Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Residential Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Planning commission approves Catawba Ridge preliminary plat; applicants pledge to build Boulevard extension
Summary
The commission approved a 1,490‑lot preliminary plat (SD 2023‑0867 Catawba Ridge). Applicant representatives and staff said phase‑1 road work is underway and phase‑2 will extend Catawba Ridge Boulevard to Highway 200, improving emergency access; residents urged timely completion of the road.
The Lancaster County Planning Commission on May 19 approved the Catawba Ridge preliminary plat (SD 2023‑0867), a master‑plan residential subdivision proposing 1,490 lots across roughly 840 acres as part of PDD2 (Bear Creek). Staff recommended approval after technical review, and commissioners voted 6–0 to approve the preliminary plat.
Staff told the commission the proposal includes about 168 acres of open space, privately maintained roads and that the development is consistent with the county’s master‑plan community future land use designation. The closest SCDOT trip‑count station (about a mile away) averages roughly 4,000 trips per day; the project area falls within the Bell Town volunteer fire district and the nearest EMS station is Station 3, both facts staff noted for later phase reviews.
Applicant representatives said construction is already under way for a portion of the Catawba Ridge Boulevard extension (phase 1) and that phase 2 plans — which will extend the Boulevard to Highway 200 — are in review. "Phase one is already under construction," a project engineer said, adding that the developer intends the Boulevard extension to provide a second ingress/egress and to reduce emergency response times and congestion on Bethel Boat Landing and other local roads.
A resident from Edgewater urged the commission not to grant schedule extensions for the Boulevard construction, citing multiple accidents and long closures on Bethel Boat Landing, which currently serves as the neighborhood’s primary ingress/egress. Commissioners and staff discussed sequencing: the applicant said major road improvements would be constructed before build‑out of affected housing phases and that detailed civil plans for each phase will be reviewed by DOT, fire and utility providers prior to final plats and building permits.
Commissioners also discussed possible traffic mitigations identified in the TIA (signals, roundabouts, deceleration/turn lanes) and confirmed that SCDOT review and permitting would be required for state highway access points. The commission approved the preliminary plat by roll call 6–0; staff noted this planning commission approval is final for the preliminary plat and does not go to county council.
What’s next: the applicant will submit construction drawings and phased civil plans for review; any traffic mitigations required by SCDOT and the county will be tied to the permitting and phasing of individual construction packages.
