Planning Commission

MINUTES TOWN OF FORT MILL PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING October 15, 2019 112 Confederate Street 6:30 PM Present: James Traynor, Tom Petty, Hynek Lettang, Ben Hudgins, Chris Wolfe, Planning Director Penelope Karagounis, Planner Nick Cauthen Absent: Matthew Lucarelli, Andy Agrawal Guests: See Attachment Chairman Traynor called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm. Mr. Wolfe noted an error in the minutes from the September meeting on page 6 of the packet, which referenced Mr. Wolfe asking a question about the location of a drive thru when it was instead Mr. Petty (Mr. Wolfe was absent). Chairman Traynor requested additional language regarding the purpose of Commercial Appearance Review. As presented, the September minutes stated the purpose of Commercial Appearance Review was to review and grant approval. Chairman Traynor asked for the addition of “consider” granting instead of to grant, considering the Commission can deny a request. Mr. Hudgins made a motion to approve the minutes with the changes requested by Mr. Wolfe and Mr. Traynor from the September 17, 2019 Planning Commission meeting. Mr. Wolfe seconded the motion. The minutes were approved by a vote of 5-0. NEW BUSINESS ITEMS 1. Annexation Request: Jason Sparks on behalf of Mike E. and Dedria Tidwell: Planning Director Karagounis provided a brief overview of the request, the purpose to annex York County Tax Map Number 661-00-00-033 located at 655 Smythe Road and containing approximately .918 +/- acres. The current zoning is RC-I (York County) and Jason Sparks on behalf of Mike E. and Dedria Tidwell would like to annex to GR General Residential. The property is contiguous to the town limits and is, therefore eligible for annexation. The applicant would like to build a new single-family home to accommodate a 13-bed residential care facility. Chairman Traynor asked if there was a water line on Sutton Road? Mr. Sparks stated that the line on Sutton Road is the sanitary sewer line and he has had conversations with Ben Wright, Utilities about bringing sewer to his site. Mr. Wolfe asked about this property being contiguous to the Town limits. Planning Director Karagounis stated the property is contiguous to the Belle Crane Inn which is in the Town limits. 1  Mr. Wolfe also asked if this proposed property is in the Fort Mill Southern Bypass Corridor Overlay District (COD-N). Staff responded yes, it is in the COD-N Overlay District and will have to meet all the requirements in the overlay. Mr. Hudgins asked if the proposed residential care facility will be using the existing house. Applicant, Mr. Sparks responded that he would be tearing down the house and building a 5,200 square foot ranch style home. Chairman Traynor asked what the level of care would be? Mr. Sparks stated that it would be a memory care facility with 13 beds, and it would be a step up from an assisted living center. Mr. Lettang asked if special fencing was required around the perimeter? Mr. Sparks responded that a perimeter fence was not required from DHEC. He did say he is looking to designing a courtyard, which the initial design is a partition around the courtyard with a locked gate. Mr. Hudgins asked what is the permitted use that is allowed for this use to be in the General Residential district? Planning Director Karagounis stated the use is classified as a public and private care facility and it is a conditional use in the GR General Residential District. Chairman Traynor asked staff if any adjoining property owners are in the audience? Staff stated there is not. Mr. Hudgins asked if there have been any inquiries about the annexation from adjacent property owners? Director Karagounis stated that two neighbors did visit the Planning Department office and had concerns about the existing house not being suitable to accommodate 13 beds for a residential care facility. Mr. Sparks stated that he had talked to the adjacent neighbors and mentioned to them that he would be tearing down the existing home to accommodate the new residential care facility and he believes he answered their concerns. There was also discussion about if the house was not torn down, if the applicant would be able to build the residential care facility with the existing house. This would be determined by DHEC and it would need to go through a process with the Commercial Appearance Review if the applicant wanted to add on to the existing structure or if he decided to build a new house. Mr. Lettang made a motion to recommend approval of the annexation request and Mr. Petty seconded the motion. The motion was approved 5-0. 2. Commercial Appearance Review: Community Housing, Inc.: Planner Cauthen provided a brief overview of the request, the purpose of which was to review and consider granting commercial appearance review approval for a 915 square foot addition to the Avery Lake Headstart Building located at 100 Lestina Court off of Avery Lake Drive. Planner Cauthen provided a site plan and elevations to the Commissioners as part of the staff report. The Planning Department recommended approval of the request with the condition for staff to 2 be able to approve minor adjustments. Mr. Wolfe asked if the materials will match the existing building. The applicant responded that they will match as close as possible considering it is a 20 year old building. Mr. Wolfe asked for the purpose of the new additional area. The applicant stated it would be primarily for 0-30 month old children. Chairman Traynor conveyed the building will have to follow DHEC requirements and the applicant confirmed they would be subject to DHEC requirements. Chairman Traynor stated the facility seemed like a good and much needed use particularly considering the addition will match the existing building and includes brick veneer. Mr. Wolfe asked if the existing playground will remain the same and the applicant confirmed the playground will not be changed. Mr. Wolfe made a motion to grant commercial appearance review with the condition giving staff the ability to approve minor modifications to the site plan and elevations if needed. Mr. Hudgins seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:47 pm. Respectfully submitted, Penelope G. Karagounis, MA Planning Director October 24, 2019 3