The Hartsville-Bridal County Planning Commission unanimously approved three site plans at its December meeting, including a proposed White Oak Street liquor-store relocation and two seven-unit townhouse projects on East Main Street.

Jared Claiborne, an engineer with Midtown Engineering, presented the first application for 103 White Oak Street, a 0.88-acre lot in the 7th district. Claiborne said the proposal keeps an existing building on the site for storage and adds a new building “just slightly below a 6,000 square foot building.” He told commissioners that parking requirements are met and that the applicant has coordinated with TDOT, which indicated no objections following meetings. Staff noted the applicant provided on-site stormwater controls because county stormwater rules apply to subdivisions only and the commission does not have a standalone site-plan stormwater ordinance.

Planning staff reviewed the submission. Miss Rosalie said the applicant addressed erosion- and stormwater-related issues for the sloped lot, and Amanda Harrington, a planning staff member, said the applicant responded to three corrective comments. An unidentified member moved to approve the White Oak site plan; a second was recorded and the motion passed by voice vote.

Claiborne then presented two related proposals on East Main Street (617 and 613 East Main) for applicant Robert Powers. Each parcel is approximately 0.65 acres and each plan proposes seven townhome units in two building blocks. Claiborne said the projects implement permanent, on-site stormwater measures similar to those on nearby lots. He also said the nearest fire hydrant is roughly 250 feet from 617 East Main.

Rosalie pointed to sheet C3 in the applicants’ packets showing two stormwater ponds for 617 and confirmed buffer-strip and other checklist items are included. Amanda Harrington told the commission the applicants had addressed staff’s corrective comments and recommended approval of both East Main plans. Mister Welch moved to approve 617 East Main; “Moose” seconded and the motion passed unanimously by voice vote. For 613 East Main, a motion to approve (moved by a member identified as “Shutter”) was seconded by Mister Welch and also passed unanimously.

Commission discussion centered on technical compliance rather than policy. Staff repeatedly emphasized that, because county stormwater requirements currently apply to subdivisions, applicants are using on-site measures to prevent increased runoff and to manage timing of flow to avoid impacts to neighboring properties.

What happens next: approvals allow applicants to proceed with permitting and construction steps handled by county staff and state agencies where applicable. Final permits and building approvals remain subject to administrative requirements and any outstanding permit conditions.

Votes at a glance
- Approval of minutes: motion by Mister Nollner; passed by voice vote (unanimous).
- 103 White Oak Street (Tappan B. Patel) site plan: motion to approve from the floor; passed by voice vote (unanimous).
- 617 East Main (Robert Powers) site plan: motion by Mister Welch; seconded by Moose; passed by voice vote (unanimous).
- 613 East Main (Robert Powers) site plan: motion by Shutter; seconded by Mister Welch; passed by voice vote (unanimous).

Commissioners and staff said they will continue to monitor stormwater performance on projects in parts of the county that lack standalone stormwater ordinances.