Indecision reigns over Augusta Road plan

By John Boyanoski  

JANUARY 15, 2010 10:34 a.m. (0)

The Planning Commission hearing on a proposed Augusta Road apartment complex was like a 15-round heavyweight title fight that ended with no decision Thursday.

In one corner was an Atlanta-based developer pushing for 37 state-subsidized apartments on a 2.5 acre piece of land belonging to a local church. In the other were close to 175 people representing close to 800 more who signed a petition in the last few months to block the proposal.

The setting was a first-ever test of the city’s new zoning laws regarding apartment complexes that require more stringent guidelines and citizen input, but any decision was rendered moot on a technicality.

Instead, a vote will be held in early February after the developers bring back a new traffic study for the site as well as a geological survey showing how much rock is located on the property, which is a small bluff overlooking the road and covered in tall Carolina Pines.

City Attorney Ron McKinney advised the seven-member board not to make a decision Thursday because the plans for the project had been altered after the meeting agenda was announced two weeks ago.

Originally, Prestwick Development told city officials they planned 48 units in an L-shaped building that would be two stories high, 170 feet long, three stories high and almost as long as a football field on the rear part.

However, after meeting with city staff about the density and mass of the project, Prestwick’s architects decided to make it 37 units and two stories throughout.

McKinney said even though the change likely was in good faith, it would break city laws for the commission to vote Thursday because of the agenda difference.

Commission Chairman Brody Glenn agreed not to vote, but with more than 200 people attending the meeting – 150 in the wood-paneled tenth floor chambers of City Hall and at least 50 more listening via a sound system in a third-floor conference room – he said a hearing should take place.

So for the next two hours both sides discussed the pros and cons of the development.

This was the first time an apartment complex plan came before the commission since new rules were put in place last year that required the public vetting process.

Bryan Wood, the city zoning director, read a 27-point breakdown of every possible detail, which are now required for these meetings,  involving wall height, landscaping specs, distance from the road, playground set-up, trash service, road conditions, brick color and fencing,

He was followed by the architects for Prestwick, who said the building will look like several different structures by using different brick patterns, door placements, windows and eaves.

The site will have proper lighting and they expect no more than 340 cars to go in and out of the $7.5 million project each day saying that would not create too much more traffic on Augusta, which sees 21,000 cars a day.

They also contended the development fits in with the surrounding neighborhood, which is a mix of businesses, single-family homes, duplexes and smaller apartment buildings.

“We are not in a residential neighborhood,” said Mike Riley, one of the designers. “We are on the edge of a residential neighborhood.”

However, the large crowd who were against the development– roughly 175 of the 200 people there based on a show of hands – fired back with nine people taking turns to speak for a combined 20 minutes.

Their counterattack focused on traffic snarls especially with children walking to nearby Blythe Academy, the potential for crime from state-subsidized apartments and the footprint being bigger than any other building in the neighborhood save for Augusta Heights Baptist, who is selling the land to the developers.

They also contended the apartments do not preserve and improve the neighborhood. Residents in the area successfully fought state plans to widen Augusta in the mid-1990s.

“This is a neighborhood, and not by accident,” said Veronica Young, a nearby resident.

People speaking in favor of the project were led by local businessman S.T. Peden who said the complaints were not about the size of the project, but the economics. He contended people didn’t want subsidized housing.

“It’s not about massing, it’s about economic status,” he said.

However, Peden, who lives near the neighborhood, admitted he was working as a consultant for Prestwick when asked by commission member Mills Gallivan. That drew guffaws from the crowd.

With nothing to vote on, commission members asked developers to come back on Feb. 11 with a traffic study broken down by hours and days of heaviest driving as well as a survey showing the rock placement.

Ken Blankenship, Prestwick’s president, said after the meeting he already budgeted rock demolition money in the project, but would do the survey since the commission asked.

While the requests are not binding, Glenn said it would go a long way toward a decision being made.

“The more information we have, the more likely it is to pass,” he said.