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Council rejects first reading of 67-acre Shady Grove housing rezoning after resident objections
Summary
The Town of Irmo council on May 19 rejected on first reading a proposed rezoning for 67.35 acres on Shady Grove Road that would have allowed 200 workforce apartments, 90 senior duplexes and 40 single-family homes after residents raised traffic, school and infrastructure concerns; one councilor voted yes.
The Town of Irmo council voted against the first reading of Ordinance 26-12 on May 19 after more than a dozen residents urged delays for additional traffic and school-capacity analysis.
Residents living near the proposed site at or near 1424 Shady Grove Road said the development’s scale and frontage conditions would overwhelm local roads and schools. Brian Murdaugh, who said more than 1,200 neighbors have signed a petition, told council the traffic impact analysis is incomplete and that negotiated conditions lack binding road improvements or formal school-district concurrence. “Do not approve this until the traffic study is complete,” Murdaugh said.
The developer’s representative, Chris Young of American Community Developers, told council the project is a phased, mixed housing plan and that tax credits have been allocated for the workforce phase. Young said the team consulted the school district and fire department and that traffic improvements would be provided “concurrently with the development” prior to occupancy. He emphasized the project is structured as workforce housing tied to income limits and said it “will not be a Section 8 project.”
Councilors pressed for written guarantees and enforceable conditions. Council members questioned whether senior housing and later phases could be assured, asked how rents would be set under tax-credit rules, and requested that any road-widening or buffering commitments be specific and enforceable. The developer described typical tax-credit restrictions (30 years) and an intention to include negotiated guarantees, but officials and residents said verbal assurances were not sufficient.
On the clerk’s roll call for first reading, at least four council members recorded “no” votes and one recorded “yes,” leaving the rezoning unable to advance as presented. Mayor Danielson and multiple councilors urged staff and the developer to return with stricter, clearly written conditions and a full traffic impact analysis before any further approval.
What’s next: Because this was a first-reading vote, council members said they expect additional negotiations if the applicant wishes to pursue the rezoning again. The developer indicated a willingness to work with the town on written conditions for a subsequent hearing.
