Smaller plan for May Bridal Drive: commission forwards 85-lot subdivision with buffer, fence and second-access conditions

The Aiken City Planning Commission on March 11 voted unanimously to forward an annexation and concept plan for 85 single-family lots near May Bridal Drive and Osman Drive (tax parcels 120-08-02-008 and 120-08-02-010) to City Council with modified conditions.

Jason Winger of IV Development summarized the revised plan and said the application is smaller than the prior submittal the commission reviewed a year ago; the earlier application had not been completed within the required timeframe and the developer returned with a reduced proposal of roughly 85 lots on approximately 50–51 acres. "We are working with Chad and Warren Gibson," Winger told the commission, and the firm said it will provide required engineering and work with affected property owners during final design.

Key conditions the commission approved to forward to council included: reducing the entrance landscape median width from the staff-recommended 15 feet to 10 feet, installing a 6-foot privacy fence along the backs of all new lots that abut existing homes (owner-maintained with HOA oversight), and requiring a second permanent access road subject to sight-distance calculations and SCDOT approval. The commission also directed the developer to extend a cul-de-sac right-of-way by the proposed activity field to touch adjacent undeveloped property where feasible.

Residents who addressed the commission raised concerns about traffic at nearby Wire Road and Highway 1 intersections, privacy and yard size, potential annexation implications for contiguous county properties, and stormwater runoff. Jason Winger said stormwater would be captured in a detention pond and released in a controlled outfall; he also told commissioners the city would take ownership of the pump station and that privacy fences behind lots would be built by lot owners and maintained through an HOA.

Commissioners and staff discussed the potential for a second entrance and sight-distance constraints; the commission’s final motion required that a second permanent access be installed if engineering and SCDOT approvals allow it, otherwise the design will be revisited during engineering. The motion to forward the annexation and concept plan to City Council with the listed modifications and additional conditions passed unanimously.

The developer said it will produce a formal traffic study and continue coordination with SCDOT, the fire marshal, and adjacent property owners as engineering proceeds. City Council will consider the annexation and the concept plan at a later meeting.