done prior. But I can tell you, to Ms. Gayla Kesey's point, that I'm all about transparency. If I was not about transparency, I would not be in here tonight to talk to you to make sure that these meetings take place. Not here tonight knowing that we're going to have to continue speaking with this consultant to make sure that we have even more meetings. This is not the last meeting. but i will encourage you when that information comes out about surveys in our community we need y'all to respond to those surveys about and i know miss keecy said we didn't know about it but i'm going to tell you i don't know how many of y'all follow our social media how many go on our website the city does everything they possibly can they come and touch you to say here is the information Follow it. Look at it. Talk to other people. Talk to your neighbors. Did you go out there and give your input? It's no different than voting. If you want to vote and you want change, you've got to do something. That means you've got to get to the polls. We need you all to get there and respond to these things that we put out there so that we can hear from you. If you can't, then you can't complain, right? But y'all complain anyway. But, you know, if you didn't give us any feedback, it's very difficult for us to say, okay, really? We've had all these meetings. We're going to have more meetings. I don't know if we need to put it on the news. We do press releases. We've got our communications manager back there. She does a phenomenal job. We do whatever we can to put information out. We have our commissioners who are here with us now, Commissioner Wimberly, Commissioner Pulliam. as well as Commissioner Clark. They took their time because they want to hear from you as well. We want your input. We want your feedback. I haven't taken care of your spot on the website yet, but we're going to get to it. But we do want that. We want you all to understand. So what we did, the process shouldn't have taken this long. Should we have included our stakeholders in the community sooner? Of course. We're not denying that. That's why we got you started now. This is a reset. Look at it as if it's a reset. We're going to start now the right way. We're going to do better than what we did. You can't do better if you don't know better. So now we're going to do better. And that's what we're committed to. That's what our governing body is committed to. Making sure that we do a better job. So we need your input. We don't mind you being frustrated, as I told the group earlier today. I don't mind Ms. Casey getting up and giving us fire. I don't mind that. Because we want to hear that. Because now they know what to take back. We know what to take back. And we know how important this is for you and your community. So we definitely want you to know that we are listening. We have those, like the third grade said, some of y'all educators, we have that listening in. We're documenting all this stuff. And our goal is to make sure that we look at incorporating exactly what you're coming to. We want all those great things. It sickens me sometimes when we drive down and every store or something that close down, another liquor store, there go another liquor store. I hear that every commission meeting. So these are things that they're considering. Don't think we're not listening. I understand that. Or every time you turn around, something's closing and there's a car wash. You know, I'm not trying to take that away from anybody. But we got to look at what makes our community something that people want to come to. If you want grocery stores, we complain about grocery stores, but what are we going to do to get a grocery store? We got to have rooftops to get a grocery store. So you got to do something. You got to have some kind of guardrails, controls in place that will make our community fighting, that will make people want to come here. That's what they're trying to do. This thing has been out there since 1963. And if you think we should continue to live off of policy from 1963, we got problems. So it's not her. I'm not saying we're all going to leave here, as I said today. Didn't I say this? We're not leaving here singing Kumbaya, everybody. But if we can at least smile walking out saying, okay, they listen. They're going to listen. We're going to come back. We're going to get more information. We're going to keep moving. We're going to get this thing approved. Now, everybody might not be happy, but I can tell you, Augusta will be in a better place. So can I have the commitment from y'all that y'all going to look at these surveys, y'all going to participate. We got it online where you can even sign up to get emails from us. We've done everything we can. So I know I hear that transparency and I'm like, come on now, because I believe in putting it out there. We're transparent. I just need y'all to receive it. That's all we need. Please receive it. Please help us to help you. That's all we're saying. Register and everything else. Let's get all that information. I know I told you you need to register today. Get the emails, everything from us. There's going to be another survey. We're opening that back up. So I don't want to see no 555. I want to see everybody in this room that's taking that survey. Because again, what you say matters. You are a dusker, and it matters. So I appreciate your time. I'm not going to hold y'all. I'm going to go ahead and pass the mic back, and then they can ask for additional questions. But I did want to state that because our poor little consulting team Y'all beating people up, they're going to run out this town and not come back. We've got to finish this project. So I want y'all to look at the boards, and we want y'all to have time to talk to them. And we just want y'all to, again, bring up those issues. Mr. Size brought up some issues. He's right. We've got to do something. There's a lot of changes, subdivisions, all of those things we need to do. But we've got to take one step at a time, and it takes us all. So thank y'all so much.

I'm standing up tall. My name is Calvin Stevenson, and I was looking at the map that you have displayed up here, the areas, and South Augusta has a lot of land mass. So I know that y'all have, it's about rezoning or re-changing ways that we can Do more with the area instead of just having a residential. You want to make it like misuse, residential and commercial. That's what you want to do. That's the plan.

Only on those two major roads intersect. So not in the neighborhoods, but they're already commercial. So just those crossroads is what we're talking about. They're already commercial, but maybe they can be mixed use, and that's what we're talking about with the neighborhood centers.

Yes, and so I see we have a lot of land mass here, and they say we need more housing. Two years ago, the Richmond County Planning and Zoning came out here, I think it was two years ago, And they were saying, well, we didn't have the infrastructure as far as pulling water out of the area or having sewage. Because I was saying, we need some restaurants out here. We need things that we can go to enjoy instead of having to go to Washington Road or North Augusta or wherever. And they were saying, well, we need more housing. Well, for the last two years, there's been nothing but developments going on out here. But I still don't see any type of restaurant besides a fast food restaurant. Also, down the lake, this area right here is a great place. I wanted an Olympic-sized pool put here, but they said, well, we're going to put a water park. We're going to put a splash. And to me, I'm like, what is that going to do for the children here? Children need to know how to swim. They said, well, you got that on Damascus Road. Well, that's on Damascus Road. A lot of children can't get there, but we have this big facility here. So in your planning and zoning, and I don't know if you covered this area, but I think that it would be well to put a limit-sized pool in this area and not a splash park. And also, I think we got enough housing to bring some industry, some commercial restaurants and hotels and movie theaters. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Good comments. I want to move it around the room. Anybody who has not had a chance to speak? Okay, ma'am, you're in the first. You are going to get a couple others. I understand other people would like to talk, but I really would like to hear from others who have talked.

Okay, thank you. This has been very informative. But I just want to note, I've been here since 1977, and I'd like to note, who gives permission for business to be zoned in our area because it has been infested with just anything and everything. So I want to know if the commissioners grant all of these liquor stores and all of these things, who gives that? And will that, will that, well, who gives that?

Yes, ma'am. That is part of this. Yeah, that is part of this process. Sometimes those types of uses that are, I don't know, you mentioned liquor stores. Those are things we can address in the zoning ordinance. So proximity from one liquor store to another, separation distance from churches, communities. Those are things that we can address. you know, certain types of businesses that you just see all over the place, that is something that we can look into. And we do hear that from other communities as well. You know, tobacco vaping stores, I don't want to call out specific stores, but those are kind of the stores that we hear that are, you know, unhealthy, you know? They're not really healthy uses, so...

Hello, my name is William Wong. I was actually at one of the other meetings that you guys had in 2.20.5. I was really excited about the zoning update. Since then, it looks like we missed the deadline that you guys were expecting to be able to put out the zoning code. What were the changes that caused the process to drag out a bit more? I'm glad, based on what I just wanted to know, what were the changes? and do you have a firmer idea of like even generally when you think this might pass when we might actually be able to see the um the right very good question do you i mean i'll touch on that a little bit i mean we we want

Our focus is to get more engagement at this point. So we're not looking to run to adoption. We want to have more meetings and we're talking with staff because we want to get those numbers up. We want people to participate in the survey like Ms. Allen said. So we want more engagement as next steps. And we're going to figure out what that is and then determine what that adoption looks like, what that end date is. Because we want to get it right. We don't want to rush it. And from what we're hearing, we need more engagement.

Hi, my name is Shanice Jefferson. I moved back to the Augusta area about four years ago from the D.C. area. So I'm familiar with gentrification. So I believe Augusta has a lot of potential and I see young people leaving Augusta all the time. I know that economic growth requires change and oftentimes it's in the form of gentrification. Many times the hesitation is due to an increase in taxes. Is there any way that we can grandfather the low income and fixed income families from a sharp increase in taxes?

That's a very good question. I don't know if that would be something that we could answer for you, but I think it is a policy level question. It's part of the meeting and I think there's something there, but when we think about our work here for zoning, that would fall out of our party.

I have to get my speaking voice back. But anyway, one of the things when I was sitting listening, I thought about, do they know who we are in this area? Are they trying to pretend to bamboozle us? It's as if you're speaking about an identity that's not us. And so all of us, Probably most people in this auditorium here were military transferees. So they wore a uniform. They actually, some went to war, okay? So they have the ultimate sacrifice and chose to come here, all right? We had the military, we had this. It was a great community. Here's my point. We still have the identification of what that took. to be in this area and elsewhere. We have seen the growth and the opportunities in Richmond County. Here's the facade. Allowing the media, who has two little towns, to redefine Richmond County. And all of us are guilty if we have to run to Evans when We've existed with opportunities all along. There have been educators who have been helping children. There have been special ed classes. There have been opportunities for recreation. There have been after school activities. There have been swimming pools. On the base, swimming pools down where that library is. I can't think of the name of it. So it's been a life. And it's grown, and people have progress, and it's been fulfilling. So what I'm saying is you need to go back and interact with everyday people who are doing professional jobs, who love our town, and is proud to have lived here. All right? All of this space, this is what we love. This is how we've grown. This is how we have volunteered to help people. And a lot of people in this area have volunteered downtown, okay? Because that's our mission, to help the lesser-informed and have equal opportunities for people who have been oversighted and not had a fair opportunity. So I would like you to revamp and reorganize to figure out how can we include some of those people? How can we get their opinion? How can we find out what would be a great opportunity to incorporate all of that rather than having us to say, okay, you can rezone all kinds of stuff because you want to have a data center here. okay this is our life we chose to live here many of us have run for public office from this area as well so i get that you've got recommendations of saying who's who's here uh how to shortcut this but you're looking at people in this room who live on other continents international people So include this population, because they're the ones who know their lives and the lives of future people. And unless you include this population, you have been irresponsible to know our identity and what we will accept and what we will not. OK?

Hello. Well, I have come. the young lady that just spoke very eloquently. I would like to piggyback off of two or three points. Number one, I have done my research on those data centers. I just don't understand, I mean, I do understand why they're important now, but it's like it's just a data center takeover of the US. Like, data centers are coming in without considering the surrounding communities. I do think there needs to be a moratorium or some type of, I mean, our leaders are saying, hey, you don't know how to handle this because it's like overwhelming all of a sudden. I just think that a moratorium needs to be put on these data centers. until y'all figure it out because these data centers are coming in. Our wetlands are very important to our environment and to our quality of life. Coming in, raising power bills, drying up the water. I've seen this all over Georgia happening, especially in Atlanta. I believe Covington area, they have one within 1,000 feet from their home. Well, the one on Haines Station is within 300 feet. And those people currently have dried up toilets. They have five bedroom houses with four toilets, and they can only use one. These data centers are taking up millions of gallons of water that's not being recycled into the community. Are we going to be like the Book of Eli without water? Everybody's all concerned about making money and not our quality of life. Number two, recreational centers enhance the quality of life in the community. I've been down to the commission for four years advocating for community centers. I'm not talking about one with just a swing swinging in a tree and maybe a seesaw sitting to the side. I'm talking about regional community centers that actually enhance the quality of life All parts of Augusta. Richmond County does, okay, down the lakes is a nice one. Henry Brigham was just finished. We need one in southwest Augusta, which we're forgotten because we have big houses. And yes, we finally got a Kroger. We were a food desert. But that's it. Every time we say we want something, they point to a freaking Kroger that should have been a basic necessity. with the taxes that we're paying to our quality of life. Now we need more regional community centers to enhance the values in Augusta and lower the crime, and then that will bring development. But South Augusta seems to have this struggle for, what, eight to 10 years. Why is South Augusta, I mean, my mom lives in South Augusta, I grew up in South Augusta, why is it that South Augusta is so, the struggle is real? All these houses in South Augusta, do you mean to tell me you cannot find a way to get a quality, Kroger or something like this. I just don't believe it.

Okay, looking for women in the back here.

Okay, we're going to have one more question after you, and then just a time check because we've scheduled for two hours, and we want to have you guys, we can have more discussion after this, but after these two questions, we're going to close out Q&A.

Okay, I have two questions. The second actually is just the date of the next survey so that we can be notified, where we can be notified, how we can get to it. And the other question is the districts that you displayed on your PowerPoint. Has the location of those districts been discussed or decided?

No thought at all. OK. So everyone who walked into this room should have registered online. So there's a QR code. And you should have all been asked to sign in. So when you did that, you provided your email. So now you'll get notification on things as long as you have your email. If for some reason you didn't register, make sure you do it before you leave. Can you push back the sub-districts?

Yeah, the districts. She was asking if the districts have been decided, and no, we are still working how they can be applied. We are working with staff on a map, and so the next series of meetings, hopefully we can have that, and that would help to answer your question with that.

Okay, I have two questions. You talked about incentivizing businesses. What's being done to address blight, and particularly with regard to non-compliant, recalcitrant, and predatory developments? Purchase property and just let it fall into disrepair, or sit on the property for 20, 30 years and do nothing? That's the first question. The second question is, I heard a lot about affordable housing and that's a buzz. So can you please define what you mean by affordable housing and how you are taking into consideration strengthening the middle class?

I'll start. But with the question about, you know, buildings that have been around, they're vacant, or maybe there's an absentee landlord. A lot of that is enforcement provisions. And so one of the ways we can address that is with beefing up the enforcement provisions that are included in the zoning ordinance because the staff, the code officials, they need strong language to enforce that type of ongoing maintenance and those types of things. So that's one way we can address that in the zoning ordinance. I also talked about the incentives for adaptive reuse. We heard a lot about warehouses and vacant lots and stuff. So we are trying to encourage more use of those types of buildings that are here today. So that way you're not tearing down these beautiful buildings that exist. So we've introduced some incentives, and we talked about that a little bit, relaxing parking requirements and the regulations for those types of properties. So those are the two ways that we're dealing with that.

Right, and you guys are not even dealing with blight.

Well, that is part of blight. That leads to blight. You know, vacant storefronts. Those types of things, we're trying to encourage redevelopment of those buildings so that we don't end up with the empty storefronts and empty buildings. So there is language that encourages adaptive reuse.

But I think what you're pointing out is a bigger city issue that goes beyond the zoning code, which definitely needs to be addressed. I'll leave it at that. The second thing is the affordable housing. So that's being developed. There's usually a definition of affordable housing, which is based on the area median income. So there's a definition called workforce housing, which is working professionals that are lower earners, if they're professionals for different reasons, teachers, firefighters, people that are entry-level, new to the workforce. And that's usually 80 to 120% of your area median income, which is the number that you can pull off the U.S. Census. And then there's other levels of affordable housing, so there's 60 to 80%, there's different, there's standard percentages that are published. And so it's kind of deciding what range of housing you want to provide as a community. Some places will give a larger incentive if you provide for that 60, 80% even lower. So it just depends on what the community decides is most needed.

Thank you so much. Let me just do this. Well, yes, ma'am. We will. Let me just say this. Please write down your questions because we want to make sure that all of your questions are addressed. The meeting was from six to eight. But I do want to get this young lady because like doctor here, she says she was looked over. She had her hand up for such a long time. And so I do want you to ask your question. But please write down your questions. We want to address... Every question will be addressed. And what you're doing is so important to what the city... excuse me, Richmond County is doing. Your input is very important and like Administrative Allen said, this is the reason why we have come out to the community is because you are stakeholders. You live here. We want to make sure that the zoning takes care of all of that. Now, a lot of the questions that's being acts tonight deals with economic development, it deals with tax commission, we can't speak to those areas. But we will let you know that in the future there will be more opportunities for you to ask those questions and then also get a lot of feedback from those entities as well.

Thank you so much. I've never been to a meeting like this before and I've learned quite a bit. I'm grateful to be here and to make it because, you know, we all have jobs or whatever. So getting to the point, I really appreciate, I forgot who pointed this out, that the wording was confusing, if you're not aware of what it means. But my gist of it now, as we're talking about it, I'm gaining more information, but my question is for... I don't think we've mentioned anything about children, like how this zoning is going to affect our children's lives. Because moving forward, child spaces, spaces where children exist without having to pay, and I understand this is economic growth, But how are we allowing our children to grow in these spaces too? Are we putting that at the forefront in keeping this in mind? Meaning that, I don't know if you guys have anything to do with schools, but there's been a lot of schools shutting down. Which kind of like, from what I heard, tying into transportation, building third spaces, I guess that's what they're called, third spaces, we're trying to bring people in, but those people have families, they have children, where are they gonna go to school? And would that turn into a problem of, you know, these kids will have to go to this school over here, and these kids get to go to this great school, you know, depending on what's being developed. So I'm just curious, are y'all considering those things?

Yes, ma'am. The schools are very important. When we plan, we plan for everyone. However, we can't speak about the schools, but we are partnering with them. They have been invited to the table. They are part of the stakeholders. because they educate our kids. We understand that there are some challenges and we understand that there are some perspectives about the school, but we ask that you hold on and partner with us because we intend to make the schools better. Listen, you don't have to leave to go to a better school. You are responsible for making your schools better. We are. You have wonderful properties. You have space. Don't leave that. Make your school better. Make people brag on your schools. If you don't want to hear people talking against the schools, make those schools better. Support your educators. And there are educators here. But you have to make it. And you can go by demanding that everyone do better. And that's why we're here tonight. You have to hold everyone accountable, even yourselves, because at the end of the day, when you look in the mirror, the change has to start with who? Right, it has to start with us. So with that being said, please, please, please write down your questions. Make sure we get those questions. My name is Lisa Cameron in the Planning and Development Department. You get those questions to me, I guarantee you the consultants will get them, and you will get responses, okay? Would that work? All right. Like they say in church, our hearts and minds are clear. All right. Do y'all want me to say the prayer, the ending prayer? I can do it now. My parents were pastors. I might make you shout. Good night, everyone. Thank you all so very much.