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Greer council rejects major change to Blue Ridge Plantation planned-development after resident objections
Summary
After extensive public comment and council questioning, the City Council voted to deny a developer’s request to amend the Blue Ridge Plantation planned development that would have allowed more residential units in a zone intended for nonresidential uses and moved the amenity center; staff and the Planning Commission had recommended denial.
The Greer City Council denied a proposed major amendment to the Blue Ridge Plantation planned development after residents raised concerns that the change would reduce planned commercial space and let developers add townhomes instead of the nonresidential town center residents expected.
The amendment sought three changes to the PD statement of intent: move the amenity center from Zone 7A to 7B to access sewer, allow up to 121 residential units (attached and detached) in Zone 7A, and redistribute units among other zones without exceeding the overall approved density. Planning staff told council the swap of the amenity center to 7B to gain sewer access posed no staff concern, but staff recommended denial overall because the request could effectively eliminate the commercial/town-center component by allowing residential in space intended for nonresidential uses.
Residents said they had been promised certain amenities and that many features (including an Olympic-sized pool and a clubhouse) remained unbuilt. “We were told this was going to be our forever home,” said Elizabeth Pittman, who identified herself as a long-term resident of Blue Ridge Plantation. Pittman told the council the intersection near Ridge Crossing and Milford Church Road is dangerous and that existing amenities are insufficient for roughly 600 home sites. Another resident, Roy Zielinski, told council that developers have repeatedly postponed promised improvements: “They’ll say ‘I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday’ and never deliver,” he said.
Developers’ civil engineer Josh Baker of Gray Engineering told council the move of the amenity center was driven by sewer logistics and said the project expects to reach the 50% build-out trigger for amenities in about two years. “We’re going to the planning advisory board this Thursday to start the process of site element plans to get the amenities installed,” Baker said.
Council members weighed those competing points. Several members said they were sympathetic to residents’ frustrations about delayed amenities and concerned that allowing residential in 7A would undermine the PD’s original mixed-use intent. Planning staff and the Planning Commission recommended denial; staff also suggested that if council wanted to allow some of the changes it could require a cap on attached housing to preserve commercial acreage.
On a motion to deny the amendment as presented, council recorded a majority of no votes and the ordinance failed. The council did not adopt any amended language on the floor and directed that developers work with staff and return through the formal public-review process if they wished to revise the proposal.
The council recessed for 10 minutes following the vote. The denial means the developer may choose to prepare a revised proposal and return to Planning Commission and City Council for future consideration.
