BZA approves special exception to allow liquor store at Spears Creek shopping center

The Columbia Board of Zoning Appeals on March 6 approved a special exception to permit a retail liquor store at 185 Earth Road Suite D in the Spears Creek shopping center.

Applicant Larry Kribbs, owner of Palmetto Trading, told the board he intends “to provide the community with a very clean, well maintained, fully stocked and professionally managed adult, beverage shopping experience.” Kribbs said his existing store in Loughod, South Carolina, has operated about five years, employs two full-time workers and generated about $100,000 in state and county tax revenue in 2024; he said he expects the new location to reach similar revenue within two years.

The board’s action matters because the site is in the city’s GC (general commercial) zoning district and the special exception modifies permitted retail uses. Board members asked about age verification; Kribbs said the store “doesn’t currently utilize any technological scanner” and that employees are trained to visually check government-issued IDs, such as South Carolina driver’s licenses and state IDs, and that passports are accepted on rare occasions.

Andrew Livingood, the city’s zoning administrator, read the case and noted the application included the required checklist and site information. No members of the public addressed the board on the item. A board member moved to approve the special exception “subject to staff comments”; the motion passed by voice vote. The board did not record a roll-call tally in the meeting transcript.

Next steps for the project include site development review and permitting with city staff and any conditions spelled out in the staff comments. The agenda also included a deferred administrative appeal for 5003 Rett Street, which Livingood said was deferred until at least the May meeting.