3 days Ago
A potential new development, one whose governing ordinance would allow for just over 1,800 new homes opposite the ongoing Highland Springs, now Alidade , project narrowly passed favor with the North Augusta Planning Commission mid-December. The so-called Kellogg Tract stretches for 467 acres along the west side of I-520 from Belvedere Clearwater Road out to Edgefield Road and northward to back up on the Glenmore Avenue and Dundee Drive neighborhood. The planning commission on Dec.
18 recommended on a 4-3 vote that North Augusta City Council approve its general development plan. Though commissioners Lisa Christie, Rett Harbeson and Chelsea Waddell did not join in that recommendation, they did vote alongside Commission Chair Dr. Christine Crawford, Vice Chair Bob Bigger and commissioners Jesse Elliott and Erin Slade to recommend the requested annexation and rezoning that would facilitate this project put forth the nation’s largest homebuilder, D.
R. Horton. The commission had previewed a concept plan in February, foretelling that this large tract of land formerly held by the Kellogg cereal company (and sold off to multiple parties for almost $4.
5 million) would eventually come back as a formal application for development. But that application — the one forwarded to Council in December on the split recommendation — has more than doubled in its housing, at least as far as what would be permitted by its development plan. Originally floated as a development of about 860 new homes, the actual ordinance for the development, if approved by City Council, would allow for 1,803 homes and an inventory as varied as “cottage-style homes” on small, 30-foot lots; townhomes and larger single-family homes on 70-foot lots.
A commercial component is also planned, for some 27 acres plus a smaller scattering of light retail or a day care within one of the planned residential areas. By specific stipulation, that 27 acres of commercial cannot be reduced in any later request for a modification to the development plan. Despite its size, the Kellogg Tract didn't get much public attention, and the North Augusta Municipal Building was sparsely populated for the commission's review of it; there was also no public comment on any part of the proposal.
The commission’s narrow favor in December mimicked its members’ first concerns from that earlier look in February when even in that former iteration of reduced housing it sparked some questions from Commissioner Christie about affordable options and from Harbeson about whether apartments could be eliminated from it completely. If development moves forward on the Kellogg Tract, construction would happen in phases over the next 10-15 years. Development plans allow for up to 1,803 new homes, although a project representative said reaching this number was unlikely.
Though the plans allow for up to 300 apartments, no apartments are planned for the actual development, according to Burton Fine, of Cranston Engineering and who represented D.R. Horton last month.
Fine said this was kept in only in the event of market changes over the course of the project, its phased development expected to take 10 to 15 years. “We want the opportunity for that that to be available for the developer if things change in the future,” he said. Grace United Methodist Church holds Christmas Eve Service And of those 1,803 allowable units, Fine said even getting to that wasn’t likely.
“I highly doubt that will happen unless apartments come or a larger townhome area, which is not currently planned; that market is currently saturated in this area,” he said. Fine said only 60 or so of the units are expected to be townhomes. The development is split over two separate parcels, and commissioners unanimously recommended that the larger one, of about 380 acres, be annexed into the city of North Augusta.
The commission also unanimously recommended that the smaller parcel, already in the city, be rezoned from Critical Area to Planned Development. Only 7 of its 86 acres contain wetlands, and city planner Kuleigh Baker, filling in for Planning Director Tommy Paradise, said that certain of the changes made in the updated development code, notably doubling the wetland buffers from 25 feet to 50 feet, could actually protect the area better even if development happens in that area. Cranston’s Fine said that this area around the wetlands would support some sewer infrastructure and possible a walking trail.
Other planned amenities include a centralized clubhouse and pool, tennis and volleyball courts, with smaller common areas within the neighborhoods that might be playgrounds, picnic spots and dog parks. A trail that 'kicks our butt'? North Augusta's got one, plus a man who's gunning for its upkeep Plans for the Kellogg Tract would link its development to the 4.7-mile Palmetto Parkway Trail.
The development plans also have two proposed connections to the Palmetto Parkway Trail , something that Commissioner Slade had favored back in February. Fine promoted the development as one that already has commercial interest, relaying that some business has been in conversation with D.R.
Horton already and that this section of the development could go up early on and fronting on Belvedere Clearwater Road. Fine said the additional housing of this project would also facilitate its neighbor project, Alidade, formerly known as Highland Springs and whose own commercial component is planned for just across I-520 from the Kellogg Tract’s northern end where much of the housing will be. North Augusta City Council is likely in January to take up the first of two votes each on the requested annexation, zoning and development plan for the Kellogg Tract.
Should the necessary approvals be given, Cranston’s Fine laid out the expected timeline of the project taking between 10 and 15 years to complete, with the first platting to occur in 2027. The project would be phased and traffic improvements — including signalization at the entry points off Edgefield Road and Belvedere Clearwater Road and the construction of larger collector and sub-collector roads — made as thresholds are met with South Carolina Department of Transportation..
