Planning commission defers Parkers Ferry overlay change to allow vehicle storage

The Charleston County Planning Commission voted to defer consideration of a proposed text amendment that would add vehicle storage as an allowed use in the Parkers Ferry Community Overlay, requiring applicants to pursue approval through the county’s special-exception process.

The item would add “vehicle storage” to Table 5.12.0.5 of the Parkers Ferry Community Overlay use table for business service nodes and commercial properties, with staff recommending the use be allowed only when approved as a special exception and restricted to properties with frontage on Highway 17 (Savannah Highway). Staff said six written comments in opposition and no written comments in support were received during the public notice period.

Marshae Miller, a staff presenter on the item, told the commission the change would add the proposed use to the overlay’s use table and that the special-exception approval criteria would apply. Miller said the Parkers Ferry overlay was adopted in 2017 after a community planning process that emphasized low residential density and limited commercial scale; the overlay already allows some more intensive uses in its business service node…