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Charleston council approves rezoning for Radcliffe Street site to allow parking garage over neighborhood objections
Summary
The City of Charleston council voted to rezone a small parcel at 15 Radcliffe Street to General Business, clearing a procedural step developers say will allow construction of a multi-story parking structure despite sustained neighborhood opposition and a lengthy public hearing.
The City of Charleston council on March 25 approved a rezoning that city staff said is needed to allow a proposed parking structure at 15 Radcliffe Street, a small lot in the Radcliffe Borough neighborhood.
The vote authorized rezoning of the property from a residential district to General Business. The motion carried on a roll call after extended public comment and council debate; one council member recorded a dissent and one council member was absent.
The rezoning is part of a developer plan that includes two parcels in the Warren Place area; developer Frank Brumley told council he proposes a multi-level garage to serve the College of Charleston, nearby businesses and local churches. “We've been very transparent in regarding these plans and have received encouragement to do so from many in the community,” Brumley said during the hearing.
Neighbors and neighborhood leaders urged council to reject the upzoning. Randall Grussing, a Radcliffe Borough resident of 29 years, told council the lot previously held a single-family house and said the neighborhood should be protected from commercial encroachment. “We merely expect our city officials to protect the quality of life within our neighborhoods from outside developers,” he said. Liz Sol Brainard, president of the Radcliffe Borough Neighborhood Association, said residents support local businesses but oppose a “behemoth” parking garage in the residential edge.
Council debate reflected the split between Peninsula-wide parking needs and neighborhood livability. Council member Mitchell said he spoke with the applicant and said, “I could not support this as it is,” and expressed concern about traffic, noise and impacts on residents who live adjacent to the site. Other council members argued the Peninsula’s commercial core and several churches need additional parking and noted planning staff and the planning commission had recommended approval.
City staff described the primary parcel as a small lot on Radcliffe outlined in planning maps and said the planning commission recommended approval (staff presentation referenced a 7–0 recommendation for the item). Brumley told council the larger project would provide several hundred parking spaces; the developer cited letters of support from Saint Patrick Catholic Church and Central Baptist Church nearby. Opponents pointed to the removal and relocation of a historic house and to long-running neighborhood opposition dating to prior debates over a decade.
Council did not take a final development permit at the meeting; council’s rezoning vote is a land-use decision that precedes site-level permitting. Staff confirmed later in the discussion that any new structured parking would require a traffic study and standard permitting reviews during the building permit and site plan phases. Charleston Police Department representatives were asked during debate to comment on whether parking facilities tend to attract crime; the chief said traditionally issues concentrate on major corridors rather than at parking garages and that targeted patrols are used around busy times.
The council vote moves the application to the next phase of review. Opponents said they would continue to press their concerns about scale and neighborhood impacts at subsequent hearings and in permit reviews.
