Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Zoning 105 Ballenger topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council receives first reading to rezone 105 Ballenger Avenue; owner outlines renovation and parking plans
Summary
The Greer City Council received first reading of an ordinance to rezone 105 Ballenger Avenue from suburban neighborhood to traditional neighborhood. Planning staff said the request would make a duplex and pending additions legal-conforming; the property owner described plans to gut and renovate the building and addressed council parking concerns.
The Greer City Council received first reading of Ordinance No. 9-2025 on a motion at its March 2025 meeting to change the zoning of 105 Ballenger Avenue from suburban neighborhood to traditional neighborhood, a reclassification staff said is compatible with surrounding uses and would allow the owner to make planned additions without special exception.
Why it matters: The requested change raises allowable density and reduces minimum lot-size and setback requirements. Planning staff said rezoning would bring the existing duplex into legal conformity and permit two planned one-bedroom additions; rezoning could also increase the parcel’s potential density from the suburban limit of 4 dwelling units per acre to as many as 10 dwelling units per acre under the traditional neighborhood rules.
Planning staff (identified in the meeting as Ms. Dahl) said the parcel is approximately 2.24 acres and contrasted the two zoning districts: suburban neighborhood requires a 10,000-square-foot minimum lot for detached residential and side setbacks of 10 feet with 4 dwelling units per acre, while traditional neighborhood reduces minimum lot size to 5,000 square feet with 5-foot side setbacks and allows densities up to 10 dwelling units per acre. Ms. Dahl also said the parcel is in the downtown transitional overlay, where the parking standard is one space per dwelling unit.
Ross Skinner, the property owner, told the council he plans to "gut" and renovate the building to address electrical, plumbing and structural issues and add the two one-bedroom additions. "My whole plan was to fix it up, make it nice," Skinner said. He described current parking configurations and said his family had tested parking layouts; he said one side of the lot currently has concrete wheel strips and the other side is gravel and that he may concrete a portion to allow for two side-by-side spaces.
Council members asked several questions about parking access to the rear of the property, whether gravel drives could remain, and how the additions would affect existing driveways. Planning staff said access to at least one driveway to the rear would remain and that gravel drives can stay. Council members also discussed character of the street and street parking availability.
A motion to receive first reading of Ordinance No. 9-2025 carried on a recorded roll call with affirmative votes from Mr. Booker, Mr. Hopper, Councilman Lee Dumas, Mr. Bettis, Ms. Albert and Mayor Danner.
Ending: The rezoning request moves forward; the council received first reading and the matter will return for subsequent action per the city’s ordinance schedule.
