Board grants variance to Strobel scrapyard to waive landscape buffers after owners cite capped landfill

The Charleston County Board of Zoning Appeals granted two variances on June 3 allowing Strobel B & D Scrapyard at 1951 Stokes Avenue to continue operations without the code-required 8-foot vehicular perimeter buffer and the 40-foot Type F land-use buffer adjacent to residential properties.

Applicant Ross Appel, representing Strobel B & D, told the board the 5.42-acre site has been a salvage yard since 1984 and sits atop a former landfill that was later capped. Appel and the scrapyard owner, Sean Strobel, argued that installing the full required landscape buffers would require disturbing the landfill cap, potentially creating environmental risks; the owners also said they have undertaken cleanup and screening measures along the property line, removed unpermitted structures, improved fencing and vegetation, and negotiated a written agreement with a neighboring landfill operator to avoid encroachment into the narrow buffer area.

Neighbors and a nearby resident…