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Gregorie Ferry
Tract/Cut-through road updates
Sketch plan approved in 6-2 vote
(Posted 12-23-04)
Council
approves Gregorie Ferry Tract rezoning
(Posted 11-9-04)
Planning Commission approves smaller tract zoning
(Posted 10-25-04)
Town
Council defers final vote
(Posted 10-12-04)
Panel amends ordinance to include walkway
(Posted 10-4-04)
Town Council gives initial OK to rezoning
(Posted 9-14-04)
Planning Committee votes 2-2 on zoning issue
(Posted 9-8-04)
sketch plan approved in 6-2 vote
Buffer and cul-de-sac approved as drawn
(Posted 12-23-04)
Mount Pleasant's Planning
Committee approved a sketch plan for a 46-home neighborhood on the
Gregorie Ferry Tract Wednesday night (Dec. 22) in a 6-2 vote.
The sketch satisfies both of
Ivy Hall's main concerns by including the 25-foot buffer and a closed-off
cul-de-sac at the Seaborn Drive right-of-way.
The next step: The developer
will submit a "preliminary plat" to the town. The plat, according to
staff, will look about the same as the sketch but will have more
detail. The POA will watch for it.
We also will watch the
drainage issue. A staffer said at the meeting that the developer likely
would have to make some sort of agreement with Ivy Hall to tie into one
of our ponds. We definitely don't want to create drainage problems here
because the other property won't drain properly.
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council approvES Gregorie Ferry Tract
Rezoning
Ruling clears way for a 46-home development behind Ivy Hall
(Posted 11-9-04)
Town Council gave final
approval Tuesday (Nov. 9th) to the annexation and rezoning of the
Gregorie Ferry Tract, all but clearing the way for a 46-home development
behind Ivy Hall.
Council also gave
first-reading approval to the rezoning of a smaller commercial tract next
to the larger residential portion.
Before developers can start
putting up houses, they must first receive sketch plan approval from the
town. An early draft of the sketch plan, which town planners have seen,
doesn't contain a connecting road to Ivy Hall -- which is in accordance
with our neighborhood's wishes. The draft also shows a clearly defined
buffer along the boundary with our neighborhood -- another of our wishes.
The Ivy Hall Property Owners
Association Board will continue to follow the approval process.
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Planning Commission approves smaller tract
zoning
(Posted 10-25-04)
The Mount Pleasant Planning
Commission voted Oct. 20th to approve the annexation and zoning of the
4.2-acre commercial tract on Gregorie Ferry Road.
The parcel, which is proposed
to be zoned "Economic Development," is shaded green on the
map.
The annexation and zoning
application will be reviewed by the Planning Committee in early November.
Town Council must approve two readings of the application before it
becomes official.
The developers haven't stated
yet what they plan to do with the land, which is adjacent to an 8.7-acre
tract slated for a 46-home neighborhood.
For background on this issue,
please see the stories below.
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Town council defers final vote
Zoning approval hinges on annexation
(Posted 10-12-04)
Town Council decided Tuesday
(Oct. 12) to defer a final vote on the Gregorie Ferry Tract until the
commercial portion of the property can be annexed along with the
residential part.
The deferral isn't expected
to change anything as far as Ivy Hall is concerned. The town is still
directing the developers to link their neighborhood to ours with a
pedestrian walkway instead of a road.
The developers have already
submitted a petition for annexing the 4.2-acre commercial portion.
Earlier this month, the town's Planning Committee gave tentative approval
for annexation. A petition to annex the remaining 8.7-acre residential
portion is much further along in the approval process.
It was unclear Tuesday when
the two petitions would be at the point where a final vote could be
taken. The next regular Town Council meeting is Nov. 9th.
The Ivy Hall POA Board will
continue to watch this issue closely and keep residents posted.
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Panel amends ordinance to include walkway
Cut-through road likely
not going to happen
(Posted 10-4-04)
Good news for Ivy Hall: The
cut-through road threat is all but gone.
The town's Planning Committee
voted Monday (Oct. 4) to amend the Gregorie Ferry Tract ordinance,
requiring that a pedestrian walkway be built linking Ivy Hall to the
proposed 46-home neighborhood instead of a road.
Town Council must approve the
amended ordinance before it becomes official. The next full council
meeting is 7 p.m. Tuesday Oct. 12th at the town's Municipal Complex. Two
successful readings are required for approval.
Ivy Hall is strongly opposed
to a connecting road because drivers would be able to cut through our
neighborhood from U.S. Highway 17 and from S.C. Highway 41. For more
reasons why we are opposed to a road, click this
link.
In related news, the Planning
Committee also recommended that a smaller tract next to the Gregory Ferry
Tract be annexed into the town and zoned "economic development." Final
approval of the annexation must come from Town Council.
At this time, the developers
say they don't have any specific plans for the 4.2-acre tract.
For more information, please
see the stories and map below.
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TOwn
council gives initial ok to rezoning
Panelists favor pedestrian walkway over cut-through road
(Posted 9-14-04)
Mount Pleasant Town Council
voted 8-1 Wednesday (Sept. 14) to approve the rezoning and
annexation of the Gregorie Ferry Tract, moving plans for a 46-home
neighborhood off of Seaborn Drive a big step closer to reality.
The matter is scheduled for
second and final reading at council's Oct. 12th meeting. Given council's
overwhelming initial support, final approval is virtually assured.
As for the proposed
cut-through road that would connect Ivy Hall to the new neighborhood, it
appears that council is solidly in our corner in opposing it.
In fact, member Joe Bustos
made a motion to approve the rezoning on condition that the road be
changed to a pedestrian walkway. Other members nodded in agreement, and
the panel seemed poised to vote in favor of the motion. But the town's
attorney advised that the walkway condition should be taken up later in
the approval process when it could be written into the ordinance. So the
measure passed first reading without the condition.
Still, Bustos and several
other members stated into record that the walkway should be included in
any sketch plan submitted by the developer. Town Planning Director Joel
Ford, a proponent of the interconnectivity of neighborhoods, said the
town could live without this connecting road.
The Ivy Hall Property Owners
Association Board certainly will follow this closely to ensure that the
board's recommendations are adhered to.
In related news, the
developer of the 8.7-acre Gregory Ferry Tract filed an application with
the town earlier in the week to annex and rezone an adjacent 4.2-acre
parcel along Gregory Ferry Road. (See
map.) The requested zoning is "economic
development," which opens the land up to a variety of uses. At this time,
the developer says he doesn't know what he wants to do with the property.
Wednesday's heavily favorable
vote was somewhat surprising in light of the fact that the rezoning
failed to get an approving nod from the town's Planning Commission or
from the Planning Committee. (See story below.)
Both panels had expressed concerns over the requested density, which is
more than twice the density permitted under the town's Comprehensive
Plan.
But density was hardly
mentioned during Wednesday's meeting. Bustos set the tone when he
quickly stated a case for approval, saying among other things that the
town needs more lower-priced housing.
Homes in the new neighborhood
are expected to look similar to the ones being built in Laurel Grove.
Prices are expected to start somewhere between $180,000-$220,000.
Bill Van Nort, who voted
against the rezoning during the Planning Committee meeting, was the lone
opposing vote at the town council meeting.
During the public comment
period, Ivy Hall POA President Bob Lang reiterated the Association's
opposition to the cut-through road. Another resident told the panel to be
aware of potential drainage problems on the tract.
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Planning
Committee votes 2-2 on zoning issue
Matter moves to Town Council
without a recommendation;
Panelists sympathize with Ivy Hall on cut-through road
(Posted 9-8-04)
The Mount Pleasant Planning
Committee on Wednesday (Sept. 8th) deadlocked on a vote to increase the
zoning density of the Gregorie Ferry Tract and to annex the parcel into
the town.
The 2-2 vote means that the
zoning/annexation application will go before Town Council on Tuesday
(Sept. 14th, 7 p.m.) without a recommendation from either the town's
Planning Commission or the Planning Committee.
Given the two
non-recommendation decisions and the anti-development disposition of most
council members, it would appear unlikely that the application will get
the necessary votes to pass two council readings required for approval.
Of course, the Ivy Hall Property Owners Association Board will continue
to closely follow the proceedings and will have representatives at all
relative meetings.
Especially encouraging for
Ivy Hall residents during Wednesday's meeting were sympathetic comments
made by committee members and town staffers about our opposition to the
possible cut-through road. (See related story and
map.) All four committee members are members of Town Council.
Members Joe Bustos and Paul
Gawrych, who voted in favor of the application, stipulated that the tract
be connected to Ivy Hall only by a pedestrian walkway. Members Kruger
Smith and Bill Van Nort, who voted against the application, didn't state
how they felt about the road connection but they didn't object to the
walkway idea.
Joel Ford, the town's
planning director, told the panel during the discussion period that it
"wouldn't be the end of the world" if the connecting road wasn't built.
What he was saying was that the town prefers the interconnectivity of
adjacent neighborhoods, but that there can be exceptions.
If nothing else, the comments
of Bustos, Gawrych and Ford should bolster the hopes of residents that
the town will side with us in the end on this issue.
While there was minimal
debate on the annexation part of the application, most of the discussion
Wednesday centered around the request for higher density.
The developers of the
8.7-acre tract want zoning that would allow 5.4 homes per acre, or 46
homes in all. Current zoning in the
county allows for 4.0 homes per acre, or 35 homes. Zoning in Mount
Pleasant would allow for 2.25 homes per acre, or 20 homes.
The density in Ivy Hall is
2.9 homes per acre.
Bustos and Gawrych said the
town's need for entry level homes was an acceptable tradeoff for the
higher density. Smith and Van Nort said simply that the density was too
high.
Last month, the town's
Planning Commission voted 8-1 against the application on grounds that the
proposal's density was too high. (See related
story.)
More than 115 Ivy Hall
property owners have signed declarations opposing the road.
For more information on the
application, contact the town's planning department at 884-1229.
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