Natural Resources Committee denies rezoning for 49.6‑acre SC‑170 proposal that included veterans housing plan

Beaufort County’s Natural Resources Committee voted unanimously to deny an ordinance to rezone about 49.616 acres along SC Highway 170 from T2 Rural to C3 Neighborhood Mixed Use, a change the applicant said would allow a mixed‑use village with up to 24 affordable, configurable housing units for veterans and first responders.

The change to C3 would allow higher residential density and commercial uses along the 170 corridor; the applicant, Mosaic Development, said it would pair the rezoning with a development agreement that would lock in public benefits including the veteran housing and a school land swap. Robert Merchant, the county’s director of planning and zoning, told the committee the map amendment itself would permit any use allowed in the C3 district and that the development agreement would be the mechanism to specify the veterans units and other…