Criminal Defense Lawyer in Augusta, SC

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - Work is underway for a project bringing apartments and townhomes to the east side of Martintown Road in North Augusta.

The project has been raising concerns for neighbors about more people and traffic.

Since 2006, there have been a lot of concerns about this project.

On one side, you have people excited about new apartments, homes, and businesses, but on the other, they’re worried about what this will mean for people who live nearby.

People who live in Pineview Estates hope the roads don’t go from being quiet and peaceful to loud and busy as construction for The Hive breaks ground.

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“We have several fears, one being safety for the kids there as you know that there are no sidewalks,” said Jean Norris, who lives off Pinon Drive in Pineview Estates.

Some of her neighbors plan on moving because of it.

“The house next to us, that lot, that’s the road. And then the road will cut and tie in back there. I mean, it’s nuts. All the woods not on our land are going to be down. All the noise that you don’t hear from right now from the roads and everything, it’s going to be gone,” she said.

The project will add single-family homes, apartments, townhomes, as well as businesses and a green space.

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“That road on Five Notch is always bad. To open this up to even more traffic from all those, you know, 2,000 homes and apartments that they’re going to be putting together, coming through here ... that’s ridiculous,” said Norris.

It’s a project city leaders started talking about back in 2006, but that doesn’t make this any easier.

“That’s why you move to North Augusta. You don’t want to be like Augusta. That’s why we chose to live here instead of Evans over Martinez over Augusta over Grovetown. We don’t want to be another Grovetown. We want to be unique and historic, small, lovely, charming and it’s going to be taken away from us with that,” she said.

To see a closer look at the plans for The Hive, click here.

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NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - On Monday, North Augusta City Council members voted on the next step toward expansion at Riverside Village.

New plans for the popular area include apartments and retail spaces.

Leaders voted to move forward with new parking plans for the proposed residential and retail spaces.

It’s a step forward to an expanded Riverside Village.

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“Because there will be future buildings we had to re-look at the entire parking agreement because now, we’ve got to know ‘okay if this building is built, how many parking spaces are gonna come from the hotel deck, how many are gonna come from the stadium deck, how many are gonna be street parking,” said Mayor Britton Williams.

If approved, the new developments would be in four different areas of Riverside Village that are currently undeveloped.

“The goal is getting these things built out so we’ll be able to have a fully done riverside village is what the city’s wanted since 2017,” he said.

But some residents on Facebook say it’s not what everyone wants.

One commenter says: “Apartments are gonna ruin it, we need to be building businesses and houses.”

While another says: “All these new apartments coming to North Augusta concerns me.”

SEE THE NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING:

There will be an opportunity for you to express your concerns or things you favor in less than a month.

“That’s what the public hearing will be to give citizens the opportunity to come in front of us and say ‘Hey, here’s what I like, here’s what I don’t like, here’s my concerns,’” said Williams.

They’re giving you a chance to give feedback on the future of Riverside Village.

“It’s a big part of the future of North Augusta and I’m glad the council took the first step with the master parking agreement,” he said.

The public hearing is on April 1.

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“I love lamb, so I said, let’s put lamb for breakfast. I love chopped cheese — it's a New York-style sandwich — so I said, let’s bring it down here. I’ve got an imaginative mind, and certain things I just — I’m somebody who craves a lot of different things, so I just put cravings together,” owner Eric Emedoh said.

That might be the most succinct summary of a menu that also counts Le Bodega Crunch, a breakfast sandwich of bacon or sausage, egg and cheese between two pancake-style pastry buns that have the crunch of Cap’n Crunch cereal in them.

Or that includes a French toast sandwich, said toast oozing its golden fried butter flavor into the more savory sausage and egg within — and crispy bacon building into the harmony.

Emedoh’s chef, Terica Hills, is the one who puts practice to palate, translating that Le Bodega inspiration — a craving or two or three — into the actual dishes.

Finding Hills was "a match made in Heaven," Emedoh said because his background isn't in culinary arts.

Emedoh studied marketing at the University of South Carolina before moving to North Augusta.

But he’s originally from the Bronx. That’s how North Augusta got chopped cheese, likely a first for the city or even the CSRA.

“I’m pretty sure — I'm about 98 percent sure — no one else has chopped cheese here,” Emedoh said, adding it’s quickly become a customer favorite.

Le Bodega itself quickly came on the scene. Emedoh said it was only in October that he voiced his desire to open a restaurant and then got to thinking about the New York-style bodega: the small corner store that’s got a few things for a quick in-and-out.

Then it became a matter of testing the waters. “It’s going to cost to be the boss,” Emedoh said with a smile.

Emedoh said he and some friends donated extensively to Toys for Tots last Christmas and, in that process of meeting people, were able to give out some free food and see how those potential menu items resonated with those who tried them.

“It took to Facebook, and it spread like wildfire,” he said. Now, “the food just sells itself.”

Le Bodega is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - The North Augusta City Council has set the first public reading for the Riverside Village project in April.

Council members on Monday approved an extension on the decisions for the master development.

The project plans include adding more seats, restrooms and a boat dock to the Sharon Jones Amphitheater.

North Augusta city planners gave updates on Riverside Village and the 10-year plan for parks and recreation last Monday.

Last year, Parks and Recreation published a survey asking for community feedback on what people would like to see in the future.

With Land Plan South Group, this new plan considered all of the feedback, and Director Rick Meyer says it was a joint effort to get it all done.

“We met with focus groups. We met with city staff and administration trying to get as many opinions as you possibly can so that you meet the people’s needs,” he said.

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The plans include modifications to the Greeneway like more law enforcement presence, creating a café and bike shop in the old Johnson Electric building, creating connections to Maude Edenfield Park and Wade Hampton Veterans Park and adding separate lines for bikers and walkers.

“When you provide people quality space with quality service, more people want to come to your town, you know, and it’s economic impact for the entire area, not just North Augusta,” said Meyer.

Officials are trying to fund pickleball courts, a pool and an amphitheater at North Augusta Country Club and they have many more plans for Riverview Park, Summerfield Park and Bunting Park.

Mayor Pro-Tem Jennifer McCauley said: “Most moms know it’s hard to stay inside, so we’re always looking for places to take them, whether it’s the parks or the greenway, getting them outdoors, getting them off the screens these days is huge, so any element and feature that can get us to be motivated to go outside is good.”

At Riverside Village, the plans include the addition of 58 apartments and at least 4,000 square feet of retail.

Leaders say it’s an exciting look at what the future could hold.

“I think the best part of the plan was it didn’t just relate to young families and people with children. There was something for every age and generation in there,” said McCauley.

Right now, the plans are in the rough draft phase. What will actually come to life is up to the City Council.

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McMaster spoke both from a point of pride in South Carolina’s growing economy and from a point of caution that it takes care to preserve where it’s been.

“There are three great parts of our prosperity — our economy, that is, economic growth; educational excellence, and our environmental and cultural heritage,” he said. “We have to have them all — if you don’t have the clean, rich environment and protect your cultural heritage, then the other two are not going to work.”

North Augusta Area Government

“Our land and our people are what make us prosperous, are what make us strong,” McMaster said. “In the context of education, the environment and economic growth, there’s some things that are particularly important for the rural areas.”

Access to broadband and health care are two of these; investing in technical colleges and in water and sewer infrastructure are two others, he said.

Maceo Nance, senior advisor to South Carolina Commerce Secretary Harry Lightsey, said he’s seen rural areas struggle to reach what he said was an ever-rising bar that came with ever increasing demands.

“Over the last 50 years, there has been a drastic change in South Carolina. We’ve gone from being a textile state to making aircraft, fighter jets, automobiles — you name it, that’s here,” Nance said. “On the other side of the equation, some things have not changed. […] The same counties that have been on the lower tier, economically, are still there.”

The issues that have held some areas back, he said, range from fractured leadership and an over-emphasis on political bias, to a “me and mine” attitude and a lack of long-range planning. Even plain “mean-spiritedness” has gotten in the way, he said.

Nance was speaking from his own first-hand experience: come November, he will have given 50 years to public service and, per McMaster, has done “just about everything” while with the state commerce department.

“Just about everything” earned Nance the Order of the Palmetto.

McMaster conferred the honor on Nance during the Rural Summit, saying Nance’s impact “is enormous, statewide and beyond.”

While in North Augusta, McMaster also promoted SC Nexus’ designation as one of 31 inaugural Regional Technology and Innovation hubs.

It’s a designation that, according to the federal Economic Development Association overseeing the Tech Hub program, acts as endorsement of the “region’s strategy to supercharge their respective technological industry to create jobs and strengthen U.S. economic and national security.”

SC Nexus’ geographic reach covers the Midlands and the Upstate, plus Aiken and Orangeburg counties. In securing inaugural designation, SC Nexus now has the potential, should it become one of about a dozen long-term hubs, to receive between $40 million and $70 million in federal grants annually over the course of five years.

“The future is very bright in South Carolina,” he said. “And it will be very bright in South Carolina.”