Planning board approves variances to pave and expand two Johns Island club parking lots

The Planning, Zoning and Variance Board voted to approve variances allowing permanent paving and expansion of two parking lots at the Johns Island Club — the Chapin lot and the Clarkson Lane lot — after hearing from the applicant and town staff.

Town staff told the board that "the town has no objection in its totality" to both requests, while noting the two applications must be considered separately under the town's permit process. August Ford, a landscape architect representing the club, said the work responds to a local parking shortage: "we have a real parking situation" and the proposals focus on "making sure that we have parking areas that are safe," he said. Ford told the board the Chapin lot would be expanded from 42 dirt spaces to 57 paved spaces.

The board and speakers discussed trees and lighting near nearby residences. Ford said the plan will remove roughly a dozen trees but that the project "saved almost 300 inches," referring to the sum of diameters at breast height of preserved trunks, and that the design sacrificed two parking spaces to preserve a large specimen. A board member urged that the project avoid sending light toward a neighboring house, noting two proposed fixtures are about 10 feet from a residence and recommending shields so "the light goes towards the parking lot, not towards the house." The applicant said the fixtures are down-lit and that there will be no glare.

Town staff and the applicant clarified the scope and permanence of the variances: the board was asked to approve a permanent variance limited to parking use only, not to allow conversion of the lots to other uses such as housing, retail or a concert venue. Staff also said tree removals and tree-quality reviews are separately permitted and evaluated through the building department and the town's tree protection officer; Gary Doyle was named as the officer who will perform that review.

Board members observed that both lots are internal to Johns Island and are accessed behind gated roads, which limits public access. The board took roll-call votes on each lot; the transcript records affirmative votes by board members who answered during roll call. The board then closed the planning, zoning and variance portion of the meeting.

What the approvals mean: the variances allow the club to pave and increase capacity in the two lots for club members and residents subject to the town's building and tree-permitting requirements and any conditions the town council or permitting staff may impose in later reviews. The board discussed, but did not require in its motions, additional light shielding and specific tree-replacement plantings; the tree protection officer's permitting review will determine required mitigations.

Next steps: the approvals by this board are part of the town's approval process; the town council and the building department will still review or ratify permits and any tree-removal permits, per staff commentary during the meeting.