At the Summerville Town Council meeting Wednesday evening, a roomful of
citizens saw a lot of regional planning thrown out the window. Council gave
first reading to the annexation of approximately 28 acres of land on
Dorchester Road between Walnut Farms and Bluffs on the Ashley currently
zoned TRM (transitional residential) in Dorchester County to B-3 (General
Business) in Summerville.
In a nutshell, this means that property zoned for 1 acre lots (3/4 acre if
clustered) with single family homes is being rezoned to allow apartments,
car repair facilities or a wide variety of other uses to benefit the
property owner. This property lies between two residential developments,
and based upon normal town practice, commercial zoning would be
inappropriate.
Dorchester County currently has a moratorium in effect on new development
until their comprehensive plan is enacted, which should be in the next few
months. The comprehensive plan calls for commercial development at nodes
(major road intersections) rather than allowing continuous strip commercial
development. This is to avoid another Trolley Road pattern, with numerous
entrances and exits.
This Dorchester Road commercial project offers little to the community but
taxes on 28 acres of commercial property. Had the development been covered
by a development agreement, a plan for the property's use would have been
mutually agreed upon. If apartments were approved, a schedule based upon
school availability and upgrades to Dorchester Road could have been
negotiated. Contributions for schools could also have been agreed upon.
With B-3 zoning we can look for little but more congestion on roads and in
schools.
Until local government will treat all petitioners equally, evaluate the
impact of their projects objectively, and insist upon adequate facilities
we can't hope to get control of growth. Armed with a regional plan, but
lacking the local political will, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of
the past.
Howard Bridgman
Summerville Town Council
142 Gadsden St
Summerville, South Carolina 29483
