Developers request changes to subdivision plan near Grovetown High School

Joe Hotchkiss, Augusta Chronicle
·2 min read
This four-bedroom house is one of the home designs proposed for the Misty Meadows subdivision, which developers want to build within walking distance of Grovetown High School, Columbia Middle School and Baker Place Elementary School.
This four-bedroom house is one of the home designs proposed for the Misty Meadows subdivision, which developers want to build within walking distance of Grovetown High School, Columbia Middle School and Baker Place Elementary School.

Developers proposing a new subdivision within walking distance of three Columbia County schools are asking the county to allow new conditions before construction begins.

Misty Meadows is a project of COEL Beazley Joint Venture, a limited-liability company affiliated with local homebuilder Bill Beazley Homes. Plans call for constructing a 163-home neighborhood at 5001 High Meadows Dr., near where William Few Parkway intersects with Baker Place Road and Long Branch Falls. Just down the road are Grovetown High School, Columbia Middle School and Baker Place Elementary School.

The homes, in nine available floor plans, would be between 2,400 and 3,300 square feet, all with four bedrooms each and 2.5 to 3.5 bathrooms each.

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The subdivision’s plans originally called for homes to be 25 feet from the street. The developer is asking to reduce that distance to 15 feet.

Developers also are asking to change the distance between houses. The current plan allows 7.5 feet. The new request, if granted, would shorten the distance to 5 feet, but with a condition.

“This proposal would permit a minimum of a 5-feet setback, but with the caveat that the property next to it would be left with a 10-foot side setback to maintain 15 feet of separation between homes,” the Columbia County Planning Department said in its staff report on the request. “This method can be a bit difficult to implement since your house design can be impacted by how the property next door has been developed, but (it) is not a new idea in Columbia County. Overall, this request keeps the appearance of a 7.5-foot setback but does afford more flexibility for the homebuilder.”

The developers cited “flexibility in home design as the driving factor in revising the building setbacks,” staff said.

The Columbia County Planning Commission approved the request conditionally. The Columbia County Board of Commissioners is scheduled to rule on the request at its next meeting May 2.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Developers asking county to alter Grovetown subdivision plans