On Tuesday, a vision for North Augusta is the focus of an open house that citizens are urged to attend.
The session to review the North Augusta 2027 Comprehensive Plan will be Nov. 17 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. in the North Augusta Community Center at 495 Brookside Ave. There will not be a formal presentation; people are invited to drop in anytime during the session.
The goal is to develop a plan that meets all the needs of North Augusta, from continued growth to preserving its character.
“This is an opportunity for folks to get their voices out there to talk about the things that they’d like to see,” incoming council member Tabitha Waldrop told ABD. “For example, a senior center that can be attached to our parks. Maybe even an animal shelter that’s kind of a community center to work with our animals and just give them some time outside.”
Waldrop said, leading up to the June primary election and just completed general election, preserving green space was one of the top concerns she heard from voters.
“Folks want to protect and maintain our natural resources and our green spaces,” she said. “They just really want to start preserving some of the undeveloped locations in order to protect what they called our quality of life and the character of our city. The things that draw people to North Augusta. It is not all brick and mortar and pavement.”
The 2027 plan will help the city plot a future that includes quality of life goals, such as housing and land use. It will also examine infrastructure needs, including water, wastewater, and transportation.
A final component of the plan will outline ways for the city to strengthen neighborhoods and commercial sectors while balancing growth with preservation.
Waldrop said citizens told her that was a main concern: how to have sustainable but balanced growth.
“Right now, they’re feeling there’s no balance to that growth. There’s a lot of clear-cutting, and then it takes a while to build it back up,” she said. “What they want to see is infrastructure first. But we also need to look at all parts of North Augusta and consider where we can bring economic growth and increase the capacity for jobs in different areas of the city.”
North Augusta has unique municipal boundaries. In addition to shared boundaries with unincorporated Aiken and Edgefield Counties, there are also unincorporated areas embedded within the city’s municipal area. For that reason, Waldrop is recommending people outside city limits attend the open house to learn what is planned and express their concerns.
“I hope everyone in the area comes and contributes their viewpoints because I feel like that would make us stronger to understand and wiser as we’re considering,” said Waldrop. “North Augusta is continually annexing small parts all around, so I think it would be very wise for folks to come on out and let their voice be heard.”
Waldrop is new to the political arena. She believes she is joining city council at a time when North Augusta is poised for transformation. However, she wants all voices to be heard.
“While I might not agree with everything everyone’s telling me, I do think it’s my obligation to consider those voices and those opinions as we go into votes,” she acknowledged. “We’re sort of at a crossroads. We can speed out of control, or we can tap the brake a little bit and really consider where we are and what we are doing.”
The city hopes to adopt the new plan by May 2027.
More information about the plan and open house is at https://engagemksk.mysocialpinpoint.com/north-augusta-comprehensive-plan
