[0:39] 601. So, we will get started. Uh, I'm
Sharon Reed, chair of the planning
[0:46] commission, and I welcome each of you to
this our March meeting. Uh the
[0:55] for the agenda item, the one public
hearing that we have, there was indeed a
[1:02] signin sheet out there, but if you did
not have an opportunity to sign it and
[1:08] you wish to speak during the public
hearing, you may come and sign it now.
[1:22] just give us your name and your address.
[1:32] Now, if others come in uh and have not
signed the sheet, it will be a public
[1:37] hearing and so they will be welcome to
speak as well.
[1:55] I just go.
[2:08] If you all are here to speak during the
public hearing, you're welcome to come
[2:13] and and sign in.
[2:20] I'm sorry.
[2:46] I don't have the sun.
[3:10] Good start.
>> All right. Once again, I'm Sharon Reed
[3:13] and I will be presiding over this
meeting this evening
[3:19] and I now call this meeting to order.
[3:26] Uh, I wish to introduce
Mr. Eddie Mazique. Mr. Mazique here is
[3:35] our newest commissioner for the North
Charleston Planning Commission and we
[3:41] welcome you and look forward to your
participation.
[3:47] » Welcome. Welcome. [snorts]
[3:56] I [clears throat] apologize. I'm sorry.
>> No problem.
[4:01] » As we begin tonight's meeting,
uh we will
[4:09] address the
minutes from the February 9th meeting.
[4:15] Are there any corrections to the minutes
as published?
[4:27] Hearing none,
I will entertain a motion for approval
[4:32] of the minutes.
[4:36] Is there a second?
It's been moved and seconded that the
[4:41] minutes from the February 9th meeting be
approved as published.
[4:47] Are you ready to vote?
All those in favor? I
[4:52] » I.
>> Those opposed? Nay.
[4:59] » The minutes stand approved as published.
[5:07] [snorts] We have uh we're ready to move
to our public hearing.
[5:16] public hearing
for proposed reszoning
[5:23] Dorchester Road. We'll hear the report
from staff. Thank you.
[5:31] » First item on the agenda is a proposed
reszoning of the properties addressed as
[5:35] 3913 and 3917 Dorchester Road.
[clears throat and cough] Charleston
[5:41] County TMS numbers 4115
00199
[5:47] and 1 198 from O neighborhood office to
B2 general business in council district
[5:54] 10.
[6:00] [snorts]
property can be se the properties can be
[6:04] seen here highlighted in blue on
Dorchester Road
[6:09] at the corner of Brisma Street and the
properties are currently undeveloped
[6:17] vacant lots at the corner.
[6:22] As you can see here in the on the zoning
map, the pink denotes the O,
[6:28] neighborhood office. Uh, for reference,
red is B2, general business, and the
[6:36] yellow would be an R1
zoning district, which would be single
[6:41] family residential.
[6:46] Based on the comprehensive plan, the
future land use map designates the
[6:50] subject properties as traditional
neighborhood development within the
[6:53] mixeduse corridor of Dorchester Road.
The mixeduse corridor designation is
[6:58] designed to provide for commercial
retail office and higher density housing
[7:04] adjacent to principal transportation
corridors throughout the city. These
[7:08] areas are intended to promote the
development of mixed uses that will
[7:13] enhance access to a wider range of
services for nearby neighborhoods.
[7:17] Appropriate uses include office, retail,
multifamily, and light industrial. You
[7:22] can see here on the map properties
highlighted in blue. The crosshatch
[7:27] denotes the mixeduse corridor of
Dorchester Road uh as well as the
[7:33] traditional neighborhood development uh
in the the light green
[7:43] subject parcels are currently
undeveloped lots. You can see the photos
[7:49] here.
Public notice sign that was posted on
[7:53] the properties.
[7:58] The subject properties are surrounded by
single family residential and general
[8:03] commercial uses. The area is developed
with a mix of residential uses including
[8:07] single and manufactured houses. Uh while
there is B2 zoning to the north of the
[8:12] subject property, a reszoning would
introduce commercial traffic along the
[8:16] residential street of Forceman Street.
[8:22] Staff's recommendation is contingent
approval.
[8:25] Given the subject property's location
along a major transportation corridor,
[8:30] the support from the comprehensive plan
staff recommends approval of the
[8:35] resoning from O neighborhood office to
B2 general business. contingent upon a
[8:40] combination plat of the two subject
properties.
[8:48] You've heard the staff report. Are there
any questions for staff commissioners?
[9:00] » I do have a question. You said
contingent approval. Would you
[9:03] elaborate? So uh the contingency would
be that they need to submit a
[9:11] combination plat that would combine the
two parcels into a single parcel for
[9:16] development and the the reszoning would
not go into effect until that is done.
[9:27] » But we don't need that to be done in
order to consider the approval.
[9:31] » That's correct.
Planning Commission has the authority to
[9:35] recommend contingent approvals.
[9:40] » Okay. Are there any other questions
for staff?
[9:48] [snorts]
[9:55] This is an advertised public hearing
and we have several people who have
[10:03] signed up to
speak. If you did not sign up, you are
[10:09] still welcome to come and sign the form
and speak to this resoning request.
[10:19] Each person who speaks has three
minutes.
[10:24] Three minutes. And actually that's a
pretty long time when you consider
[10:28] [laughter] you don't have to take all of
the three minutes. Trust me. Uh we have
[10:34] signed in and I cannot read your
writing. The first person who signed in
[10:40] Duke Street was
>> Dan Sharer.
[10:43] » Dan Sharer.
>> You may come for Oh, I'm sorry.
[10:47] I'm sorry. I didn't You are also the
applicant, are you not?
[10:51] » Yeah, I'm the architect and the
applicant's here.
[10:54] » Well, let's hear from the applicant
first.
[10:55] » Okay.
>> Please pardon me. I I jumped the gun.
[10:58] » Oh, hi y'all.
>> Applicant first.
[11:00] » My name is Kurt Weinberger and uh I'm
the applicant. Thank y'all for u
[11:04] [clears throat] taking your time to
review the application.
[11:08] Um, I've owned a business in Charleston
going on 32 years and I've heard some
[11:14] talks of retirement up there and let
y'all know I don't plan on retiring
[11:18] anytime soon. I'm live and active in
what I do. Um, I currently own the King
[11:24] Bean Coffee business that is right two
lots over from this property
[11:30] and uh, we've been there now for about
uh, 15 years.
[11:35] We roast coffee and we have a small
retail uh roast store where people come
[11:41] into the business and uh buy coffee.
So [clears throat]
[11:47] we've been hearing that
um from the community that it would sure
[11:54] be great to be able to
have a better way to buy brewed coffee
[11:58] by the cup more coffee shopesque instead
of just by being coffee. And so we're
[12:05] listening to the community and this is
what brought about the idea uh to want
[12:10] to do our uh business concept on the
subject property. And so we're all about
[12:14] community first and um
you know I'm not going anywhere. I'm
[12:22] committed to what I do. We're a local
business and we just want to, you know,
[12:27] do what we can to um just to
maintain what we've been doing and
[12:34] support the community. I hired a local
artist uh to do a mural on front of that
[12:39] building about six years ago. And it's
really funny because that the colors of
[12:44] that mural, I don't know if y'all have
seen it if you've driven by it, but
[12:48] that's actually our whole brand colors
now in all of our packaging and bags.
[12:52] and we hope to have that carry that
theme over to the new property. So, I'm
[12:57] real excited about it and I'm here to
answer any questions that you all might
[13:01] have.
>> Okay. Do any of the commissioners have
[13:05] questions for the applicant?
[13:09] » I do have a question. Is there any
objection to staff's recommendation
[13:11] about the combination of the two plots?
>> I'm sorry, I didn't hear.
[13:15] » Sorry. Is there any objection to staff's
recommendation for the combination of
[13:18] the two plots?
>> Oh, the two properties that make this
[13:20] up? No, not at all. In fact, you you
need to do it to be able to have enough
[13:24] space. So, that was what I fully
intended.
[13:30] » Any other questions for the applicant
from commissioners?
[13:36] » Thank you, sir.
>> Thank you. Once again,
[13:40] this is an advertised public hearing and
we have those who have signed up.
[13:48] Three minutes each and I go back to
[13:54] um yeah, I'm the architect on the
project, Dan Sharer. And while we
[13:58] haven't gotten real, really real deep
into design, one thing I did want to
[14:02] point out from the statement that the
staff had was that we will not be using
[14:05] the side road. We will only be accessing
on the onto Dorchester Road. So, our
[14:10] plan was not to use that. Such a small
road. We don't we weren't planning on
[14:14] using the side road.
>> Now, you're talking about the Forceman
[14:18] side.
>> Yeah, Forceman side. Yes. That's
[14:20] » We will not That will be blocked off.
>> Yeah. Well, our entrance our entrance
[14:25] and exit to the site will be from
Dorchester Road. There won't be a way to
[14:28] drive. There'll be landscaping and
>> no way to drive
[14:31] » right
>> to Force.
[14:33] All right. That helps. And so that's
really other than that it's, you know,
[14:37] we're still very preliminary. We just
want to make sure everybody's aware of
[14:40] that.
[14:43] » Thank you.
>> Again, this is a public hearing.
[14:49] Uh, and you all right so fast.
[clears throat]
[14:53] [laughter] Uh,
uh, Mr. Forom.
[14:58] » Yes. [clears throat]
My name is Fred Foron and uh I've been
[15:04] both a resident of the community for
more than 50 years and I currently own
[15:10] property in the neighborhood.
My family has property in
[15:17] um
we own the property that is currently
[15:22] next to the subject property. He also
own property that is directly behind
[15:30] this gentleman's business currently.
[clears throat]
[15:34] In the past throughout the years, we've
had an issue with drainage from that
[15:40] property onto
uh our property. It it hasn't it had
[15:45] been corrected during that time. I'm not
here to throw stones, but these are
[15:49] issues that were of concern to us as
land owners. Uh we are opposed to
[15:57] anything that would bring business in
the community that does not support the
[16:03] community. It's been a longstanding
community. There are people there that
[16:08] are generational there and continue to
live and do business. We are in that
[16:15] community. We are in need of community
support type businesses. I'm not aware
[16:22] as of this date
the n actual numbers of people that
[16:29] support this business or that this
business supports in the community and
[16:34] that is of concern.
We are all experiencing
[16:40] um cases of revitalization as well as
gentrification
[16:45] and we really need to look at what we
can do to preserve these communities in
[16:51] our neighborhoods.
>> Thank you.
[16:57] » Uh Vivian Pedigrew.
>> Yes, ma'am. Good afternoon
[17:02] and thank everybody for allowing me to
speak
[17:07] in Pedigrew. I was born and read on
Mario Hill.
[17:11] Um I went away and went to college and
came back. I have not built a home on
[17:18] the property that my father encouraged
me to buy. Um, I am also the community
[17:29] vice president for our community. Our
president died a few months ago.
[17:36] As a community person, we have put on
several activities in our community that
[17:43] [snorts] we have solicited the
businesses
[17:47] in the community to help with. We did a
big um kids fair with a health fair
[17:56] and we could not get one business in our
community to contribute $1
[18:06] any activity that we have. We have
community meetings the second Tuesday of
[18:13] um every month. We have not been able to
get any business in our community other
[18:20] than a jump young man on Bonds Avenue to
come to the community meeting. I'm not
[18:26] here to throw stones at everybody and I
don't know if these gentlemen were ever
[18:30] told, but we at this point
um I live on Barnes Avenue and this
[18:38] morning I stopped a large truck that is
not supposed to come down Barns Avenue
[18:44] that came down and the gentleman was
really rude and I told the business
[18:51] owner about this for so I I can't say
what anybody else is going to do, but
[18:58] for the Mari Hill community, we do not
want to see any more businesses on that
[19:04] area. We have small kids coming and
going to school.
[19:09] None of these businesses know anything
about that. And I thank you very much
[19:14] for allowing us to speak. I have our
business uh community treasurer and our
[19:23] community
um secretary here with me. So again, we
[19:28] thank you and we're not opposed to
growth, but businesses at this point in
[19:34] time, this community is very old.
There's a lot of old people and some
[19:40] little children running around and it
would not be for Thank you.
[19:49] Uh
Shondaanda
[19:52] Shepard Bernell.
>> Good afternoon. My name is Shondaanda
[19:56] Shepard Bernell. I am
like she said the secretary of the Mari
[20:01] Hill Civic Association. I am also a
resident of Forceman Street. I've been
[20:06] on Forceman Street since I've been a
baby and I haven't moved. My mother
[20:10] still resides. She's 95 years old.
[snorts] We own she owns property not
[20:15] only on Forceman Street but she owns
property on Bonds Avenue. Um our family
[20:20] owns property on Henry Street. Mr.
Wineberger says that he spoke with the
[20:25] community. I have not heard of anybody
being addressed especially at our
[20:30] community meetings about wanting another
brewery
[20:36] or King be another brewery or a place
for coffee. If you drive down Dorchester
[20:41] Road, all you really see and our
communities are flags for tobacco, beer,
[20:48] fab, and like Mr. Forom said, I think we
need communities who are going to
[20:53] support our communities or and that are
or our communities. If you look at our
[20:57] community, we have one grocery store in
our community in a onem radius. We have
[21:04] no fresh foods, no fresh vegetables, no
place for us to walk around just to have
[21:09] sit have like restaurants that are
accessible to our elderly. And right now
[21:15] we do not even have a community center.
So using this property for another
[21:21] business instead of putting into our
community center or a park for our
[21:26] children, we don't even have that in
Maro. So, you know, I'm not throwing any
[21:32] stones, Mr. Weinberger. And, you know,
I've never been at King Bean. I've never
[21:36] been invited, but I know that we tried
to solicit some businesses and like Miss
[21:41] Pettigru said, no businesses support our
community. None of them come to our
[21:45] meetings. They aren't here for our
community. And this is our community.
[21:49] And at some point, we need to stand up
for our community. And I think that is
[21:53] what we're doing tonight. Thank you.
[clears throat]
[21:59] Miss Mary Patterson.
>> Yes.
[22:07] » Tell me.
[22:13] My name is Mary Patterson
and this is part of my community because
[22:19] I was living in this community for 85
years
[22:25] and we haven't had you know vendors like
that and we was out like you said trying
[22:32] to solicit vendors that help us with
different things in the cage but nobody
[22:40] helped.
So we need really a playground for our
[22:46] children because that's what we bring to
the other meeting that we have. So
[22:52] that's the most important thing I have
to say. So I'm against anything like
[22:57] that.
I thank you. There are no other signins,
[23:05] but if there is someone who wishes to
speak during this public hearing,
[23:14] the hearing is still open.
Is there anyone who wishes to speak?
[23:25] If I may add something,
you know, I would like to while this
[23:32] gentleman [clears throat] is here as a
part of the community, I would like to
[23:35] extend the invitation to you to attend
the meetings, maybe see what we need,
[23:42] see how your business can somehow
cooperate with the neighborhood to be of
[23:48] some use to the neighborhood as well as
be a business venture for yourself. I
[23:54] know you're in business for profit. We
all are. But we are definitely concerned
[24:01] with preserving not only our community,
but businesses and services that can
[24:06] support the longl lasting life of our
community. As you can see here, we have
[24:13] people that invested in this community
lifetimes,
[24:18] and we're not going anywhere.
those of us who were rooted in the
[24:22] community
from our parents on and I'm
[24:27] » sorry sir I don't want to step interrupt
you but I think you all can discuss this
[24:31] after we've got to get through the
agenda here and you just got a strict
[24:36] schedule and we got to follow but you
guys are happy to discuss it after it's
[24:41] okay
>> okay is there anyone else who wishes to
[24:45] speak and and as he said all comments
need to be addressed address to the
[24:51] commissioners.
Is there anyone else
[25:02] hearing? None. This public hearing is
now closed.
[25:14] Is there a motion?
[25:18] » Recommended intent to approve.
>> Is there a second?
[25:22] » Second that motion.
>> It's been moved and seconded that we
[25:26] deny
the request for contingent approval.
[25:34] Discussion
[25:40] » is there discussion? as stated earlier.
I I believe uh
[25:45] [music] because someone in the
community, they need to get together
[25:48] again and try to uh get this thing here
and kind of hash out sometime
[25:54] for [clears throat] it to move smoothly.
>> Any further discussion?
[25:57] » I'll say just based on the zoning, the
reasonzoning does make sense to reszone
[26:01] with for with the uh two. The issue with
the community I do agree [clears throat]
[26:06] with, but taking the project out of the
equation, just strictly focusing only on
[26:11] the resoning metrics, it does align with
the uh with the general plan, it does
[26:16] align with the current area.
Um, but I do agree that the business
[26:21] owners should communicate with the
community. But again, taking that just
[26:25] strictly out of the equation, it does
match with current zoning
[26:30] » to be open.
Uh, I am a member of this community. I
[26:37] grew up in a little circle adjacent to
Murray Hill called Jenkins Terrace and I
[26:47] have returned there and have been living
there with my 97 year old mother for the
[26:55] last 20 years. Um, so I am familiar. I
probably pass by your current
[27:04] business every day that I go out.
>> Should come in. Y'all should come in and
[27:09] check it out. I think that part of y'all
just walking in the door.
[27:12] » Sir, let me
>> I mean, let me make a big difference.
[27:15] » Sir, I'm speaking now.
>> Um,
[27:19] I
agree that there needs to be more
[27:25] interaction with the community.
I also recognize your point about the
[27:35] resoning. My my concern about the
reasonzoning as I went through this and
[27:41] visited the area is that
the
[27:48] forceman street side
I I do I am concerned
[27:54] uh and I did hear
you say that there will be no access to
[28:02] four street but I also So am familiar
with the
[28:09] I have been stopped several times trying
to get to Dorchester Road because of
[28:16] delivery trucks that
cover Bonds Avenue that I can't pass at
[28:23] that time. So that is a concern of mine
especially as it relates to forcemen
[28:29] because that is a a closeknit
residential
[28:34] area and there's not a lot of access
from
[28:41] George etc. So that was a concern of
mine and that's why I asked the question
[28:47] uh to reinforce whether or not forcement
would be um affected negatively.
[28:57] Um
so that's my two cents.
[29:02] Other discussions? Uh, Madam Chair, I
I I do understand uh the
[29:11] um the idea the feelings of of the uh
people who live in that area and the
[29:17] impact to their quality of life. It does
not however sound like they are against
[29:22] a business being there or the that they
are opposed to the B2 zoning. They are
[29:28] opposed to the type of business that
goes in is what it sounds like. It's not
[29:34] that
it it did not sound like from the
[29:38] statements that were made that they're
opposed to a business. They would like
[29:41] it to be a business that is that serves
the community. Um, and I know that as
[29:49] commissioners, we don't typically take
into account what will be there. or we
[29:55] just is it the appropriate zoning
um that's being asked for and does it
[30:01] fit
with the area and it it sounds like
[30:07] there's no opposition to a business
being there
[30:11] but the type of business
is is the issue and that's not something
[30:16] that we typically
rule on
[30:22] » heard
different people say I heard some people
[30:27] say that they weren't opposed to the
business, but I did hear somebody else
[30:33] say that they did not want any business.
>> So, no,
[30:37] » I did hear that. I I may be mistaken,
but I did hear that toward the end of
[30:42] the discussions.
Additional discussion.
[30:53] Is there any further discussion?
[30:59] The motion on the floor is to
[31:09] deny the recommendation uh staff's
recommendation to approve reszoning from
[31:16] O to B2.
>> Okay. So the motion,
[31:23] if you are in favor of the motion, vote
I. If not, vote nay.
[31:30] All those in favor
[31:38] » Mr. Felony.
>> Mr. Crawford.
[31:42] » Hi.
>> Uh, Mr. Mazique.
[31:45] » Hi. [clears throat]
>> Uh, Mr. Monteth,
[31:48] » I sorry, nay.
[31:52] Miss Reed
>> I
[31:55] » and Mr. Char.
>> Hi.
[31:59] » All right. The motion to deny carries
42.
[32:07] And this
item will be forwarded to the mayor and
[32:12] council with the next opportunity for
public input at the public safety
[32:17] committee of city council on April 16th.
>> All right. Thank you. That is
[32:24] the only public hearing that we have
scheduled. Uh please note the actions
[32:32] taken by commissioners. Please note the
actions taken by city council at their
[32:38] February meetings regarding our
recommendations.
[32:42] Uh do any of the commissioners have
comments before we get ready to adjourn?
[32:48] » Staff has comments.
>> I'm sorry. has comments.
[32:51] » Oh, okay.
>> Hearing none from the commissioners,
[32:56] staff has comments.
>> Uh, you know, as I said last month, we
[33:02] are kicking off the unified development
ordinance uh which is the rewrite of the
[33:08] zoning ordinance uh for the city. In
February, we had the kickoff workshop
[33:14] with the project team to review the
project goals and vision. Uh we toured
[33:19] the city. Uh we went, you know, all the
way up to the north end, all the way
[33:23] down to the bottom of the south end and
east and west, all over to really lay
[33:28] eyes on the city, uh see what's going on
in in the neighborhoods. Uh we began
[33:34] discussions about land use and other
issues needing attention during the the
[33:38] drafting of document. Uh we will in
March continue to meet with our
[33:44] consultant team uh to discuss those land
use issues uh as well as uh develop an
[33:51] outreach uh program to start uh the
process of meeting with the community to
[33:58] get that information uh that we need to
be able to rewrite this zoning ordinance
[34:02] and make it fit the city properly.
And uh while the date of the public
[34:08] kickoff is not yet fully set in stone,
uh it will be scheduled within the next
[34:15] month or two and the date will be
provided as soon as uh we have that
[34:20] mailed out.
>> Any questions, commissioners?
[34:27] » Okay.
Uh if there is no other business to come
[34:32] before this body, this meeting stands
adjourned.