Commission approves parking variance for batting-cage tenant with condition limiting cages to 13

Cherokee County planning commissioners approved a variance reducing required parking for a proposed indoor batting-cage facility at 1005 Ebb and Flow Drive, with a condition limiting the space to 13 batting cages.

Staff told the commission that under Article 12 of the Cherokee County Zoning Ordinance a commercial indoor recreation use requires one parking space per 200 square feet, which would equate to 80 spaces for the proposed 16,000-square-foot tenant suite. The shell building and land disturbance permit for the larger 25,000-square-foot structure had previously been reviewed with a 19-space requirement for the permitted warehouse/office configuration and a 47-space layout shown on the site plans.

The property owner and applicant, Matthew Zeig, said the tenant is a nationwide franchise called DBATS and that the 13 fixed cages consume roughly 11,000 square feet; he said the company reviewed the site and determined 39 parking spaces are adequate for the batting-cage operation. Zeig told commissioners that Suite 100 and Suite 200 have separate, dedicated parking allocations and that the 39 spaces under discussion would be dedicated to the 16,000-square-foot tenant.

Commissioners and the applicant discussed whether the variance should be conditioned on both the number of cages and the specific use. Commissioner discussion indicated support for approval so long as the reduced parking tied to the batting-cage use and the capped number of cages. A motion to approve passed unanimously, and the commission recorded a condition that the approval apply only to a batting-cage facility with a maximum of 13 cages.

Staff and the applicant noted the variance would not apply to a different recreational use that could generate higher parking demand. The approval was recorded as case 2503014.