Columbia County Apartment Development Rezoning Moves Forward

 

 

Southeastern Development received a recommendation for approval on zoning revision to modify the shape of the site on Blackstone Camp Road.  The property is near the upscale River Island Subdivision in Columbia County.  The project would be limited to 274 units, and would follow the River Island PUD narrative design standards.  Southeastern Development has already started the site work.  The project was technically approved in 2002. It recently has received a lot of criticism from neighbors, including a petition for the Columbia County Commission to reconsider.  

 

I think this is a good project and will ultimately be good for this community.  I think it’s important to have a healthy mix of housing, and new Class-A apartments force older complexes to lower their prices, and create a cycle which helps create a diverse offering of housing products.  Also, A-Class housing becomes B-Class housing, B-Class housing becomes C-Class, and so forth.   

 

It seems that lower-income neighborhoods that don’t want to see change and diversification fight against gentrification, while higher-income neighborhoods that don’t want to see change fight against “higher crime rates” and “overcrowding of schools”.  

 

Hare are a few additional resources, the Augusta Chronicle Article, the recent rezoning application on this project, and a 2010 Study by Columbia County on Multifamily development.  

 

This looks like a great project that should be great for Columbia County.  Augusta is continuing to grow!  What are your thoughts?