Residents Speak Out on Plan for Bank

By Jenny Peterson

The Journal

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Traffic is a main reason some residents in the Riverland Terrace neighborhood oppose JL Woode LLC's bid to rezone property at Maybank Highway and Woodland Shores Road to create two planned unit developments.

Residents voiced their concerns Jan. 15 at a public hearing with the James Island Planning Commission and Town Council members held at James Island Baptist Church. The commission will vote on the requests for rezoning at tonight's planning commission meeting at 6:30 at Town Hall, 1238-B Camp Road. The commission and Town Council previously rejected rezoning requests for the lots.

Developers are asking that parcels on Maybank Highway and Woodland Shores Road be rezoned from residential to planned unit development. One parcel that fronts Maybank Highway, formerly the Huck's Produce site, is already zoned community commercial, which would allow for a number of uses.

Developers are looking to combine that community commercial lot with an adjacent residential lot for a total of 0.79 of an acre to be turned into a planned unit development. The residential lot had one house on it and developers tore it down. They hope a South Carolina Bank and Trust branch can be built on the property. The developers have put in restrictions to allow only three types of development at that corner: a bank or financial institution, professional offices and medical offices.

"If in the future, if it's not a bank, it can only be those three uses," said Jonathan Yates, a lawyer representing JL Woode.

Under the development guidelines, the maximum footprint of a building on that site is 5,000 square feet, although the building could have an additional 1,000 square feet on the second floor. The maximum height can be 35 feet, but Yates said the building wouldn't be nearly that tall. Preliminary plans call for 20 feet of vegetative buffers surrounding the development, and external lighting would be kept at a minimum, Yates said.

Arthur Swanson, regional president of the South Carolina Bank and Trust, told the commission at the hearing that the bank entered into a contract for the site last July and would be only about 3,000 square feet in size. He said the business would be open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and would be closed on the weekends, although ATM service would be available 24 hours a day.

Of the approximately 50 residents in attendance, six voiced support for the planned unit development and 14 residents spoke out against it or had concerns.

An informal show of hands, however, found 20 people in favor of and 10 against the proposal.

"This corner will be a real asset to the community as a bank," said Fred Wichmann, a longtime Riverland Terrace resident. "Monday through Friday, 9 to 5, closed on weekends, what could be better?"

Those who spoke out against the project cited traffic concerns.

"Woodland Shores is already a cut-through road," said Linda Darnell, a Woodland Shores resident. "We're ruining the integrity of this area."

Deborah Drinkwater, also a Woodland Shores resident, added, "To add more traffic would be ridiculous."

Resident Margaret Hern, whose house is adjacent to the lot, said she was concerned that the ATM access would be on the back of the lot near her bedroom window.

Yates and Richard Bailey, the engineer and design chief who worked on both planned unit developments, said all design plans are preliminary and if the rezoning is granted, the developers would work with the town on details such as ATM placement and curb cuts to help with traffic.

The other planned unit development is proposed for a residential site that previously had three houses on it. Developers tore down the houses and are asking for a 1.79-acre development with low-impact uses such as a coffee shop, bookstore or hair salon. The only allowed uses will be for bank services, professional offices, medical offices and "cherry-picked" retail, Yates said. There will be no fast-food restaurants allowed.

Developers presented two options for the site. One has two separate buildings for businesses, and the other incorporates all the businesses into one building. Yates said another bank might be a tenant.

The maximum allowed footprint of the building is 16,500 square feet, which would take up less than 15 percent of the total lot, Yates noted.

Renderings for that planned unit development look similar to the facade of nearby shopping centers, such as those that house the Terrace Theater and Athens Restaurant.

Two residents, Wichmann and Warren Sloane of Sloane Realty, spoke in favor of the second planned unit development.

"This is a good concept," Sloane said.

Nine residents disagreed and spoke out against it. "This is a nice residential area; we don't need any more commercial business," said Wappoo Drive resident Gary Lesemann.

Woodland Shores resident Ann Combes said, "What will happen to the next house that's razed?"

Yates said that the corner is no longer appropriate for residential use, with 26,000 cars driving on Maybank Highway each day.

Town Administrator Roy DeHaven said after the meeting that if the rezoning is granted, that does not necessarily mean that people will be able to automatically rezone their residential property.

"Precedent setting was done in the old days," DeHaven said. "(Rezoning) is on a case-by-case basis."