Board grants variances for build site and tree-encroachment at 3801 Tim Askew Lane amid neighbor objections

The Charleston County Board of Zoning and Appeals approved two variances on Aug. 4 to allow construction of a single-family house at 3801 Tim Askew Lane that will encroach on the protected root zone of a 46-inch live oak on the adjacent property and reduce the required rear setback.

Applicant Inga George said she bought the parcel at a tax sale after the original homeowners’ association dissolved and that she has worked with county staff and an arborist to minimize tree loss. "I've done everything. I've complied with every request from every office," she told the board, asking that the board permit the two variances so she can build a modest retirement home.

County staff explained that the area had been rezoned to the S-3 special-management district after the property changed hands and that the S-3 rules impose larger setbacks than the previous R-4 zoning. That change made a previously buildable pad much more constrained, staff said. The arborist review identified one adjacent 46-inch DBH (diameter at breast height) live oak as a Grade A specimen; the proposed building and associated footprint would encroach 35.5% of that tree’s protected root zone area, staff reported. The applicant revised the build site to reduce encroachment as much as feasible and proposed mitigation measures and a retained arborist monitoring plan.

Several neighbors and property owners opposed the project. Speakers produced recorded covenants and restrictions that they said reserved the parcel as open green space and retention ponds serving the neighborhood. Neighbors also expressed concerns about additional impervious area worsening recurring flooding on the cul-de-sac and said they had not received direct notice in the tax-sale process that changed the land title. One neighbor provided a petition signed by a majority of Tim Askew Lane residents opposing the build.

Board members asked technical questions about whether the lot could be built without encroaching on the tree and whether public water/sewer annexation could remove the need for an on-site septic system and thus provide more options for siting; the applicant said she had applied for annexation to the town of Mount Pleasant but the item was removed from the town agenda during review and that, to date, the town had not approved water and sewer service for the lot.

After discussion the board voted to approve both variances, finding extraordinary and exceptional conditions on the lot (size, tree locations, prior HOA/title history and a changed S-3 setback standard) and determining the encroachment could be permitted with conditions. The board included staff-recommended conditions requiring a certified arborist to monitor and treat the oak through construction and a tree-mitigation plan if the tree dies within three years (planting new canopy trees or payments to the county tree fund), and it required pervious driveway material where applicable.

Neighbors were told the written decision will be mailed; as with any quasi-judicial zoning decision, an appeal would be to circuit court and must be filed within 30 days of the mailing the board noted.