Board tables Valvoline‑branded auto service buffer variance after extended discussion; staff had recommended denial

Planning staff recommended denying a variance to reduce a required residential buffer for a proposed Valvoline (Quality Automotive Services) oil‑change facility on Orangeburg Road near Central Avenue, but the applicant asked the board to consider the site’s narrow shape and other constraints; the board voted to table the application to allow the applicant to revise the site plan.

Staff told the board the parcel is approximately 1.03 acres, unusually deep and narrow (about 100 feet of frontage), and that auto sales/service uses adjacent to manufactured housing trigger a Type B/H buffer of 50 feet. Staff noted the county code allows certain reductions only if a six‑foot privacy fence and additional plantings are provided, and said alternative uses with lower buffer requirements could develop…