News 12 at 11 o'clock, November 16, 2009

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. -- North Augusta city leaders are looking at plans for a new development along the Savannah River,but the plans are not sitting too well with many who already live in the area. A new subdivision, Gardner's Landing is possibly in the future for North Augusta, but the apartments, the homes and the traffic they will generate is a big concern. Now council members say the project is at a standstill until matters get cleared up.

Simpkins Drive may be the road block that prevents a new development from being built in North Augusta. After Monday night's meeting, council members decided to make sure that the zoning codes and traffic issues are cleared properly before giving the green light on this new development.

Simpkins Drive was the subject of debate for almost an hour at the meeting. The developer, council members and homeowners all focused on the traffic flow and potential problems.The development would sit on about 30 acres, offering nearly 250 apartments and more than 50 single family homes, but Simpkins Drive would be the only way into both subdivision. Therefore, until more research is done on the street there possibly won't be an agreement between the three parties.

"They're discussing that the road isn't wide enough for the high density of houses and apartments that are going to be in there be for traffic issues or fire truck issues, "says Terri Syms.

Homeowner Terri Syms perhaps one of the most affected- lives in the nearby subdivision, River North. The subdivision sits on the edge of the planned intersection. The back and forth banter between the developer, the council and the homeowners centers around the width of Simpkins Drive and the current residents in the area say it is going to be troublesome.

"It is a residential area you are going to have people park on the streets so you want to make sure that there's going to be enough area for them to get in there if there is a disaster of some sort,"adds Syms.

Access is a big issue. The current homeowners want to make sure there's more than one way into the new subdivision, written into the agreement.

Monday night's meeting was the second reading of the plan.
At the first reading on November 2, the homeowners of River North were against the entrance as the main access because of the traffic volume. Syms and others who showed up say with so much on the line,they will continue to speak out.

"We're just hoping that all parties come together to make the best decision for our city,"says Syms.

At the meeting, the developer argued that it's the language as to why there's so much concern over this street - but the council members say it's about getting the project completely right -before signing off on it