Sandy Run housing plans advance

Calhoun County Council voted 3-2 to give first reading by title only to the developer’s plans.

Council Chairman James Haigler, who voted with the majority, said he voted for the betterment of all Calhoun County.

“We don’t need to be divided,” he said. “We can’t just divide ourselves all up and say we’ve got this little group here. We will never survive.

“We are competing with big counties all around us: Orangeburg, Lexington, Richland, Sumter. There are certain things we have to do if we are going to survive.”

Voting in favor of first reading were Haigler, Council Vice Chair Ken Westbury and Councilman Cecil Thornton. Voting against were Councilman John Nelson, who represents Sandy Run, and newly elected Councilman Richard Carson.

The matter still requires two more readings before becoming final.

Calhoun County Council Chambers were filled Monday as Sandy Run residents continued to speak against the proposed housing development.

Over 700 individuals in the area have signed a petition in opposition to the zoning change that would allow the development.

Three years ago the county and residents collaborated on a zoning plan – the Sandy Run Area Plan – that was unanimously approved by Calhoun County Council.

One part of the plan stipulates that one house can be built on two acres in rural neighborhood districts. The planned development would have smaller lots if the zoning change is approved.

Susanne Wolfe, who’s lived in Calhoun County for 30 years, cited the Sandy Run Area plan.

“It was said innumerable times that these ordinances needed to be put in place to prevent overgrowth and to protect Calhoun County from allowing developers to build congested housing and change the character of our community,” she said.

“If the front end of the plan is allowed to change and we change all of those numbers for one piece – ten parcels, 20 parcels – what happens to back end of the plan speaking of infrastructure?” Wolfe continued. “Are we going to ignore the results of the change and just deal with the problems as they come up or are we going to have to go through the whole planning process again and revamp the plan and start from square one?”

Several others spoke against the project, including its potential impact on crime, taxes, emergency services and natural resources.

Others spoke about the desire to keep the rural nature of the community and expressed concerns that Sandy Run could become like Lexington or Harbison – congested and full of traffic. Others requested a traffic study be done before the project is approved.

A young boy by the name of Logan Jeffcoat spoke, saying he likes to play in Calhoun County.

“When I grow up to have kids, I want them to be have places where they can run and play like I do,” he said, to the applause of those in attendance.

Renae Nelson said she grew up in Tennessee, but moved to Elgin because it was in the country and secluded. She then moved to Sandy Run as an adult for the same reason.

She said Sandy Run “reminds me of home,” where she was surrounded by farms.

“There are people who like the country and that is why we live there, to get away from all that,” she said. “When I moved, I said I would never move again. I don’t want to have to move again.”

Sonya Parnell says she has lived in Sandy Run for 60 years and asked council members if they would like such a development to locate next to them.

“Put yourselves in our shoes,” she said. “Would you like this to be happening right beside you?

“We don’t want Sandy Run to turn into Lexington County.”

Prior to the vote, John Nelson gave an overview of the $130,000 Sandy Run Area Plan that was approved unanimously by council three years ago.

He noted many public meetings were held, with residents ultimately giving up their own property rights to keep the area rural.

“Here we are today talking about rezoning or amendment or whatever you want to call it that will basically violate or change the nature of that very fresh decision just within the last three years,” he said. “That was not something done 30 years ago. It was very recent because we saw it coming.”

“All those things they signed up and said they could not do on their property now someone who does not live where we live is coming in saying we want an amendment to be able to that,” Nelson continued.

He said it’s important to honor the wishes of people who live in an area.

Nelson’s comments received a round of applause and some gave a standing ovation.

Haigler, who lives in St. Matthews, says he does look at individual communities.

For example, he noted he supported the Sandy Run community’s getting a ladder truck through the capital projects sales tax.

“I think we’ve got to support this whole county,” Haigler said. “This council here is responsible for this county.”

Haigler said even though the county Planning Commission voted against the rezoning of the property, the county has “information they probably don’t even have.”

“We get everything, we hear everything,” he said. “We hear from the whole county.”

Gateway One Development wants to have property on Old Sandy Run Road rezoned to allow for the development.

Initially, Gateway had requested the construction of about 304 homes on the property. The Calhoun County Planning Commission unanimously denied that in June.

In July, the Planning Commission unanimously denied the developer’s request to proceed with a less dense plan to develop the property.

The developer wants to build Sandy Run Crossing over two phases. The first phase would include 85 houses and the second phase would include 85 houses. Lot sizes would be 70 feet wide and 120 feet deep.

The developer is asking the county to rezone approximately 131 acres of Old Sandy Run Road property from rural neighborhood, industrial and community commercial to planned-use district for the project.

Calhoun County landowner Josh Rabon has previously said the residential portion of the development is not in a flood plain as publicly stated by The South Carolina Environmental Law Project. Rabon is a managing partner at Civil Engineering of Columbia who is helping develop the property.

About 60% of the property is currently zoned rural neighborhood and the rest is zoned commercial and industrial.

Rabon has noted that commercial and industrial entities have “much deeper pockets” and that leaving the zoning as-is would be a greater detriment to the Sandy Run community than the development plans as proposed.

Rabon also claimed “the proposed PUD will generate about 41% less traffic than if it were fully developed with the industrial, commercial and rural neighborhood (zoning) there today.”