Aiken council rejects first reading of Dykes Road rezoning for Arbor Ridge transitional tiny-home project

The Aiken City Council voted 3–4 on Sept. 8 against first reading of an ordinance to rezone about 4.1 acres on Dykes Road from Office (O) to Transitional Tiny Home (TTH) and to approve a concept plan for the Arbor Ridge transitional housing development.

The planning staff presented the request as an application to create a TTH district with 39 proposed sleeping units, a 30-by-45-foot community building and parking. Planning staff said the property is currently undeveloped and heavily wooded and is partly owned by the Aiken County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. The Planning Commission recommended approval, 5–2, with conditions including compliance with buffer/tree preservation rules, required building separations and submission of a revised concept plan and signed conditions within 90 days.

Why it matters: the rezoning would authorize a site-specific transitional housing use for people exiting homelessness and provide wraparound services nearby; opponents said the chosen site — adjacent to residential neighborhoods and within walking distance of Aiken Barnwell Mental Health and Aiken Center — raised safety and infrastructure concerns, while supporters said the project would provide a needed “hand up” for people living unsheltered in the city.

Council and staff presentation Mister Beadonboe, the planning staff member who presented the ordinance, told the council the parcel is roughly 4.1 acres composed of one landlocked parcel plus part of another with frontage on Dykes Road. The concept plan described single sleeping units of about 160 square feet and double units at about 320 square feet; exterior materials would be hardiplank siding, and the community building would include laundry facilities, two offices and a meeting room of about 350 square feet. The narrative indicated common open space totaling about 59% of the buildable area. Staff said a traffic impact study was not required because anticipated peak-hour trips fell below the threshold and that the developer would be responsible for…