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Commissioners approve rezoning for new Augusta Christian elementary school with traffic condition
Summary
The board approved rezoning a parcel to allow Augusta Christian to build a new elementary school on Baston Road, and added a condition requiring a traffic control plan to prevent queuing on Baston Road and to include a pedestrian crossing plan before the new school opens.
The Columbia County Board of Commissioners approved a rezoning May 6 to allow Augusta Christian to build a new private elementary school on Baston Road, subject to conditions from the April 17 Planning Commission report and an added traffic control condition imposed by the board.
The motion approved rezoning the property (Tax Map 082B Parcel 006) from S‑1 and R‑3 to S‑1 for the proposed private elementary school. Planning staff described the proposed building as a two‑story facility of roughly 42,000 to 60,000 square feet, and said their principal concern was traffic: staff did not want Baston Road to “become a parking lot” or have students crossing the road unsafely between campuses.
The board added a condition — read aloud by staff and incorporated into the approval — requiring the applicant to provide a traffic control plan that prevents school‑related traffic from stopping and queuing on Baston Road “to the furthest extent possible.” The condition also requires a pedestrian crossing plan to safely serve students walking or biking between the existing campus and the new Baston Road facility, and states the approved traffic control plan must be implemented before the Baston Road elementary school opens. Planning staff said much of the plan can be implemented on the applicant’s existing campus and that the county engineer will have authority to modify the plan to ensure it functions.
Staff noted fire code and emergency vehicle access could require minor adjustments to the site plan, including potential building shifts, and said a 30‑foot buffer adjacent to residential properties is part of current conditions; some limited buffer encroachment may be permitted to accommodate playgrounds or fire access, subject to approval.
The applicant and staff reported no known neighborhood opposition to the rezoning; commissioners amended the motion on the floor to add the traffic control plan condition, and the amended motion carried.
