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Town Council - March 3, 2008 |
Minutes McClellanville Town Council March 3, 2008 - 7:00 PM McClellanville Town Council held a regular meeting on the above-noted date. Notice of the meeting had been published in the Town newsletter and the Charleston Post and Courier. Mayor Rutledge Leland presided at the meeting, and all Council Members were present: Aaron Baldwin, Bob Gannon, Gussie Humes, and Jim Scott. Town Clerk Mary Duke and Zoning Adminstrator Kathryn Basha were also present, along with representatives from the McClellanville Planning Commission and several members of the public as shown on the attached sign-in sheet. Mayor Leland first asked Council to review the minutes from the February 4th meeting. Councilman Gussie Humes made a motion to approve the minutes as written. The motion was seconded by Councilman Bob Gannon and carried by unanimous vote of Council. Mayor Leland then moved to the second agenda item, a recommendation from the Planning Commission on the adoption of two proposed ordinances. The first proposed ordinance would amend Section 5.6.3.2 of the Zoning Ordinance to allow mixed use Planned Developments that are more commercial in nature when the proposed PD's either front on Highway 17 or the property is zoned Highway Commercial District. The second proposed ordinance would designate mixed use Planned Development zoning for two adjacent lots with TMS Nos. 744-00-00-007 and 744-00-00-005. Ginny Prevost, Chairwoman of the Planning Commission, said that Planning's recommendation was that Council should proceed with the public hearing on the two proposed ordinances but defer any vote on the ordinances until Planning could conduct further study and resolve some questions they had about the proposed development. Mayor Leland agreed that, since Planning still had questions about the proposal, it would be best to defer any vote. Mayor Leland opened the public hearing on the two proposed ordinances, and asked that Malcolm Baldwin give those present an overview of the proposed Planned Development. Malcolm told those present that, during public hearings on revisions to the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Ordinance, he had heard interest expressed for the creation of more affordable lots and housing in Town. He said that he felt this PD would be a logical spot to locate some of these smaller, more affordable residential lots. Malcolm pointed out that the regulations for the Highway Commercial District already allow 2 residential units per acre, and that the residential lots proposed for this PD would allow one unit per each approximately 1/2 acre lot, maintaining the same density allowance. He said that they were also proposing a maximum house size of 2500 square feet for the development, smaller than the 3500 square feet of heated space allowed in other zoning districts in Town. Malcolm said that four commercial lots are proposed for the PD adjacent to Highway 17, 11 residential lots were proposed for the rear section of the PD, and around 3/4 acre of open space with stormwater retention ponds would be located between the commercial and residential uses. He added that SC DHEC would have to approve all lots for wells and septic systems before they could be subdivided, so that there may be fewer lots if all are not approved by DHEC. Malcolm said that DHEC would also review drainage plans for the development. A resident asked whether any roads from the development would be constructed to connect to other roads in town. Malcolm said that adjacent property owners had not been agreeable to the idea of giving any access through their property, so there was no plan at this time to construct any road other than the road from Hwy. 17 into the PD. He said that, should there be commercial construction beside the commercial properties in the PD, they would seek to provide interconnection with other commercial properties on Highway 17. William Hattaway said that drainage was a big problem in the area around the rear residential lots of the proposed PD. Malcolm said that he felt that the stormwater drainage ponds would mitigate the drainage problems, but Mr. Hattaway said that he did not believe that the ponds would be adequate. Mayor Leland asked Malcolm whether an adequate drainage plan would be part of the DHEC requirements with which the developers would have to comply, and Malcolm affirmed that they would have to meet DHEC drainage requirements. Mayor Leland pointed out that this application to DHEC might bring ongoing drainage problems to the attention of that agency, so that mitigation action might result. Cheves Leland asked whether provisions would be made for residents to access the development from Town other than from Highway 17. Malcolm reiterated that adjacent property owners, so far, were unwilling to give easements across their land for an ingress or egress, but that the Town's concept plan approved for the Highway Commercial District includes a bike path from the Village to access all of the commercial areas, and that this might become a reality in the future. A resident asked what the next step in the process for approval of the PD would be. The Council Members replied that, in response to the request from the Planning Commission and because of the questions and concerns voiced by the public, the PD proposal would now be sent back to the Planning Commission for further study. Planning Chairwoman Ginny Prevost said that the Commission would meet again on March 17 at 7 PM, and that the meeting was open to the public. Mr. Hattaway asked whether the PD must also be approved by Charleston County or only by the Town. Mayor Leland said that, since the property had recently been annexed into the Town, approval for the PD would come from the Town of McClellanville. He said that two readings of the ordinance were required for approval, and that the first reading had been held at the February 4, 2008 meeting. In response to a question regarding public hearings with DHEC, Mayor Leland said that the developer, not the Town, would deal with DHEC. Mr. Hattaway said that he hoped DHEC would not require the developer to build up any of the lots, as he felt that this would increase drainage problems to adjacent properties. Malcolm said that DHEC would not allow developers to increase drainage problems for adjacent properties. He added that he believed DHEC would hold a public hearing on the proposal, as they routinely did this for proposed subdivisions that would create five or more lots. Camie Jessen asked whether the developers had an idea yet of the kind of commercial use that would be proposed for the PD. Malcolm said that any use allowed in the Highway Commercial District would be allowed, but that particular uses had not yet been identified. Bud Hill asked what would become of the old house presently located on the recently-annexed lot. Malcolm said that the developers hope to leave the house as it is, and that perhaps a commercial use could be located there. Councilman Bob Gannon asked when DHEC would consider the application. Malcolm replied that the parcel must received zoning designation from the Town before DHEC would begin their review process. Bob then made a motion to defer any vote by Council on the proposed ordinances referenced in "A" and "B" under the second agenda item (the proposed ordinance to allow more than 15% commercial use in PD's adjacent to Hwy. 17 or zoned HCD, and the proposed ordinance to zone TMS Nos. 744-00-00-007 and 744-00-00-005 as Planned Development), and to send the proposals back to the Planning Commission for further review. The motion was seconded by Councilman Gussie Humes and approved by unanimous vote of Council. Mayor Leland then recognized Zoning Administrator Kathryn Basha, and asked that she update those present on the proposed changes to the names for various segments of Pinckney Street. Kathryn said that the changes had been suggested by the Charleston County Planning Department for improvement in emergency response. The McClellanville Planning Commission had held a public hearing on the proposed changes on February 25. She said that, as no objections had been raised, the Commission had approved the street name changes and would issue a certificate of street name change for recordation. She said that no additional action was required by Council on the matter. She said that the name North Pinckney Street would be retained for the northern segment, whereas the segment currently known as South Pinckney Street would be renamed as simply Pinckney Street. The main segment of the road currently called Pinckney Street would also retain that name. Mayor Leland then asked Councilmen Aaron Baldwin and Gussie Humes to report on the wastewater focus group meeting that they attended in February. Aaron said that those attending the meeting included some who supported construction of a sewer system for the area, including individuals interested in developing property and some Awendaw government representatives. He said that some residents were also present who opposed a sewer system. He added that Awendaw officials did confirm that earlier language in the Town of Awendaw's application to the COG for amendment to the BCD Council of Governments Water Quality Management Plan (208) stating that the proposed sewer district would extend to the northern boundary of Charleston County had been amended. Aaron said that representatives for the Town of Awendaw now said that the proposed sewer district would be confined to the Awendaw town limits. Aaron said that most agreed that funds were needed to replace inadequate wells and septic systems. He added that County Councilman Dickie Schweers was attempting to secure some HUD funding to help with this effort. Aaron said that Clay Duffie, director of Mt. Pleasant Waterworks, has proposed creating a wastewater management district for northern Charleston County in order to monitor the condition of area septic systems. Aaron said that, although he supported monitoring septic systems, he would be uneasy with Mt. Pleasant Waterworks providing management of the project. He said that Dickie Schweers had suggested that Charleston County might administer the proposed wastewater district, but contract with Mt. Pleasant Waterworks to do the actual monitoring of the systems. Aaron said that he thought this might be a better alternative. Councilman Bob Gannon said that he had attended a Community Action Group meeting in Awendaw on February 28. He said that he learned at the meeting that a wastewater system was not yet close to approval for Awendaw, and that there would be several more steps for the town to take and more public hearings would be required before they could be considered for approval. Council then noted that they must set a date for the first Finance Committee meeting for work on the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2008/2009. Council agreed by consensus to schedule the Finance Committee meeting for Monday, March 24th at 7:00 PM. Council next reviewed the information Mary had provided concerning repairs that had been made to the animal holding pen behind town hall and the addition of more slag to the boat landing parking lot. They also reviewed Mary's request to purchase new hardware for the exterior doors and some of the interior doors at town hall. Mary pointed out that the front doors were especially in need of repair, and were becoming difficult to lock. Council agreed by unanimous consent that Mary could seek estimates from at least three contractors and purchase new hardware for the doors. Councilman Gussie Humes asked whether there had been any response to the Town's request for the County to pave the driveway to town hall and the boat landing. Councilman Gannon said that he would write a letter to County Public Works with this request. He said that he would also inquire as to whether the County sign shop could provide the Town's street signs. Mary told Council that she had offered on behalf of the Town to pay for lunch at the McClellanville Diner for 15 students from Holy Cross University who would be doing volunteer community service in the area during the week. Council agreed that this expense could be approved. There being no further business, a motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at 8:10 PM. Mary S. Duke Town Clerk |