BLYTHEWOOD – Rezoning requests for three large-acre Blythewood 29016 properties will come before the Richland County Council for a public hearing on Tuesday, March 25. The first of three required votes on the rezoning will be taken at that meeting. Of the three required meetings, this March 25 meeting is the only one where the public will be allowed to speak for or against the proposed rezonings.
Commercial Zoning
Applicant DuBose Williamson is requesting the rezoning of a 14.03-acre property at the intersection of Wilson Blvd. and Turkey Farm Road where the developer proposes to bring commercial and retail businesses. Williamson is asking county council to approve the rezoning from HM/RT (Homestead/Residential Transition) to GC (General Commercial) which allows commercial and retail development on the site.
The county’s planning staff and the planning commission both recommended against the rezoning.
Four Blythewood residents spoke out against the rezoning at the Feb. 3 planning commission meeting.
“The water from this particular property is going to hit Hawkins Creek watershed,” said nearby resident Jeanette Robinson. “My property is at the end of this watershed and every time a development is approved on this watershed, my property gets hammered. It is being severely damaged. I have begged this county to stop the nonsense.”
Robinson said there is a conservation easement just above her property and that the drainage from the watershed drains through that conservation.
“That conservation easement was put there to preserve,” she told council members. “Richland County is not doing a good job preserving. The county does not have sufficient infrastructure to accommodate the traffic from this proposed development. I don’t know when the county is going to look at its infrastructure instead of just rubberstamping everything,” Robinson said.
The Planning Commission voted 5-2 against recommending the requested GC rezoning to council, who will hear the proposal on March 25.
100’s of Homes
Representative for the developer, consultant Brandon Pridemore, appearing before the Richland County planning commission on Feb. 3, requested that a 198.84-acre property at 800 Mount Valley Road combined with a 64.84 acre property at 812 Mount Valley Road be rezoned from AG (Agriculture) to R3 (Residential 3). The developer proposes to build 600 single-family homes on the two properties.
The 2015 Richland County Comprehensive Plan for the two large-acre parcels at 800 and 812 Mount Valley Road designates this area as Neighborhood (low density). The county’s planning staff concluded that these properties should not be rezoned from AG (Agriculture) to R3 (Residential 3) because R3 zoning is not compliant with the objectives for Neighborhood (low density) zoning.
While the applicant conceded that the requested R3 zoning does not comply with the comprehensive plan, he said he’s looking at the big picture of what’s happening in that area with Scout’s arrival.
“These properties are within half a mile of Scout and we felt this would be a good opportunity to supplement the housing needs that will probably be coming with Scout,” Pridemore has not been clear about the number of units per acre the developer plans to build but says it will be relatively low density. What we’re building will be complimentary to what’s there.”
Mount Valley resident Mark Johnson and other neighbors agreed that a lot of development and expansion is going on because of Scout.
“But a lot of us that live here don’t want that additional traffic and neighborhoods,” Johnston said. “These two parcels are fed by dirt roads and most homes in the area sit on 3-5 acres. We enjoy the rural, the woods, and the animals.”
Johnson pushed back against what Pridemore said would amount to low density development, noting that R3 zoning allows the developer to build up to 6 homes to the acre and 1,800 homes for the entire development.
The planning commission agreed with the residents, voting 6-1 for disapproval of the proposed rezoning of both Mount Valley parcels.
To speak for or against the rezoning requests, citizens should arrive about 15 minutes early to sign up to address council. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m., Tuesday, March 25, in Columbia at 2020 Hampton Street, in county council chambers.
