Pawleys Island, S.C. — Sunbelt Ventures has submitted a revised site plan for the redevelopment of Pawleys Plaza to the Georgetown County Planning Department.
Instead of a new 119,500-square-foot building, which was rejected by the county Planning Commission, Sunbelt is proposing three connected buildings totaling 109,382 square feet.
Sunbelt wants to keep 33,382 square feet of the existing building and construct a 60,000-square-foot building on one side of it and 16,000-square-foot building on the other side. All three structures would sit on the footprint of the existing building where the Tuesday Morning store currently is.
Sunbelt originally planned to tear down the part of the existing building that sits parallel to Petrigru Drive and construct a 9,800-square-foot building. Sunbelt now plans to “recondition” 19,688 square feet of that building. That building would not be attached to the three larger stores.
The revised plan still show a new 9,400-square-foot building at the front of the property along Highway 17, but a new 8,200-square-foot at Highway 17 and Petigru is no longer included. The building that currently holds La Playa restaurant is listed as part of the planned development, but not part of the redevelopment.
Sunbelt originally planned to construct the 119,500-square-foot building behind the current building, on a 5.32-acre parcel it purchased in additional to the 12.45-acre plaza.
The revised plan now shows seven single-family home lots, a swimming pool, and what looks like 12 townhomes or condos on a cul-de-sac. The new plan still calls for an extension of Richardson Lane to reach the housing units.
The state Supreme Court ruled that planned developments must have a mixture of housing types and Sunbelt’s original plans only had single-family homes.
Georgetown County Council Member Bob Anderson, who represents Pawleys Island, was less than enthusiastic about Sunbelt’s new plans.
“They are pretty much the same as the ones I rejected in my last one-on-one with [Sunbelt],” he said.
To Anderson, Sunbelt’s plans show one 109,382-square-foot building, not three smaller buildings.
The Waccamaw Neck Commercial Corridor Overlay Zone allows buildings up to 60,000 square feet.
“I certainly want to work with these folks but the law is the law,” Anderson said.
SueAnn Crawford of Don’t Box the Neck, the group that rallied the opposition to Sunbelt’s original plans, said there wasn’t enough information in the new site plan for her to comment. She’s waiting for an opinion from the county Planning Department, and to see whether County Council sends the plan back to the Planning Commission. Council is scheduled to give second reading to an ordinance authorizing the redevelopment at its Jan. 11 meeting.
“I’m not sure what’s going to come of this,” Crawford said.
Don’t Box the Neck members are looking into whether the overlay ordinance may have been “stretched” in the past, Crawford said.
County Planning Director Boyd Johnson and his staff will be reviewing the plan and writing a report to give to Council at the January meeting.
Johnson said County Council will have to decide whether there is one 109,382-square-foot building, or three smaller buildings. He said he asked five people their opinion and got five different answers.
Whatever Council decides, Johnson said it will set a precedent for Georgetown County.
By Chris Sokoloski
csokoloski@gtowntimes.com
Instead of a new 119,500-square-foot building, which was rejected by the county Planning Commission, Sunbelt is proposing three connected buildings totaling 109,382 square feet.
Sunbelt wants to keep 33,382 square feet of the existing building and construct a 60,000-square-foot building on one side of it and 16,000-square-foot building on the other side. All three structures would sit on the footprint of the existing building where the Tuesday Morning store currently is.
Sunbelt originally planned to tear down the part of the existing building that sits parallel to Petrigru Drive and construct a 9,800-square-foot building. Sunbelt now plans to “recondition” 19,688 square feet of that building. That building would not be attached to the three larger stores.
The revised plan still show a new 9,400-square-foot building at the front of the property along Highway 17, but a new 8,200-square-foot at Highway 17 and Petigru is no longer included. The building that currently holds La Playa restaurant is listed as part of the planned development, but not part of the redevelopment.
Sunbelt originally planned to construct the 119,500-square-foot building behind the current building, on a 5.32-acre parcel it purchased in additional to the 12.45-acre plaza.
The revised plan now shows seven single-family home lots, a swimming pool, and what looks like 12 townhomes or condos on a cul-de-sac. The new plan still calls for an extension of Richardson Lane to reach the housing units.
The state Supreme Court ruled that planned developments must have a mixture of housing types and Sunbelt’s original plans only had single-family homes.
Georgetown County Council Member Bob Anderson, who represents Pawleys Island, was less than enthusiastic about Sunbelt’s new plans.
“They are pretty much the same as the ones I rejected in my last one-on-one with [Sunbelt],” he said.
To Anderson, Sunbelt’s plans show one 109,382-square-foot building, not three smaller buildings.
The Waccamaw Neck Commercial Corridor Overlay Zone allows buildings up to 60,000 square feet.
“I certainly want to work with these folks but the law is the law,” Anderson said.
SueAnn Crawford of Don’t Box the Neck, the group that rallied the opposition to Sunbelt’s original plans, said there wasn’t enough information in the new site plan for her to comment. She’s waiting for an opinion from the county Planning Department, and to see whether County Council sends the plan back to the Planning Commission. Council is scheduled to give second reading to an ordinance authorizing the redevelopment at its Jan. 11 meeting.
“I’m not sure what’s going to come of this,” Crawford said.
Don’t Box the Neck members are looking into whether the overlay ordinance may have been “stretched” in the past, Crawford said.
County Planning Director Boyd Johnson and his staff will be reviewing the plan and writing a report to give to Council at the January meeting.
Johnson said County Council will have to decide whether there is one 109,382-square-foot building, or three smaller buildings. He said he asked five people their opinion and got five different answers.
Whatever Council decides, Johnson said it will set a precedent for Georgetown County.
By Chris Sokoloski
csokoloski@gtowntimes.com
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