Planning committee approves rezoning for Fort Shoals self-storage despite staff objection

The Greenville County Planning and Development Committee voted to approve a rezoning request for a 13.64-acre parcel at 2726 Fort Shoals Road to allow an RV, boat and self-storage facility.

County staff had recommended denial, saying the requested S-1 Services District would be inconsistent with the county comprehensive plan designation of “rural living” and with the South Greenville area plan’s “transitional residential” designation. At the meeting staff said S-1 allows uses such as general warehousing and light industrial that could conflict with surrounding rural residential lots.

The applicant, Philip R. Dean of PRD Properties LLC, told the committee he had met with the neighbor and would provide screening. “His only concern was buffering… I will do exactly what I’ve got right there,” Dean said, referring to a site plan he submitted. Dean also said he owns an I-1 parcel across the road and plans to use an existing entrance and office to reduce community impact.

Several committee members asked whether the adjacent S-1 zoning predated recent area plans; staff responded the neighboring S-1 was originally zoned commercial in the 1990s, while newer area plans reflect more rural residential classifications. Staff explained buffer requirements: for properties of 10 or more acres a 25-foot-wide landscape buffer is required adjacent to residential parcels and screening must be a minimum of 6 feet tall, either an opaque fence/wall or evergreen plantings.

Planning commission had recommended approval; the committee approved the rezoning. A motion to approve was made on the floor and the committee chair called for the ayes; the motion carried.

The committee did not record a roll-call tally in the meeting transcript; the outcome on the record was approval.

Why it matters: the vote allows a commercial storage use to locate next to an area staff describes as rural residential, raising questions about future land-use transitions along Fort Shoals Road and about enforcement of buffering and screening requirements.

Next steps: as a standard rezoning, the applicant is not strictly bound to the preliminary site plan presented; committee members discussed the option of asking the applicant to pursue a review district or plan development district to lock in site details, but noted that converting a straight rezoning to a review district would require the applicant to resubmit and start the review process over.