WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Monday night, the West Columbia Planning Commission voted to move forward with the development of new apartments and retail space.
The project would happen on the corner of Augusta Street and Alexander Road, which lies between two neighborhoods.
Residents of the Augusta Street neighborhood showed up in numbers to the Monday meeting to speak out against the project.
"We can't even get our vehicles up and down Augusta Street as it is because of the parking issue," said long-time resident, Reginald Bowdie. "If you build new apartments down at the end of my street, it's going to affect traffic, correct?"
The developer Wes Taylor also got a chance to share what exactly the project would entail, and rebuttal resident comments as well.
Taylor is the developer of the Congaree Park community and also helped build the waterfront properties near the Riverwalk in Cayce.
"You can see from the other side of the street, the planned retail space, the renovated garage, and the 8-unit apartment building," said Taylor as he referenced a rendering of the project's potential design.
The parcel of land is a total of 0.75 acres.
Once the planning commission staff allowed both sides of the property argument 30 minutes to speak, they voted. In a unanimous vote with one recusal, the commission approved passing the decision along to the city council.
West Columbia city council will take two votes in order to approve or deny the project. The city council will see this proposed development in a meeting on June 6 for a first reading. Residents are encouraged to attend these council meetings.