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Planning commission recommends approval for Royal Road rezoning despite neighborhood concerns
Summary
The Berkeley County Planning Commission voted to recommend rezoning a 0.527-acre Royal Road parcel from manufactured residential to rural neighborhood commercial, allowing retail uses the applicant said he hopes will make the property leasable. Neighbors worried about traffic, proximity to schools and the prospect of age-restricted retail uses such as a vape shop.
The Berkeley County Planning Commission voted to recommend rezoning a 0.527-acre parcel on Royal Road (TMS 2330600027) from Manufactured Residential R-2 to Rural Neighborhood Commercial after a staff presentation and public comment.
Staff told commissioners the property once contained a beauty or barber shop and that the applicant, Daniel Dimicelli, is seeking a zoning change to permit retail-type uses. Staff said the lot is in the neighborhood mixed-use designation of the county’s 2020 comprehensive plan and recommended approval, while noting the application did not list a specific tenant and that former uses lost grandfathered protections after six months of vacancy.
Applicant Daniel Dimicelli told the commission that potential tenants had included vape shops early in the application process but said, “No, sir. Those were those were potential tenants,” and emphasized he had stopped efforts to lease the property because of the current zoning restrictions.
Several nearby residents opposed converting the parcel to commercial. Susan Yeo said she was ‘‘definitely in opposition’’ to a vape shop or any retail that would not be ‘‘all inclusive’’ for the neighborhood and urged the commission to consider public health and welfare. Francis O. Gibson, who said he has lived about 2,000 feet from the site for nearly 50 years, said he does not object to small traditional uses such as a barbershop but opposes changing the neighborhood’s residential character: “I would like for the state residential,” he said.
Commissioners asked staff to clarify permitted uses and noted that some low-impact businesses historically operated there under grandfathering rules. After debate the commission moved to approve the application and recorded an abstention; the chair announced the motion carried. The planning commission’s action is a recommendation; final approval rests with Berkeley County Council.
The applicant and staff were instructed on next steps to carry the recommendation to county council for final action.
