Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening. I'd like to call to order tonight's Columbia County Planning Commission meeting for July 2nd, 2026. Please stand for the invocation by Mr. Russell Wilder and the pledge of allegiance by Jamie Lester.

All right, if you all would, bow with us. Dear Lord, we want to thank you for this day. I want to thank you for all the blessings you bestow upon us. We'd sure love to see a little cooler weather roll through here and give us a little relief. We ask that you look over us tonight in our meeting, that we do the right things and that we're all pleasant with each other and see things agreeably as much as possible. We ask that you look over our first responders that protect us day and night, every day of the week, and that you protect our troops that are always in harm's way around this country, protecting our freedoms. We ask all this in Jesus' name, amen. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay, we do have a full quorum this evening. Gentlemen, you've had a chance to go over the minutes from the previous meeting. I need approval on those minutes.

Mr. Chairman, motion to approve the minutes from the June 18th meeting? Second.

I have a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. And you've had an opportunity to go over the agenda for this evening. I need approval of that agenda.

Mr. Chairman, motion to approve tonight's agenda? Second.

I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. Before we begin, I'd like to take a moment to clarify that the Planning Commission is a recommending body of the Columbia County Board of Commissioners. The decisions made on rezoning and variance requests tonight will be forwarded to the commissioners for final action on July 21st, 2026. If you wish to address the Board of Commissioners at their meeting, please see Ms. Mixon to obtain a request to speak form. Any request with a public hearing will have a minimum of 10 minutes permitted per side for a presentation of opinions, data, and evidence by proponents or opponents of a request. The applicant will be allowed to speak first, and any member of the public may speak after. Either side may cede their time during the hearing if they so desire. Okay, getting into the debate agenda, we have two new business items, a massage operator's license, H1A1. Will?

I share this request by Catherine Brooks Walker, DBA Caddy Walker Massage, doing business at 1105 Furies Lane. This is a massage at-premise only. Staff recommends approval of the request.

Thank you.

Do I have a motion? Mr. Chairman, I make a motion to approve the massage operator's license for Catherine Brooks Walker, DBA, Katie Walker Massage, to provide massage therapy at 1105 Furious Ferry Lane.

Second. I have a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. Next item, H1A2.

This is a request by Laura Beth Herron, DBA tucked away massage at 4408 Columbia Road, Suite 106, also massage at premise only. She means all across the ordinance. Staff recommends approval.

Thank you. Gentlemen, do I have a motion? Mr. Chairman, I make a motion to approve the massage operator's license for Laura Herron, DBA tucked away massage to provide massage therapy at 4408 Columbia Road, Suite 106. Second.

I have a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. Getting into the public hearing portion of tonight's agenda, we have H1B1, a variance request.

Dylan? Yes, sir. This is a variance request to reduce a front setback for a proposed detached garage at 618 Millstone Drive. This shows the location of the parcel just off of Furious Ferry Road in the Jones Mill subdivision. This shows that the entire subdivision of Jones Mill is zoned R2, single family residential. This is an aerial shot of the site of the parcel. As you can see, it's a corner lot, so it deals with larger than normal front setbacks on two sides, which is atypical for the area. This shows a photo not just of the site but of the area in question you can see where this truck is currently parked on a parking pad just off of the driveway on this parcel the request again is to establish a detached garage just on the. Opposite side of the parking pad from the point of view from this photo That would be within the front setback and encroaches about 13 feet And so the applicant is requesting to locate the structure in that location despite these front setbacks As we saw most of the buildable space on this lot is taken up already by the pool and the home Beyond that we'll see in just a second. There's some utility lines that This is some elevations to show that the structure will have a residential character and will be keeping with the surrounding area. And these are a couple utility lines. Blue is sewer and red is electric. Both of those are the main utilities serving the house. And so that's part of the reason that that structure is closer to the intersection, it might seem, potentially. would be possible in other scenarios. So really the only other realistic location for an above ground structure on this site would be on the opposite side of the house where a new driveway would need to be established, which could be considered more dangerous than allowing this exception to the front setback, given that it would establish a new driveway so close to an intersection. Beyond that no concerns have been expressed by county offices about the visibility around that corner for drivers and so there's being no issues presented and The applicant also produced a letter of support and approval from his HOA So they don't the even more local institutions there don't view this as a any kind of issue or Posing any kind of significant detriment to the area and so staff is recommending approval of the request as well Thank You Dylan

Would the owners or applicants, Wayne or Deborah Ersik, would like to come forward and speak? Okay. You have nothing to add. Any other member here tonight would like to speak in favor or against? Gentlemen, can I get a motion?

Mr. Chairman, I make a motion to recommend approval of file VA 26-0701, variance to reduce the front setback to 40 feet from the center line of the property at 618 Millstone Drive. Second.

I have a motion on the floor and a second. All those in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. Next item, H1B2. This is a major PUD rezoning will.

There's a request for a major pod revision at 500 Furious Ferry Road, currently in zone PUD. Revision is for a major revision for a proposed convenience store for gas pumps. The applicant has requested to withdraw without prejudice on this request, but was handed a plan here a few moments ago. Likely there could be a change to what they want you all to do with this request. However, we're going to move forward with the assumption that we'll be withdrawn without prejudice. The location of the property, again, 500 Fierce Ferry Road, the intersection of the pass and Fierce Ferry Road. You can currently zone PUD planning and development. To the north is more planning and development, the S1. To the north is for Reed Creek Interpretive Park. Then to the south and also west, again, more planning and development, again, part of the same overall development of the pass. Then across the street is zone C1. There is a convenience store there at 511, Fierce Ferry Road, Circle K. And again, the aerial view of the site and the site itself. So what we're looking at here is basically where the gas station is proposing to go on this site based out on the front of this. We'll see in a moment the concept plan for that. And again, another view of that showing the overall view of the site from that area. This shows a plot of the property. So back in 2020, this area did have a putter vision to add these to basically 9,000 square feet worth of buildings out front. This was done to allow for more commercial development there. Also have the pro shops, so I kind of see the Northwest on this property. And again, this is the current concept plan for this development. This is an older development. It didn't have one when it was first rezoned. You're basically dealing with what amounts to a bubble plan. It says here's the area that's commercial. Here's the uses, but nothing's showing. Here's where everything is going to be placed throughout the site. Fairly typical for older development. You would typically see gas stations on the corners. That's usually how they function. So this is a little different out in the parking lot. But again, it is an allowed use on this development. But again, we are revising this concept plan. That is why there's a major revision required. It shows the proposed plan, again, about a 5,000-square-foot convenience store located basically centrally on the parking lot. The main issue with this from our standpoint is parking. It's one of those that they've shown with their overall plan they may be able to meet the minimums. Again, meeting the minimums while it is the minimum. Utility doesn't really function the best, so that's our major concern with this. And again, here's the elevation of the site. This is within the Coral Protection Overlay District. This generally meets those requirements. There are a handful of things we'll probably talk about further, but again, it generally meets those requirements. This shows the elevations again with the rendering and showing you kind of what the building would look like. That gas canopy is much larger, but again, showing you here's what this thing would look like if it was built. The proposed plan, there was a, this is the one presented after we kind of discussed it. This does show an additional 45 additional parking spaces. Again, our concern of this overall is parking. And also these additional spaces shown here, in our opinion, are not the best approach to this. There is residential to the west there. There is concerns about the functionality of all this area in the back. So that is one of our concerns with this. In terms of future development, this is within a community commercial area. Again, this is an allowed use on this property. You could do this here. However, it's a question of does it fit within the context of the development, also within the context of the adjacent properties and also the existing users. So it does meet in that respect, but again, looking at the parking side of it, it doesn't meet from our standards. We originally recommended a disapproval on this. Again, the applicant has requested to withdraw without prejudice. We are willing to accept that request. We're in support of that. Again, there is a plan here that I'll probably be handing out to you that they may want to discuss revising that request. That includes staff recommendation.

Thank you, Will. Would the owners of AMPM Convenience Store or the applicant Manpreet Singh would like to come forward? State your name and address for the record, please.

All right. You have five minutes. Sorry. My name is Manpreet Singh, and my address is 110 Suite A, Harlem, Grovetown Road, Grovetown, Georgia. That's my office address. I think... Will not withdraw I'll go forward with that and I would like to answer The some of that the issues that we see here and clarify some of the stuff So the We do have actually we updated the site plan and So there was a building was proposed right in the kind of catty corner we you know, we eliminated that building and we We were able to add 80 parkings there in that corner So that should solve the parking problem right there. Yeah, so the other one is the one way It is one way right now and then we we have buffer in place between the, I think, townhomes and the property. So we're not doing anything other than striping the parking in the back. And we can put fence there to eliminate if you guys are concerned that somebody's going to walk through the trees and stuff. And that would kind of like take care of that problem. So we can fence it all the way straight line. And I would like to hear any other concern. I think that the parking was the biggest issue.

The hardware store, obviously we all know there used to be a grocery store. There's a loading dock on the back. So I talked to them. Do they have tractor trailers delivering goods to the hardware store?

So I talked to him yesterday, the guy named Randy, and he said they don't use much. They might get one delivery by the dock. But they don't use that every day. And most of the stuff, they come from the front, front gate. That's what I've been told. And you guys are feel free to call Randy, and he'll tell you his opinion. But he don't see the problem. I showed him the site plan. He don't have any problem because you still got 20 feet, so the truck can go around and back up without having, you know, without... having any problem to the dock. Because the parking that you guys see right in front of the dock, I mean, they're eliminated. And that new updated site plan that Bo, I guess, gave it to you guys, it does not have that.

You're talking about these diagonal parking spots right here?

No, we're showing a truck on the new plan. Those on the plan on the screen are still shown as parking spots. Oh, okay, okay.

Yeah, so the truck should not have any problem. 20 feet is way more than enough. I mean, if somebody don't know how to drive in 20 feet, you know, that's a problem itself. Any other issues or anything that I can answer, I'd love to answer. Okay, so you want to go forward with the withdrawal without prejudice? Yeah, I'm not drawing today. No, I want to go forward. Yes, sir.

Let's move forward with approval. Oh, okay.

The question I've got, I mean, you gave us some feedback you got from the hardware store. Your tenants, you own the shopping center, correct?

Yes, sir.

Are your tenants okay or indifferent about this at all? What kind of feedback are you getting from your customers, which essentially they are?

I've got a couple of them here, and I think they can speak for themselves. And, you know, some... Some of them, they want to stay neutral, which I respect that, right? And some of them, they're stuck at work. But I do have... So I do have those signed by them, and I've got a couple of them here. So I want to pass through that.

You can take it up there. Thank you.

Thank you.

I want to say that bringing that store there, it's going to help everybody because it will bring more traffic, and the traffic will go to every single place. It could be 5 percent, 10 percent, whatever, but it will go somewhere. The hardware store need help. The reason I know is TR Ready used to own that. That's where I bought the property from. And the reason they sold it, because they didn't have enough traffic. And if you go any day of the time, it does not have that traffic. And we're going to drive that traffic. Not just the hardware store but everywhere else so it will help the plaza and and we're we're investing more money in in the plaza So it's it's kind of like helping the county also with the with the text dollars and revenue Okay, we have any more questions Okay, thank you Do you want to have tenants come out well, I'm gonna ask yes is anyone else would like to speak in favor of this and

come forward and state your name and address for the record please you have five minutes.

My name is Gagan, but my address is three one five ash court Evans, Georgia I am I had put a request in to speak actually for five minutes on this topic here. I don't know if you all received that I am a concerned resident about about this project and being denied. So I went and did some research on the project to understand what were the factors that were looked at to make the decision. I wanted to share my findings because I want the Commission to make an informed decision. First thing is pretty straightforward. The traffic volume on Furies Ferry is growing and it's It's supported by the information that was in the document that Mr. Butler mentioned, which is the foundations of a character of foundations or foundations of character. I get the name backward. Thank you. There's been a growth of 34% year after year in the population for Columbia County. Just watching the traffic on Furies Ferry, which I'm a user, I'm a local resident, I can see and I can also see that we're widening the lane all the way up to pretty much the Hardy McManus Road. Now, when the traffic volume increases and there is no gas station on the southbound lanes of the Furies Ferry, that's a fact. which means all the traffic has to, if they want to access gas, they have to get on the northbound. Well, guess what you have to do if you have to get on the northbound? You have to make a left turn, either at an intersection or you have to do it at a divide in the median. Now when you make a left turn either at the intersection or a divide in the median, gap in the median I'm sorry, I have seen numerous times drivers get into unsafe situations because they are trying to brave two lanes of traffic and we just know from all the facts that volume of traffic is growing on that road. which means all those medians that are currently open for making those left turns really need to close down. And the only way you can do that is to put more conveniences on the southbound lanes of Furies Ferry. So that's a statement of fact. Now, there are several DOT-published studies, and if you're interested, I brought one here for the commission, which I'm just going to hand it to you.

Thank you.

numbers are alarming in fact most of the crashes significant crashes are attributed to the left turns and often those crashes result in fatalities and I just know from living one mile from this location I hear emergency sirens all the time and most of the times when I'm on the road I see it's from a vehicle trying to make a left turn and they end up having an accident. Now the second thing what got me concerned was when staff rejected this and I heard some of the comments that Mr. Butler made on the reasons for rejection. What's interesting is that technically they are not able to actually reject this application. So in their own words and I'm reading from their response it says, in staff's opinion while this use is allowed, which was stated here as well, And it is likely that the minimum parking count required can be met, which is again stated here. The potential detrimental impact to the existing businesses outweighs approving this request just based on a simple application of mathematical formula. So they're basically saying the numbers game is okay, it works. What they're saying is it's gonna affect the existing businesses. I don't know that staff has that knowledge about the businesses to be able to make a statement like that. I think their information should be data-based, having some stats to provide and say it's going to affect. We just heard Manpreet say that that store was sold because there was not enough traffic coming to the stores that were there previously. After all, they were closed. So I'm not sure I can buy this statement just knowing as a independent reader of this report. The second thing I see here, which was again Mr. Butler pointed out, it says the design and character of these areas should align. So this is referencing the community commercial character area on foundations for the future character area map. And they say the design and character of these areas should align with the corridors and nodes form and context. Now, guess what? It's a 110-page document that they referenced. I went and read it. Can I extend for one more minute? I'll be almost there.

Okay.

Thank you. I read that document. The rest of the 400 pages is just the survey input from all the people that participated in supporting that study. But the 110 pages, when you go read and read the specific sections that are associated with commercial character, it actually does not give you any context. Hence the words from Mr. Butler, which are, While the use itself does fit into the uses found in the character area, staff does not agree that the plan as proposed fits into the context of the character. I would like to know the definition of that context because it's not defined in that document. I just would like you to keep these points in mind as you make a decision.

Thank you.

Thank you. I am in favor of this gas station just from a safety standpoint. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Any other member here would like to speak in favor?

Good evening, Chairman, Honorable Chairman.

State your name and address.

My name is Sam Dutta, and I still reside at 644 Emerald Crossing, Evans, Georgia. I'm a realtor by profession. So like Mr. Batra has pointed out, very technical, deep in knowledge into it. I won't go deep because that will be a reputation. It's not about just gas pro. It's not about gas station. It's like we are supporting an upcoming businessman who is trying to create some jobs, some revenue in the area, whether it's under the construction point of view jobs or whether it's post-construction jobs. Anyway, we are trying to bring the revenue to the county. We love to have Columbia County being rising more and more. That's a small contribution from our end. I won't speak more. You are wiser. Your wiser decisions are making Columbia County more wiser and richer. We love that. I'll support to have a gas station and the businesses and the local people who are trying to bring revenue to the county. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. You're welcome. Any other member in the audience like to speak in favor or against? state your name and address for the record please.

Mr. Chairman and commissioner I would ask for some additional time given the last speaker. My name is Dr. Troy Akers I live at 1024 peninsula crossing and I' m here in a couple capacities. I' m going to go a little off script for my prepared remarks. I find that this change from a withdrawal that was submitted formally to the commission or the staff somewhat duplicitous and frankly disrespectful to the processes that we have in Columbia County that govern how we operate here. I will address a couple of things. I know Mr. Swift has done some work for me. Fantastic engineer. Obviously they knew they were going to withdraw because they brought their entire people. I gave my supporters the holiday opportunity so we still have some here. I just find this is actually indicative of how this whole thing has gone. to refute some of that so the backside there's number of dumpsters that we use for our businesses so I own dinked I don't see them was on the plans additionally I am a first responder I've you know was firing EMS before I was an ER doctor we've had issues where like where's the fire lane so if if somebody's parked back there and there is a truck delivery and there's a fire right so that's a consideration that that they didn't take into account additionally just my my buildings at the very front so this plan would take out almost all of my parking directly in the front of my building I invested my hard-earned money. I'm a common man, and I'll do some remarks on it. Based on the 2020 PUD, Mr. Reddy owned it. I understand Mr. Singh's a businessman. He can do what he wants, but he still has to live by the rules of this county. Some of you are business owners. Imagine somebody taking a gas station that sells some of the same products and drops it right in the middle of you. we serve as elderly we serve a service disabled those people are already walking across to speak to the man from from ash court I didn't get his name this is going to increase safety concerns because our call safety concerns so there's only the only one way to turn left which is onto the pass which is a blind hill coming up so all the traffic coming up the pass you're going to have constant traffic turning left onto the pass to get back to the light which is called backups etc. So it's not like you can just turn left back on the furious ferry you got to go on the pass and then back left again. I'll just do my prepared remarks now. This caught me off guard because I'm a man of my word. If I submit something, I'm going to do it, then I follow through with it. I came here to give a brief response and let our supporters enjoy the weekend. As I said, Dr. Troy Akers, I've been a resident here for over 20 years. I live off of Fury's Ferry. This is more about the survival of businesses in that corridor as well as safety. I understand that TR could sell it and that Mr. we had a lot of money in the dinked we had a lot of money in the dinked we had a lot of money in the dinked we had a lot of money in the dinked we had a lot of money in the dinked I would also like to say that this has already turned political. Phone calls to commissioners, phone calls to rich people in the county, threats to tenants, promises to tenants to support this. It's appalling, actually. We need to be governed by the rule of law and what the commission is supposed to be governed by. For over 20 years of my life, I've served this country, first in the armed forces and in uniform, and now as a civil servant. July 1st was my 23 years of serving this country. And I chose to live here specifically in Columbia County because it embodied the values that I've spent 23 years of my life trying to defend. This throws in the face of all of that. You know, in two years, in two days, our 250th anniversary, and a group of farmers 250 years ago rose up against tyranny, et cetera. I'm not worth $100 million, okay? That company is. I'm very simple. All I'm trying to do is to operate a business and keep 30 people in business, to keep 30 jobs alive. I'm telling you, despite what he says is 20 some years of retail experience, I know my business. I don't tell him about the gas station business. I tell him about the pickleball business. Many of you all own businesses. I'm a, I'm a destination business. If people are trying to come to me and they can't find parking or having to park way over on the other side of the building, two or 300 yards away, my business is going to go to under not only that, but the safety component of families and elderly people walking across that parking lot. So this, this plan doesn't, doesn't work. Not only that, but just like tonight, if you wanted to actually buy the property, He could have gone through the PUD revision as a contingency of buying the property, but he didn't do that. He didn't respect you. He didn't respect the county. He didn't respect the rules. He just wanted to do whatever he wanted to because he could call in rich friends to apply pressure to other people. I just find it appalling. I'm a very simple person. I've served this country. I've built businesses this the right way. I've followed every single rule. Some of you I stood in front of in the old chambers when I've asked for things, and I've done it exactly the way I was supposed to. I never questioned anything. I never fought anything. I never do anything to pussies like this. This is not what this commission is about. It's not what this county is about. Again, I don't have $100 million. I can't call in special favors. What I'm asking you to do is to preserve what I signed up for in 2020, what I'm doing to try to keep 30 jobs alive, and this plan does not meet any type of safety components that they're talking about, the traffic onto the pass, the fire lane issues, and basically putting me out of business and putting safety at risk. Thank you for your time. I appreciate your time. Thank you. Do we have any questions? No? Okay.

you know the member would like to come forward and speak against. State your name and address for the record police.

Ron Jackson, I'm citizen of the county I live at 4187 rivermont drive right off furious ferry road. I moved to this county about 30 years ago. it because of the residential value the sparse single-family dwelling and well regulated development. I think you have to be naive to not understand what this business owner is proposing when you hold that hand over the tenants there' s an inherent coercion built in. we understand that Mr. Singh has great power of influence over the tenants. I understand why some of them might stand up and say I support you because bad things can happen if you don' t. I would like to say if there' s anything I haven' t needed since I moved to columbia county it' s another gas station. if you go any 2 mile section out fury ferry road you' re going to come in contact with a gas station whether or not it' s on one side of the road or the other that' s factual as you said. But I' ve also not seen too many people run out of gas because they didn' t get to the other side of the road. that when this road was widened we know that the area where you pull out onto highway 28 furious ferry road right now is such that it' s inherently designed that you cannot turn left. it' s not going to happen. To me that makes an awkward situation even worse if now you' re going to dump all that traffic back up to the pass and for them to get back out to the road. The proposed parking doesn' t do a lot of good when it' s parking is invisible to the public. Who' s going I just believe that when you have these developed pods and I used to come to commission meetings several years ago quite often when the county was more in its early booming stages but if we don' t adhere to our pods why have them? this was a design that was meant to make this county an appealing place and If we keep issuing variances and creating more congestion It defeats the purpose of the PUDs in my opinion And I think that the congestion is already showing itself enough in this county without increasing it So I would just like to state my resistance to more development in that particular parking lot area and I can fully sympathize with Any tenant business owners and how this would be deleterious to their to their business Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much Anyone else would like to come forward speak I

My name is Brianna long and I am owner of great wall that sits in that shopping center I reside at 7108 Carrington Court we are the only business in that shopping center that has been there since that Center opened back in 99 My husband is the owner. He is currently at work. I stepped aside to be here but When Bilo was there, we never had any trouble with parking. Dinked moved in, and on a normal day, I'm talking Monday through Friday, when there's no tournaments or anything going on, there's not a parking problem. Dinked has a lot of employees. I mean, hardware, I don't know their employees. I know Dinked when they moved in. traffic already became a problem with their parking. Employees can route to other parking spots. Like they were talking about how our customers are supposed to know there's parking in random places. That can be an employee parking. I mean, we have some of our customers are 106 years old. If Dinked holds a pickleball tournament They don't care about anybody else in the shopping center. All of our customers get thrown to the wayside. And so a lot of our customers have to park along the fire lane. So if we're trying to make the parking lot, you know, have some parking on the side that's unused area, I think it's, I'm not sure I can't see that, but maybe over by Kuchina or someplace where you're trying to hold. Employees can park in other places where they can walk. And if you have elderly playing pickleball, they can walk as well. I mean, if I'm just being honest, a lot of my customers use a walker. So a lot of times they call us if it's on a tournament day. Sometimes they're parked halfway at Fury's Fair Hardware. So we have to bring them their food or call, you know. So I see parking, yes, it's an issue. But if everybody's willing to work together, parking is not going to be an issue. I mean, we have truly been there since 1999. And when Bylet was there, Bylet was a big business. But a lot of the businesses there, there's no traffic. We have a lot of new customers that come through. Oh, we never even knew you existed here. Really? We've been here since 1999. So I do believe putting traffic will help the shopping center. And I address some concern of trash, homelessness, because that shopping center was already with Circle K across the street. We already had our share of homeless. And Mr. Manpreet, I believe, truly believe, if he puts a business in his center, he's not going to let it run. Would you build a business and let it go down the drain? I surely wouldn't. I've worked hard to keep my business in that plaza, and we've managed to be there since 1999. So I am in favor of hoping to save that because if I don't have a job, my kids don't get fed. And business is dying. Business is slow right now. I can truly say, you know, it's hot. People don't have money. Economy's bad. But we still, our customers are blessed. Some of my customers are sitting here. tonight, and I truly believe that if we can figure out the parking and the fire lane and everything else, that a gas station... I don't truly believe it's a gas station issue. I believe it's something else. With the comments and everything on Facebook, I believe it's turned into a little bit more than just... a gas station issue. So I would approve putting the gas pro. It sits so far out in the road. If you go through on a normal day, half of that parking lot out there is not touched. It's what's easy access to everybody else. On a tournament day, things get a little crazy in the parking lot. But on a normal day, there's plenty of parking in that parking lot. It really is.

All right, thank you. Thank you. Anyone else would like to come forward?

Hello, Commissioners. My name is Jesse Wood. I reside at 1416 Andover Court in Evans, Georgia. My wife has a business in the Plaza Accentuate Me Boutique, and I think... Excuse me. the gas station can bring in a lot more traffic of people who does not know the boutique exists in the plaza. And I think that can be a positive thing for a lot of the other businesses that are there. So I am for the gas station.

Thank you.

Thank you.

You come forward.

Good evening, everybody. My name is Bhupinder Fermaha, and I live in the Baker's Ferry Trail, which is just back of that area. And I work for Clemson University with a statewide responsibility in soil fertility. So I work with the farmers across the state. And my office is in Blackville, South Carolina. So I know the area in the Bamberg, Barnwell County area. And Mr. Manpreethi has worked in those counties before, probably 15, 20 years ago. And if you go into those counties, those are still same like they were 20 years ago. And the reason I choose to live in Columbia County because it is progressive. When I tell them how much property tax I pay, they laugh on us. But I still feel proud because the... County is putting all that money for all the development. My kids go to the public school. So I'm very proud of our county because of the progressive agenda. And now what the previous guy mentioned that you know over past eight, nine years I'm living there, so many businesses came and that plaza is empty. Probably all of you have gone through that one. And part of the reason is because it has not been fully optimized to its potential. And I understand the concern with the parking means it happens when there is a big tournament. It happened, I believe, last one time in a month. And I was telling my dad that, you know, last nine years, this is the first time I'm seeing it is full. So that concern is genuine. And that is why I see in the phase four, he has the provision that he want to add the parking on the right side where we had the hardware store, and I think it is genuine to consider that. It is a good opportunity to build that plaza to the full potential, and I am fully supportive of it. In top of that, I would like to say that we are doing things in the society, and Gaspro has been very supportive of the things. When we had Helene, when we had Gaspro, That guy was working himself along with his crew in the Westlake community, cutting all the trees. And he has supported so many things, doing all the charity work for the homeless shelters. So obviously we like to support somebody who invest more into our community.

Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else would like to come forward?

Hello, I'm Jennifer Grubbs, and I'm the owner of Lace and Velbrata Boutique at 500 Furious Road, Suite 103. I've been in the plaza almost five years. We actually recently had an issue with parking. So what we did was the people at 101 through I think maybe five, we actually came up and we actually designated parking for our customers. Myself, I have a very niche boutique. If you're looking for a wedding dress, you're going to find me. So I'm hoping that with this being built, because I am for it, with this being built, everybody will address the parking concerns. But my customers are by appointment only. So I don't really see a huge issue with parking outside of when there is a tournament. But I've explained to my employees, just park in the back. And then as long as my customers have a parking spot, that's what I really and truly care about. So I really and truly hope that the parking is addressed and that maybe there's more designated parking for maybe the left side of the plaza and like where Dinked is and then where the hardware store is. So I am for it. Let me see. Hold on. Sorry. But yes, I am for bringing a new business to the plaza. And I think it'll bring nothing but new eyes to my business as well as everybody else in the plaza as well.

Okay. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, anyone else may come forward.

good evening my name is to treat mender and I live at 5 1 4 seminal place which is in west lake and I am in favor of this gas station of course for the convenience yes because I don' t want to turn left or make a u-turn to go into and also because I have seen first hand gas pro has done something like that in grove town where other businesses in the plaza were dying and as the moment he put the gas pro in within months their businesses picked up as well there was a liquor store that was dying it picked up pizza there was a pizza store I believe it's pizza hut that was going down the road it picked up and numerous other businesses came in so this is a tried and tested model that has already been tested for the past I don't know how many years but I strongly favor this gas station in this complex thank you okay thank you okay do I have anyone else that like to come forward and speak in favor or against I have a gentleman coming up from the back here

Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Jim Tochterman. I live at 3931 High Shepherd. I'll drive at the top of the pass. Currently, I'm staying neutral on the gas station issue. I wanted to see a little bit more as far as what the proposed plan was in that moving forward. My big concern right now is, yes, we have history with other gas pros in other areas and in larger traffic corridors. right now coming out of the pass at certain times of the day you have to deal with u-turns coming one direction on furious ferry road you have bank traffic coming on the other any of the other four gas stations within a mile and a half You get a lot of contractor vehicles, a lot of trucks, trailers, and they'll tend to block up traffic as they try to get back onto the main thoroughfare. I'd like to see what a traffic plan is going to have to be put into effect for this development to continue to help assuage some of those traffic concerns at that intersection. some of the spoke with the gentleman earlier some of my previous concerns with the aesthetics of the park had been assuaged a little bit back in my heyday back in the early 90s actually used to work at the RDC when the when the corridor plan was actually put together so I'm very we're very aware of what the context means and that as far as aesthetics and the building of any of the construction that happens down Ferris Ferry and Hopefully that'll still be enforced also, but my big one right now, yeah, I'm gonna stay neutral But I'd like to see what's going to happen with the traffic at that intersection how that can be improved for all the increased traffic that may happen to benefit the Retail shops within the plaza Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you

Good evening, my name is Jaspreet for maha. I'm resident of 404 Baker's Ferry Trail right next to the Plaza area And I'm here to support the growth of this business We are family friends with the gas pro and like my husband explained we have done a lot of service projects with them and they and their family and their business has Promoted a lot of those community projects and I can see the well wish the well the goodwill that they do for their Employees and for people in general and so I support their growth. Thank you.

Thank you Okay

I' m a doctor in the area. Me and my wife are both physicians. I' ve been a resident of this town since fourth grade. While I don' t live in that area I live off william few. We come to the shopping center a lot. My kids go to kuman. I have three boys. They' re there biweekly. I' ve always tried to support the local businesses. the Taj restaurant and I went into the hardware store. I've talked to the gentleman and he's getting by barely. So my entire point of coming up here is I think such a location what Manpit is proposing will only help those people who are struggling because as you know there's been various stores there that have tried and have failed. And so I think what he's proposing will only help the tenants. And I've known Manpreet since he's been here in this town, and he's a very hardworking, honest person. And if you drive to all the gas pro locations, see the kind of work he does. And he's not talking about putting some shell of a building, some metal building. And if you drive around to all the ones he's built, they're very nice, aesthetically pleasing buildings. Thank you, sir.

Okay, thank you.

thank you. My name is dan bower I reside at 2086 egret circle in evans 30809. I' m a manager for dink pickleball and I want to address a couple of things in regards we' re open every day from typically a general hours of operation is 6 in the morning until 9 o'clock at night. Our primary focused concentration was stated correctly but we' re super busy in the morning 6 a.m. To 11 a.m. Packed to the walls and then and then in the evening we ramp right up again and in the parking lot is full so we find that the way these plans are drawn up and laid out that that is going to create too much of a and time alone because that' s also exactly when gas stations are busy in the morning before work on the way home all of those things in the evening. We work very diligently to be the best stewards as we can to the area and the property in large. We open that early but we really only have at best four to five people per day on the clock. we have one person open at 6 in the morning if we' re open for lunch we will have people come in at 11 we' re not overrun by employees they' re not taking up that many spots I park as close to furries ferry road as possible every day in order to ensure that people can park much more. hardware store I mean that' s kind of a tough you' re competing against lowes and what' s a home depot and it' s hard to break into those waters like somebody actively trying to compete with starbucks you' re going to carve your little niche but you' re not going to take over the big bad machine so their hours of operation were 10 am to 6 pm so they were getting there were no contractors in the morning and nobody at home in the evening so there' s a lot of that was on them and a poor business model that did that not necessarily just the fact that no one came to a hardware store.

Good evening. My name is Scott Green. I live at 228 Full Circle Drive in Evans, which is right off Furious Ferry and Evans Lock. I go by this site every morning, every morning. How convenient would it be for me to be able to pull in there, get my gas, get a cup of coffee? It's very convenient. Isn't that what C-Stores are? Convenience. They're supposed to be convenient. They're supposed to be convenient to get to, have products, get in and get out. I'm in favor for Mr. Manpreet Singh for a couple reasons number one he is a local businessman. When Greg Parker brought Parkers to Augusta Georgia he made the comment in writing that he was going to basically run local businesses out of town. And he's pretty much done that. And if we continue to kick the little mom and pops to the side of the road, we will not have no local business. I work for a small business. I know, I understand the challenges of small businesses. He's not a Greg Parker. He is a good man. He wants to do right by this county. He has supported little league baseball teams. He is an honest man, and I think that he will do right by the tenants in that shopping center. If they have a concern, I've always known that you could go to him and talk to him. He will listen. He may not agree with you, but he will listen. And I believe that the tenants, if they have an issue, and as far as the parking goes, I disagree with this gentleman's statement about parking in the morning. I try to support local business. I go to Fury's Ferry Hardware to try to help them survive. I go there 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock. I'm semi-retired, so I'm up early. I go there. Guess what? I get the front row parking space. It doesn't matter what time I go to Fury's Ferry Hardware. So I do not see a parking problem in the morning, as he stated. Maybe I'm not there every day, but I've been there many, many times, and I don't see a parking issue there. I do understand everyone's concern about adding parking. I believe Mr. Manpreet Singh will add the necessary parking. He will do what's necessary by you guys' authority, and I'm in favor of this proposal. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. Any other member? state your name and address for the record.

Myself Simrat Singh, a common man, resident of 903 Cranbrook Way, Evans. So I'll keep it short, for the longest time me and my wife had been wondering why there is no gas station on the south side, opposite to Westlake, because we have to always make a left to get a gas in our car. And I also go to commands every Monday and Wednesday where I park my car there for half an hour. I completely disagree with the gentleman that the parking lot is full because I have never seen their parking lot full. In fact, there are a handful of cars from 6.30 to 7.00. I also agree with Mr. Buthra's statement about safety because when I pull out of commands and I have to make a left again to get the gas, there had been two times I was about to get hit by the oncoming traffic because obviously it's down the hill and the traffic is coming very fast from the other side. So absolutely there is a safety concern if you always have to go to left side to try to get the gas. Moreover, I'm a big fan of growth, and we know some of the things that Gazpro has done. They have a quality construction. We know that wherever they went, they did bring a lot of business. I definitely, in support of this project, this gas station here because i genuinely feel that it will bring a lot of business growth to the community county overall lot of jobs in the area whether it's a pre-construction or post-construction so i'm in big favor of the gas station thank you okay thank you thank you all right any other member would like to come forward and speak against or in favor of this oh you

Again, thank you for allowing me to speak again. My question is, I saw the proposed plans that has been advertised in the parking lot for the last three or four months, maybe a little bit longer than that. It was supposed to be two buildings close to about 5,000 square feet apiece. How much parking was that going to take up originally? or what was going to be there originally. That's my question. And I'm sorry if you, maybe if y'all already addressed that, but I came in just a little bit late. Are you speaking of the buildings that weren't built? Yeah. The original ones. This, just the proposed things.

Okay. Can't answer that. Can't answer that on the, without. Okay. That was my question.

Thank you.

Okay.

All right.

to address the commission again?

Yes, you can come forward and speak.

Again, Dr. Troy Akers, 1024 Peninsula Crossing. I won't take much more of the commission's time. I needed to hear what some of the statements were. Again, I want to say for the record, we were told that this is going to be filed without prejudice for the drawn so I just say this as Mister Bowers said we have a couple couple employees. Let's go back to what the planning staff asked for wasn't given. So this body approves that it sets a precedent that people can come in here and do whatever they want to change your mind last minute not provide parking status. We're making estimates and judgments based on safety. I mean listen he has a fantastic community obviously that supports him I understand. At the commission meeting on the 21st this will be completely full with the same thing and this will probably be a four or five hour meeting. But I want to address again safety none that's been addressed the parking component of you can take snapshots of anything I can take a snapshot right now in the parking all available parking spaces right now at dink would be completely full. We're good stewards of what's there. Not only that, but this commission, this body, and then also the Board of Commissioners in 2025 when we opened gave us exclusive right to operate a pickleball business, which includes tournaments, et cetera. If you take that away from me, you put me out of business. And while Gasparri may form a couple of jobs, it's going to put 30 people out of work. So I wanted to refute some of those things I said because it's not quite accurate, and we didn't have the opportunity to prepare tonight. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

Okay. All right. Yeah, come forward.

So as he stated that he had four or five employees. We got anywhere from three to five employees per shift, and we will employ at least close to about 12 to 15 or 17 people, depending on how many part-time that would be. So we will create similar jobs and more, and I'm not here to just looking for employees. For myself, I'm here to help everybody in the shopping complex. This is our main goal is if I help everybody, they're the one paying us rent because we own the shopping complex. And I would not do anything to hurt anybody because they're paying us their hard-earned money. And I promise here that I would not do anything to make this county look bad. Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

All right. Okay, moving forward. All right.

My name is Ripple Patel. I live in 3507 Lost Street Lane, Martinez, Georgia. I have a lot of hotels and liquor store in Richmond County, but I choosing to live in Columbia County, there must be a reason, right? And we all know that. Right? So let me ask you questions. We all go to Walmart, Home Depot and Lowe's. What we do if we don't have a parking? We all walk. We all go to downtown for a dinner or drink. There is no parking there. We all walk. I understand the parking is the issue. People go there to pay pickleball for a fun. They cannot walk. Right? They can. So you cannot just say that there is a parking and whatnot. Yes, we understand the situation. How can we figure it out? Right? You cannot just deny such thing based on parking. Right? That's all I'm going to say. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you.

Okay.

Let's come forward, please.

I'm Jennifer Louthan. I live at 451 Ash Ridge Way off the pass, Baker Woods. I've heard a lot of stuff about the parking. And, you know, I know that you've got a lot of parking spaces there now. And they were talking about when Biola was there, there was a lot of parking and there's still a lot of parking, blah, blah, blah. the problem is that you' re going to take up some of that parking space but you also have those contractors that come in they have their you can see it at the circle k across the street you can see it at the circle k down the road they have a lot of trucks that come in they have their carts that come in they have other stuff that comes in it' s always there so there are going to be some issues with parking but the biggest concern I have is I live off the so we already have issues with the past anyway it' s a dangerous road it' s not something that you can just ignore it' s not. You have to take a left out of that parking space in order to make a right hand turn or left hand turn so you. They already have issues with that. You've got people making U-turns there. You've got people coming in in the afternoons. Now you're going to add to that traffic, and you're going to add the backup onto the pass, and that's a problem because it is a blind curve. It is a blind hill. And you can't say, I know that I've almost hit people pulling out in front of me coming out of Dunkin' Donuts because they can't see me. And I'm not flying, but they just... they just don't see you until it's too late, and you have to stomp on the brakes. So now we're going to add more traffic to that, and I'm really against having added traffic from this particular gas station in that parking lot. That's it.

Thank you. Okay, thank you. All right, we're going to move forward. Gentlemen, can I get a motion?

Mr. Chairman, I make a motion to recommend disapproval of file RZ26-07-01, major pud revision for a gas station at 500 Furious Ferry Road.

I have a motion.

Second.

I have a motion and a second. All those in favor of disapproval, raise your right hand.

All those against, raise your right hand.

So it passes disapproval 4-1. Next item on the agenda, H1B3, rezoning. This is a change of conditions. Will?

Planned insurance requests for a change of conditions at 4800 Columbia Road, currently a convenience store for gas pumps. The change of conditions is to permit a restaurant on the property. Shows location of the property, again, intersection of South Old Bel Air Road and Columbia Road. And currently is in C2. You can see next door to this, there's some CC as well. The south is R1 across Columbia Road, predominantly residential, excuse me. And then to the east there, more C2 and CC. Here's a review of the site, again, being used as a gas station. And the site itself. and the plot of the property. So what we're dealing with is back in 2016 when this was rezoned, there was a condition placed on it that said it would only be a convenience store. Doesn't allow anything else on the property. It was basically turned into what amounts in S1 zoning in some respects. So the applicant has requested to revise that condition to allow this 3,000 square foot restaurant on the property. That would also include some changes to the site. You have some additional parking to the south there, our plan south on this, and also adding in curb and gutter to include more parking for the use being added to it. This would go over 52 parking spaces, so this does require a larger landscape strip along the front there, along South Obello Road and Columbia Road. So the reasoning, this is the, it shows where the restaurant would be. So in the past, the reasoning of why there wasn't a restaurant allowed there is that there wasn't a lot of development in this area. Again, we've seen this gas station be built. We had a liquor store across the street that was approved. Then adjacent to this, the rezoning from a few months ago. So again, more activity. There was also the issue at the time that there was not a light at Southwell-Bel Air Road. There is now a light. So you have easier access to this. It's safer. So in staff's opinion and also the applicant has said, hey, this has all been done over the last 10 years. It's now reasonable to say, hey, we want to have a restaurant of that. Staff agrees with that assessment. I mean, it's one of those things that it makes sense. Again, there's been lots of changes to the area. So it's really no concern from our standpoint. In terms of future land use, this is along a commercial corridor and also within medium-density residential. On the medium-density residential side of things, it does allow for commercial uses within that. Generally speaking, it's to provide services for the surrounding area. Again, convenience stores, definitely something that they can do that. So it does meet the intent of the Palliations for the Future comprehensive plan. Excuse me. In terms of recommendation, we are going to change the original condition. Again, the use may include a convenience store of gas and a restaurant. The plan agreed to by the owner, developer, and staff. That also had a condition with it that it required them to keep all trees that are 10-inch caliper or greater. And again, that's adding on the restaurant to that original condition. That includes staff recommendation.

Thank you, Will. Will the owner or applicant of Seeing Business Incorporated like come forward?

good evening bill quarter with blue water engineering on the project engineer 4210 columbia road martinez georgia will do a great job of giving you the background just a few things I like to point out if you look at the site plan and I'm sure you have in your package you see that there's already an area where we're showing the proposed building that was already graded and leveled out. And so really it's just a matter of building the building in an area that already exists We do need some additional parking to support that there's plenty of parking on the site. We're asking for Permission to have a restaurant you'll note on the site plane. We're not showing a drive-through So this is not going to be the kind of thing that's going to you know generate a lot of drive-through traffic it would be you know a destination type take place I also point out it will mention that there was a liquor store approved across the street it was a liquor store and several other tenants in that building so you know that site was not limited to just a liquor store the plan itself included a number of other tenants so I I think it makes sense. There's a signal there now. We're not adding any additional ingress or egress that's already there and suitable to serve the proposed use. And so we're asking your approval of the change of the condition tonight.

Okay. We have any questions?

Yeah. Do you have any proposed tenants?

Not yet. The gas station doesn't intend to build the restaurant itself, and they haven't marketed it as a space because they're not allowed to do it. And so I think the staff's first condition gives the county some leeway on approval of what is going to go in there, and the applicant is okay with that condition. Okay. Again, it's not a drive-thru, so it could be a sandwich shop. Probably not going to be coffee. If it's coffee, you're going to go in and grab it. It may be a pastry shop or something.

Marco's Pizza.

Could be a Marco's Pizza. But you've got to get out of your car. There's not going to be a drive-thru window.

Mr. Corder. Are they intending for this building to join the gas pros such that they can use their restrooms? As an example, I keep encountering these kind of places and traveling over the road where it's a gas station plus Dairy Queen. A walkthrough.

I think if they did that, they probably wouldn't need the condition approved if it was part of the gas station because a lot of gas stations serve food. I see it as a separate space.

Yeah, we need to be separate.

It would be a separate space. Okay, so they'd have to have their own facilities. Right. Okay.

All right. Any more questions? All right. Do I have any other member in the audience who would like to speak in favor or against? Come forward, please.

Have you remembered me from the time before? Oh, yeah. I'm Ingrid Jenkins. I live at 4717 Brookwood Drive, Grove Town. Other members are no longer on this board when we went through all the liquor store and the drive-thru. This area is already so congested. We do have a red light now, and it's like the last thing we need right there is at this would drive in brookwood lane is more traffic and this gas station already serves food in there i don't go to gas pro it's nice to hear all these nice things they do but my car i have to have ninety three and good quality gas in it i mean not that theirs isn't seen the change I've lived in this county since 76 on and off and I've lived in Brookwood since 96 on and off I'm an owner I don't rent and I'm just concerned about the traffic right there at the end of Brookwood Lane and Brookwood Road now the traffic backs up between 5 and 6 and If this is a separate entity from the gas station what next what if he doesn't make it what if it's changed? What if it's changed to a restaurant? What's the difference between if you vote and put in a? uh... mcdonald's there if it's going to be a commercial restaurant i want to know what it is and there are other people that would have come but i mean that this when it's a hundred and six degrees outside heat factor and people are you know the fourth of july been on the board there in the past but i'm just really concerned about how the traffic is going to become even more congested there and i'd just like to know more about it what's he going to do they already served food in there you can't walk there even with the two lanes there's a sidewalk on part of it the gas station like any other gas station with the big trucks and there' s a hill there that is so dangerous and there' s already been a terrible accident this week down at lewiston road with a dump truck and two other cars. and two weeks ago somebody ran into the catholic church at the crest of this hill there's a yellow light there's a yellow arrow but it's really hard you just have to hold your breath and just really hope nobody's coming up through there and when they get into the right hand yield lane some people turn and some don't but if this is right there on that parking lot I don't see how in the world you're going to have enough parking space because there's already four gas lines there. Big trucks, I mean, transfer trailer trucks come in there and park, fill up and eat. They're already eating in there. So I just... I am not for any more traffic and anything around that particular gas station. I'd just like to know more, and there are other people that feel the same way. They're just not here this evening because they, you know, it's the 4th of July. I'm a retired teacher. I like where I live, and I have seen a big change out here since 76. But... I really hope that you all can come out there and see how much congestion is there. Between 5 and 6, even this evening, the traffic is backed up almost from Bel Air Road all the way up to Wimberley. And like they said, how many restaurants do we need out here in this county? And I appreciate the time, I really do. And I know you all have a lot of decisions to make. I'm not sure if you were, I'm in District 2, and I really appreciate, like I said, I taught school 28 years. But when you get in school and the school buses come out there and there's a restaurant, what are the hours going to be? I mean, what's it... going to be like, is it going to be like a Denny's or is it going to be fine dining at a gas station? I don't know. I mean, what's it going to be? I just have a lot of questions about it and the traffic is my main concern. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else would like to come forward? Gentlemen, can I get a motion?

Mr. Chairman, I make a motion to recommend approval with conditions of file RZ260702, change of conditions to allow gas station and restaurant at 4800 Columbia Road. I'll second.

I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, raise your right hand. Motion carries. I see we have no legal matters this evening. Any staff or commissioner comments to make? Any more public comments or participation? Gentlemen, can I get a motion to adjourn?

Mr. Chairman, motion to adjourn.

Second.

I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, raise your right hand. We are adjourned.