Augusta Heights project halted

By Cindy Landrum  

MARCH 19, 2010 8:12 a.m. (0)

A controversial plan to build a subsidized government housing apartment complex on Augusta Road is a no go – for now.

Preserve Augusta Road Gateway, Inc., a group of homeowners and business owners, has appealed a Greenville City Planning Commission decision to allow Prestwick Development Company to build a 37-unit apartment complex at 3018 Augusta St., land owned by August Heights Baptist Church.

A temporary restraining order has been issued preventing the developer from proceeding with the project.

A hearing is scheduled for March 24.

Dozens of residents opposed the development at a Feb. 11 Planning Commission meeting, saying the project did not fit with the neighborhood and would generate too much traffic.

The appeal said the commission’s decision to approve the project should be reversed because “it is an abuse of discretion, is clearly erroneous, is contrary to law and is not supported by evidence.”

According to papers filed in Greenville County Court of Common Pleas, the project is nearly five times the square footage allowed by law.

The city’s comprehensive plan says that within mixed used neighborhoods, proposed single-use developments “will not exceed 10,000 square feet.” The apartment complex proposed by Prestwick is more than 46,000 square feet, the appeal said.

The lawsuit also claims the “mass and bulk” of the proposed project violates the law.

“The Planning Commission’s decision to approve this behemoth of a development given the existing structure in the immediate and extended vicinity of the property was a clear violation of law and an abuse of discretion,” the appeal said.

Preserve Augusta Road Gateway also claims the Planning Commission failed to consider traffic issues. In the appeal, the group said the development would create a new right-of-way from Augusta Street to Old Augusta Road and “cut through” traffic to Old Augusta Road as never considered by the commission.

The group claims the additional vehicles would create a danger because of the school children traveling Old Augusta Road to Blythe Academy and Hughes Middle.

Finally, the residents’ appeal claims the city’s comprehensive plan was not an integral or important consideration in the review of the project.

Named in the petition were the City of Greenville, the planning commission, Prestwick and the church.

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