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Planning panel approves 9.84-acre rezoning on Highway 557 for townhome community near Oak Ridge schools
Summary
The York County Planning Commission approved rezoning case 25-07 to reclassify a 9.84-acre parcel on Highway 557 from General Commercial (GC) to RMX-6 to allow a townhome development adjacent to Oak Ridge Elementary and Middle School.
The York County Planning Commission on March 10 approved rezoning case 25-07, permitting the conversion of a 9.84-acre parcel on Highway 557 in the Clover/Lake Wylie area from General Commercial (GC) to RMX-6 to allow townhome construction.
Planning staff presented the site and context: the vacant parcel sits west of the Lake Wylie bridal and near the 557/Charlotte Highway intersection, with Oak Ridge Elementary and Middle School adjacent to the south and Woodin Park nearby. Mr. Litton (planning presenter) said the parcel is within the comprehensive plan’s community-center node, a designation intended to support walkable, mixed-use development. Staff recommended approval, noting planned improvements along 557 that include sidewalks and a future road‑widening project scheduled for 2026.
Commissioners asked several transportation and school-capacity questions. Staff said a traffic impact analysis (TIA) will be required when formal plan review is submitted and that, based on preliminary expectations, the TIA may not recommend a new signal or allow left turns from the site given existing traffic patterns and the planned five‑lane section of 557. On schools, the commission discussed differences between the developer materials and staff figures; staff said the school district had used the wrong column in its letter and that the student-generation numbers in the staff report are the correct ones.
Commissioners also discussed site connectivity and secondary access points, tree-preservation standards (a 20% tree-save requirement and protections for grand trees), and the potential for including affordable units; one commissioner requested that affordable-housing considerations be examined should the project proceed to county council. Mr. Litton said the applicant indicated interest in internal paths to provide pedestrian connections to the school and nearby destinations.
A motion to approve the rezoning passed; the transcript does not list mover/second names or individual vote tallies. Staff and commissioners noted that specific driveway access, left‑turn permissions and any traffic-signal warrants will be decided through the TIA and by SCDOT as part of later review steps. The parcel referenced in the application is tax map number 5630000021 (Council District 2).
