Council defers Patriot’s Point review to planning committee amid questions over density, parking and zoning differences

Mount Pleasant Town Council voted to defer two Patriot’s Point plan development items to the planning committee for additional review, citing unresolved differences between the proposed PD and the town’s Waterfront Gateway District.

Council members said the PD changes are not a simple cut‑and‑paste from the Waterfront Gateway rules and requested a side‑by‑side comparison of remaining differences. Committee members flagged outstanding issues including parking configuration, whether some required parking could be located off‑site, tree‑type substitutions that could reduce canopy cover, and the appropriate housing density for the site.

Under the Waterfront Gateway rules, the council was told, the site is allowed up to 12 units per acre. The applicant had proposed 8 units per acre in the revised PD; councilmembers warned that pushing for a substantially lower number without agreement risks the developer reverting to straight zoning and the 12 units‑per‑acre entitlement. Council discussion emphasized doing the planning work in public and continuing negotiations at the committee level.

Supporters of the deferral said it would allow the committee to examine parking, streetscape and tree‑selection language more closely; opponents warned that repeated delays could incentivize the developer to build under straight zoning rules. Councilmember Chapman and others said the developer has been cooperative and that an additional month to refine differences was appropriate.

The motion to defer the two Patriot’s Point items to the planning committee passed with a recorded vote of 6‑2. The council expects the items to return for further action at a subsequent meeting pending the committee’s review.