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Planning committee recommends Patriot’s Point annex PD to council after public negotiations, developers accept several changes
Summary
After multiple meetings, the planning committee recommended that Town Council consider the Patriot’s Annex planned development district (PD) with negotiated changes including reverting a proposed 40% fee-in-lieu for tree planting to the town standard 20% and removing a proposed residential parking reduction.
After extended discussion and public comment, the Mount Pleasant Planning Committee voted unanimously to recommend to Town Council the Patriot’s Annex Planned Development District (PD) as revised during public negotiations with the applicant.
Staff presented a detailed review of the PD’s provisions and pointed out several technical distinctions from the Waterfront Gateway District standards. The committee and staff worked publicly with the applicant to reconcile concerns on off-site parking, tree planting standards, buffers at the critical line along the waterfront and other provisions. Staff noted the PD originally requested authority for up to 700-foot off-site parking under a shared-parking approach; staff and committee discussion emphasized that the Waterfront Gateway approach requires a ULI shared-parking study, and staff said parking for the annexe use must remain on-site because surrounding PDs do not provide usable off-site parking areas.
Committee conversation focused on a set of specific issues the committee had previously negotiated: 12% minimum open space, a 30-unit cap for residential portions, maximum building heights for portions of the site, a 20 inches-per-acre tree requirement compromise and limits on flat roofs. During the meeting the applicant agreed to remove or revert several PD provisions that had drawn concern from committee members and the public. Specifically, the applicant agreed to:
- Remove the PD’s proposed 40% fee-in-lieu of planting and retain the town’s standard 20% fee-in-lieu provision. - Withdraw the proposed deviation that would have reduced residential parking requirements; residential parking will instead remain governed by the Waterfront Gateway/ULI approach. - Restore the Waterfront Gateway minimum critical-line buffer minimum to 20 feet where the PD language had included 15 feet.
Committee members also discussed a proposed reduction of sidewalks from the 8-foot standard to 5 feet in the PD; staff clarified that sidewalk width remains within the Design Review Board’s purview and that the PD would set a starting point but the DRB retains authority to approve deviations for specific phases. The committee asked staff and the applicant to provide a clarified “red-line” document showing only substantive differences between the PD text and Waterfront Gateway standards before Council consideration.
Public commenters during the meeting included residents who said the Waterfront Gateway zoning should be retained to protect tree canopy, public access and shoreline buffers; an applicant representative asked the committee to identify issues quickly so final reading could proceed at Council. After the public exchange and the staff-applicant agreement to the negotiated changes, the committee voted to recommend Council consider the revised PD at second reading. Meeting minutes record the motion and a unanimous recommendation to Council with the agreed changes.
Next steps: staff will revise the PD submittal to reflect the negotiated language, circulate a clean red-line for committee and Council review and place the item on the Council agenda for second reading and final action.
