Greer board approves special exception to allow townhomes at 647 Blackwell Road

The Board of Zoning Appeals for the City of Greer on Tuesday approved a special exception to allow townhomes at 647 Blackwell Road, a roughly 45.7-acre parcel near Bible Brook Drive and Wade Hampton Road. The board voted to accept the applicant’s request after staff recommended approval and after several residents raised traffic and emergency-response concerns.

Staff summarized the request as docket BZA SE 24-01 and said the parcel is in the suburban neighborhood zoning district, which allows attached housing by special exception. City staff told the board the proposed plan would provide 70% open space—above the 20% minimum—and said the project’s proposed density is 158 units, under both the base allowed density (about 192 units at 4 units per acre) and the higher cluster allowance (about 240 units). The applicant said the design includes recreational features and road frontage improvements.

The applicant’s presentation came from Daria Dimintyanova, an engineer with Civil SD Engineering, who said the development would include walking trails, a nine‑hole disc golf course, playgrounds, a dog park, a soccer field and pickleball courts. “We have provided 70% open space, which is exceeding the required amount of open space, which was 20%,” Dimintyanova told the board. She said the design pulls away from wetlands and preserves natural areas and that the frontage along Blackwell Road would be widened from about 16 feet to 26 feet to meet city frontage requirements.

Several nearby residents urged caution. Alison Rauch, who identified herself as a Canyon Ridge resident off Bible Brook Drive, described local roads as narrow, lacking sidewalks and lighting and said a bridge over CSX tracks that serves her neighborhood has been closed since 2020, leaving one way in and out. “Just imagine adding 500 more vehicles to this area,” Rauch said while urging the board to consider emergency-service access and overall roadway safety. Kenneth Wilson, who said he owns property at 675 Bible Brook, also raised concerns about traffic and said more infrastructure work is needed before additional development.

Staff and board discussion focused on the distinction between zoning use and road maintenance. City staff (Seth, last name not provided) noted the city’s revised unified development ordinance requires new developments to widen the portion of roadway along their frontage to city standards, but the city cannot require developers to widen roads beyond their frontage. Staff said a traffic study was completed; it identified primary impacts closer to Wade Hampton and recommended mitigation, including a potential right‑turn lane at the Leister/Wade Hampton area. Staff said that intersection improvements identified in the traffic study and any required signage would be conditions of the site‑plan process and would have to be installed before the final plat is signed.

The board took a motion to approve the special exception. Board member Crosby, Board member Norris, Dr. Healy and Board member Griffin voted in favor during roll call. The motion carried and the board’s decision allows the applicant to proceed to the typical site‑plan and preliminary‑plat steps, at which point required intersection and frontage improvements would be addressed and must be completed before lots are released.

What the board decided was limited to whether attached housing (townhomes) is an appropriate use in this suburban neighborhood zoning district; actual construction and final lot approvals remain subject to the city’s site‑plan and permitting process and any required approvals from the South Carolina Department of Transportation (DOT) for off‑site intersection work.

The board chair said the next step after the special‑exception approval is the preliminary plat, which will go to the Planning Commission. Staff noted DOT would be contacted if the traffic study or public comments indicate damaged or missing highway signage that DOT maintains.