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Florence BZA approves drive‑through Chipotle at 2037 S. Irby St.
Summary
The Florence Board of Zoning Appeals voted to grant a special-exception use permit to allow a drive-through restaurant (Chipotle) at 2037 South Irby Street in the Activity Center (AC) zoning district; site‑plan conditions including a Type C buffer between the restaurant and nearby apartments will be addressed at the site‑plan review stage.
The Florence Board of Zoning Appeals on Oct. 31 approved a special-exception use permit allowing a drive‑through restaurant at 2037 South Irby Street, a parcel recently rezoned to Activity Center (AC) after annexation. The order of record for the request is South Urby Florence Development LLC; Tidewater Engineering is listed as the applicant.
City planning staff told the board the rezoning to AC was done to give flexibility for building placement and that because the proposed use would be within 50 feet of a residential district, the development will be required to provide a Type C buffer yard between the restaurant and the apartments immediately north as part of the site‑plan review. "It's just a technicality," Lane, Florence city planning staff, said, adding that the site plan shows a standard drive‑through layout and that staff had received no neighbor calls. Lane also said, "It'll be a Chipotle," and noted several other drive‑through restaurants already exist in the area.
Board members asked about access, signage and potential impacts on traffic. Staff said vehicular access from Irby Street would require coordination with the South Carolina Department of Transportation and that the AC zoning district contains its own signage rules. Staff described the development as a multi‑parcel project that will include a Chipotle, a car wash, and a new Salvation Army store; the design consolidates access to limit curb cuts onto Irby Street. "All the stacking for the drive through and such would occur internal to that development," staff said, arguing the internal circulation would reduce conflict with traffic across from Walmart.
A board member moved to approve the application; the motion was seconded and the board voted in favor. The vote was announced as "ayes have it"; no roll‑call tally was read into the record.
The board's approval grants the special‑exception use permit; final details on landscaping, lighting, noise mitigation and signage will be addressed during site‑plan and building‑permit review, and any new or modified access onto Irby Street will require state DOT approval.
