How will ~2,000 new residences provide “traffic relief” benefits on the new, planned Powderhouse Connector Road project?
by Don Moniak
September 10, 2023.
Construction on the long planned, debated, and delayed Powderhouse Road Connector is expected to begin as early as next month. The Connector consists of a new, 1.0 mile road connecting Whiskey Road to Corporate Parkway and Centennial Avenue ; and another new 1.7 mile road connecting Whiskey Road to Powderhouse Road south of East Pine Log Road.
According to a recent memorandum from the Augusta Regional Transportation Study’s (ARTS) South Carolina Policy Subcommittee, the current project costs are $38 million. The memo states the intent of the project is to “provide relief to the congested Whiskey Road corridor by opening additional routes to East Pine Log Road and Centennial Parkway.”
A City of Aiken memorandum released this past Thursday states that funding for purchasing road right of ways is derived from Capital Project Sales Tax revenues which are allocated for “Whiskey Road Corridor improvements and congestions relief.” (Aiken City Council Agenda Packet for September 11, 2023, page 412).
The Connector Roads have been, and continue to be, presented as a congestion relief project. But according to two Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) pertaining to right-of-way (ROW) acquisition, the rural, open character of the landscape between Whiskey and Powderhouse Roads is also destined to be converted to a suburban environment of moderate to high-density residential development.
Tens of millions of dollars will be spent to provide limited-access roads through nearly 400 acres of undeveloped farm and forest land in unincorporated Aiken County; and to those eventual, multiple residential developments. Any developments in unincorporated areas which utilize city water and sewer services will eventually be annexed into the City of Aiken.
In addition, the City of Aiken intends to subsidize development by constructing and maintaining two major stormwater retention or detention reservoirs, and constructing essential sewer and water infrastructure to insure adequate capacity for planned residential neighborhoods.
Bottom Photo: Anticipated development facilitated by project infrastructure. The 80-acre parcel is the “McLean” property, the 142-acre parcel is the Watson/Powderhouse Partners, LLC property, and the 37-acre property is owned by Clifford Place Partners. Powderhouse Partners, LLC is also the owner and developer for the new subdivision on the east side of Powderhouse Road called “The Sanctuary.” West of “The Sanctuary” is the Clifford Place Partners’ 37-acre property, which was purchased from James Watson in February 2023 for $820,000. Both Powderhouse Partners and Clifford Place Partners share the same address in County records: 3519 Wheeler Road, Augusta, GA 30909. Finally, Sycamore of Aiken, LLC, is planning to construct a 160-room hotel on four acres at the entrance/end point of the new Connector Road.
The Watson and Powderhouse Partners MOU.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Aiken, James Watson, Jr. and Powderhouse Partners, LLC is on Aiken City Council’s September 11, 2023, meeting agenda. The MOU pertains to 142 acres presently owned by Mr. Watson. Powderhouse Partners has an option to purchase all or parts of the property for future residential and commercial development. Clifton Place Partners, LLC, which shares the same Augusta business address as Powderhouse Partners, is also shown as a signatory to the MOU.
The MOU lists the following “intended land uses” as future development plans:
- 125 lots in “Sanctuary Residential Subdivision.”
- 500 townhomes
- 440 apartments
- 350 single family residential units
- 12 Acres of Commercial development
Under the agreement, Mr. Watson will provide 100 feet of right-of-way property for the roads, and, if necessary, the City will purchase an additional 20 feet of right-of-way. At $17,500 per acre, the one-hundred foot right-of-way amounts to an estimated $180,000 contribution.
In exchange, the City will pay $170,000 for seventeen acres of land earmarked for two new “regional detention ponds.” (1) In total, the ponds will be nearly three times larger in area than the retention pond along the Pawnee-Nielsen connector road.
The ponds will be constructed, owned, and maintained by the City of Aiken. The City will also construct a walking track around the fenced stormwater reservoir, and all landscaping to “obscure any chain link fencing.”
Although the reservoirs are designed to manage stormwater from both the new roadway and the residential developments, the developer will bear no costs. The MOU states:
“The City agrees to construct at its sole cost and expense the detention and/or retention ponds thereon,” and to “design and provide future retention capacity in these retention ponds for the Watson Property that will provide for future development of the Watson Property for all intended uses and density of residential and commercial development.”
The MOU also contains a provision for the Sanitary Sewer Trunk Main Extension Powderhouse Road project (Highfill Project No. AIK2014) to be located “along an easement granted by Clifton Place Partners.” One intent of the project is to “insure adequate capacity” for future development.
The project bid package map shows the sewer line running into the Clifton Place Partners property. The project award was for $624,975, and is being borne entirely by the city.
Finally, the MOU agreement also confers the property owner(s) and developer(s) a degree of veto power over the City’s plans for road access points, green space, bicycle paths, storm drainage lines, and landscaping. For example, the agreement states “the location of the storm drainage lines must be in locations acceptable to Watson, based on future development plans.”
The McLean Property MOU
On November 14, 2022, Aiken City Council approved an overlapping “Agreement” with four parties, referred to as the “McLean family tract.”
Under this agreement, the McClean Family will provide one-hundred feet of -right-of-way, and the city will purchase another twenty-feet if necessary. At $17,500 per acre, the 100 foot right-of-way amounts to an estimated $87,500 contribution to the project.
In return, the City committed to providing:
- Stormwater capacity at the city’s new detention/retention ponds (on the Watson property) for any developments within that affected stormwater drainage area.
- “All sewer and water service infrastructure, excepting tap fees,” which refers to the same Sanitary Sewer Trunk Main Extension Powderhouse Road project (Highfill Project No. AIK2014) referenced in the Watson/Powderhouse Parters MOU. The $624,975 extension will reach the McClain property.
- Sufficient sewer capacity to facilitate development of “at least 600 residential units,” as well as undefined levels of commercial development.
Footnote:
(1) The MOU indicates confusion over both the intent and size of the reservoirs. The City uses the terms “detention pond,” “retention pond,” and “detention or retention pond” in both the singular and plural sense. The MOU also uses “detention” and “retention” interchangeably.
The basic difference between a detention pond and a retention pond is as follows:
- Detention Ponds, also known as dry ponds, involve no storage of water. Water is detained a minimum period of time and then released, leaving the reservoir bed dry again.
- Retention Ponds, also known as wet ponds, have a permanent pool of water throughout the year, barring severe drought.
(2) Letter from City of Aiken Engineering and Utilities Department to City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh detailing the status of the Powderhouse sewer system extension project.
UPDATE:
In June of 2024 the email below was obtained within the response to a FOIA request to the City of Aiken. The email illustrates that traffic will also flow to Whiskey Road as new residents along the Powderhouse Road connector are encouraged to shop and dine along Whiskey Road; and that the redevelopment of the Aiken Mall property is a key dynamic for this traffic flow towards Whiskey Road.
