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Public commenters raise neighborhood concerns as commission places Weed Street student-housing rezoning on consent agenda
Summary
A rezoning petition from Irvington LLC (R1B/R1C to R3B) for multiple properties on Weed Street and Wheeler Road was included in the consent agenda and faced public comment. Speakers urged scaling, mitigation for traffic, drainage and safety, and asked whether Payne College students would be included.
The Augusta Richmond County Commission placed a rezoning request by Irvington LLC on the consent agenda Feb. 17 that would change several parcels on Weed Street and Wheeler Road from single-family zoning to R3B multifamily to allow student housing. The clerk read the petition into the record; no formal objections were recorded during the consent roll call.
Before the consent vote, public commenter Brian Green and two neighbors addressed commissioners with concerns about neighborhood impacts if the project proceeds at the scale described. Green asked whether the project would benefit Payne College students as well as Augusta University students, argued narrow streets and limited drainage could be problematic and questioned the plan's 136-student capacity. "Why would you put a 2 story there? ... With a 2 story building, really fit in that neighborhood, it would kinda consume the neighborhood," Green said. Two residents, Caroline Combs Robinson and Francis Stafford, introduced themselves and were noted by the clerk.
Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Guilfoyle clarified that today's action was a zoning concurrence and that approval of rezoning "does not constitute approval of the conceptual site plan submitted with the rezoning application" and that site-plan review by Planning and Zoning would follow, where neighbors will have an additional opportunity to weigh in.
The consent agenda—covering 30 items including the Weed Street rezoning—was approved by the commission after a motion to add several addendum items passed; the clerk announced the motion carried with Commissioner Pulliam absent.
What comes next: rezoning approval moves the proposal to the planning and zoning process, where site plans, traffic, drainage and mitigation measures would be subject to review and public comment.
