CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) — Charleston City Council is set to vote Tuesday on whether to zone about 14.5 acres along Bees Ferry Road for conservation, protecting the area from intense development.
The city recently acquired the property from the county. It was previously zoned industrial and could have been developed with storage facilities or light manufacturing, according to Robert Summerfield, director of planning and preservation for the City of Charleston.
“It could’ve been anything that would’ve been allowed in industrial use. It could’ve been a new storage facility, or light manufacturing facility or something like that,” Summerfield said.
Conservation is the least intense zoning classification the city has, allowing the lowest-impact development. Summerfield said the county’s previous zoning classification did not require review of environmental conditions.
“This is a very wet site, which is in part why we are bringing it to the city under the conservation zoning designation,” Summerfield said.
The land has natural stormwater retention, making it suitable for a nearby affordable housing development that the city is working on. Preserving the property for conservation would help with stormwater management on the adjacent Verdier site project, Summerfield said.
Local residents Bonnie Morrello and Irene Fontanez Budge support the conservation proposal, citing concerns about traffic and overdevelopment in West Ashley.
“Too much building, they’re killing all of the trees, it’s sad. It’s sad to see it just go down like that just to put up construction,” Fontanez Budge said.
Morrello said when her daughter moved to West Ashley eight years ago there was a lot less development, now she lives with her and she says the traffic is overwhelming.
The residents said they do not oppose all construction but want limited development.
Summerfield said the proposal aligns with the city’s mission to balance thoughtful development in appropriate areas while preserving others with rich natural resources.
City council will hold a second reading on Tuesday, then could move to a third reading with the proposal potentially enacted the same night.
