Development plan draws ire

Web posted Sunday, October 29, 2000

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By Heidi Coryell
Staff Writer

No plans have been approved and no ground has been broken on a 15.8-acre tract off Wheeler Road between Somerset Way and Camellia Road, but the proposed west Augusta residential development is already getting resistance from homeowners and county officials.

Click on map for a larger version. STAFF

They are concerned about building near the Rae's Creek flood plain. The creek runs directly through the densely wooded property, which is just a few miles upstream from the Chelsea Drive area, notorious for its flood problems.

``The removal of any degree of this vegetation, coupled with concrete asphalt - any alteration of the drainage system back here will just compound the problem downstream,'' said Bill Harris, a resident of the Ravenel subdivision who helped distribute hundreds of flyers to several subdivisions downstream from the proposed development. ``We contend that it will make matters worse.''

And the sequence of events that plays out in coming weeks could set a precedent for future flood plain development as greenspace becomes less and less the norm and more the exception.

Mr. Harris's home on Somerset Way is adjacent to the property proposed for development. The view from his back windows is of lanky pine trees and lush vegetation, and the development would create an aesthetic problem for him and his neighbors, as opposed to a drainage problem.

But the timber industry executive says the real problem would exist for those downstream. And while he advocates landowner rights, he also supports responsible building.

``I have repeatedly seen water stand back here,'' he said. ``Any kind of good rain, and it stays wet back there. Why anybody would want to build ... I don't know.''

The property in question was sold to two local developers several weeks ago: Mason McKnight and John Speer Jr. The two men submitted a pre-development plan for the land to the office of planning and zoning Sept. 28.

Based on that plan, about 50 percent of the property is located in the 100-year flood plain, which means it has a 1 percent chance of flooding in any given year.

Pre-development plans - which are largely a formality - are typically approved by a staff member of the county planning and zoning office.

But a heightened awareness of the issues surrounding development in the flood plain, paired with an updated flood damage prevention ordinance, prompted officials in the Telfair Street office to forward the matter of approval to the Planning and Zoning Commission - a board of engineers and builders - for the first time, said Executive Director George Patty.

``It's unusual,'' Mr. Patty said. ``But because of the interest in flooding - especially the flooding of Rae's Creek - we're going to let the full procedure take its course.''

The pre-development plan on file divides the property into four lots, and each of those lots has a certain portion of land outside the special flood hazard area - some more than others.

The proposal has been to put one large estate-style home on each lot.

``Whether or not we develop it, I can't answer that,'' said Mr. McKnight, co-owner of the property and president of McKnight Properties. ``Whatever we do, we plan to do within the codes and limitations.''

The planning commission will meet on the matter at 3 p.m. Nov. 6 and then will forward its recommendation to the full Augusta Commission at its Nov. 21 meeting.

Because the plan meets all county land development requirements, a recommendation for approval will likely be passed to the full commission.

And if the plan receives final approval from commissioners, any building on the property would be subject to the newly-updated flood damage prevention ordinance, adopted unanimously by commissioners Oct. 17. The ordinance prohibits dirt in the flood plain and also requires a no-rise certification, which says the development will not alter the flood plain.

But Augusta Commissioners still have the power to deny the development plan.

Several residents of the Ravenel subdivision on Somerset Way stuffed mailboxes with hundreds of ``citizens alert'' fliers late last week in subdivisions downstream from the proposed development, including the Chelsea Drive area.

The flier, which also included a map of the area under consideration, aims to generate attention to the matter in an effort to draw a denial from commissioners when it comes before them in late November.

``We're not singling out this subdivision or this property owner,'' said Terri Turner, assistant zoning and development administrator for the Planning and Zoning Commission. ``This is something the commission has been looking at for a while, and we felt that we should send it to them.''

Reach Heidi Coryell at (706) 823-3215.

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