Augusta proposal links tiny home village to veteran recovery

Steven Coffman brought Patton’s Battle-Born Village to Augusta commissioners on June 18 with a 2.68-acre Walton Way site and a recovery-first plan for unhoused veterans. The proposal centers on adjoining parcels at 2057 and 2061 Walton Way and 850 Hickman Road, across from the former Smoak’s Bakery, and the front-facing building would operate as Battle Born Barracks, an intensive outpatient setting before residents move into their own tiny homes.

Patton’s Pals is named for Patton, his service dog, who has been with him through alcohol recovery since March 2023, and Coffman said he is 39 months sober. He also asked the city to remember Brandon Michael Clark, the 40-year-old unsheltered veteran who died June 12 in an Augusta vacant lot next to a church on 12th Street, where coroner Mark Bowen said no foul play was suspected.

Commissioner Stacy Pulliam said, “This is very much needed,” and Commissioner Jordan Johnson asked, “What can we do to support you?” Coffman said the nonprofit’s immediate need is not a direct appropriation but nonfinancial help, including letters, introductions and zoning guidance, while Patton’s Pals pursues 501(c)(3) status and a fiscal sponsor. The Augusta Commission agenda listed him as introducing Patton’s Pals, a veteran-owned nonprofit assisting homeless veterans.

The city already limits tiny homes to village formats that share open space, with homes no larger than 400 square feet and no denser than 5.5 units per acre. In 2022, city officials said tiny homes for homeless and at-risk veterans might be 150 to 200 square feet and would need a special exception instead of by-right approval, with parking, ADA compliance and funding still unresolved at the time.

Coffman said the village would likely resemble Bridge Builder Communities’ Merry Street village and could be similar to the Cove at Dundee in Savannah, where the final 12 homes opened in November 2023 to complete a 46-home community. The Cove at Dundee operator says it has housed more than 60 veterans exiting homelessness. VA Augusta said it helped permanently house 166 veterans locally in fiscal year 2025, 184.4 percent of its goal, while the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said it permanently housed 51,936 homeless veterans nationwide and moved 25,065 unsheltered veterans into interim or permanent housing through its Getting Veterans Off the Street initiative.