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Tag: Red Gate

  • Rezoning recommended for former Red Gate property

    BLYTHEWOOD- After hearing from the property owner and town staff, the Blythewood Planning Commission unanimously approved a recommendation Monday for rezoning of the former Red Gate property near downtown Blythewood.

    Their recommendation for the 140-acre site, which sits along Blythewood Rd., between Muller and Syrup Mill roads, is to rezone approximately 60 acres of road frontage property to town center, a designation that allows for a variety of commercial uses but with a lot of restrictions. The remainder would be zoned rural, which is reflective of its current use.

    If approved by the Blythewood Town Council, the rezoning could effectively create a separate town center on the west side of Interstate 77 from the current town center, and increase the total area with the Town Center zoning designation in Blythewood by approximately 13 percent.

    “That’s progress driven by population and many, many other factors,” said Planning Commission Vice-Chairman Malcolm Gordge who is a longtime proponent of commercial zoning in both the town center and in the rural areas outside the town.

    “Don’t forget when the town first started it was only one-quarter of a square mile, so it’s increased many, many, many times, and I think the town council understands and knows that you can’t stop growth. I think this is perfectly in line with their expectations, so long as it’s managed and controlled.”

    The zoning of the property in question has an interesting history. Back in 2007, when it was still part of Richland County, the site was given a planned development designation, which was created for mixed-use development projects.

    An important aspect of planned development zoning is that it’s tied to a specific development plan, and in this case the plan proposed by a developer was to build more than 500 homes, a mixture of single-family and multi-family, along with approximately 36 acres of commercial development.

    Several years later, another developer proposed a similar project. But, like the first one, it was never developed.

    While the current zoning ordinance requires the town to rezone such property if an approved development doesn’t take place within two years, that process was not formally initiated until last fall.

    That process began in the midst of a residential development boom in Blythewood that has left many residents concerned about the fast pace of growth and the inability of current infrastructure to support it.

    Coincidentally, the property changed hands around the same time, leading to some controversy about the proposed rezoning of the property to D-1, a general zoning designation for large parcels on the fringe of urban growth where the character of development has not yet been determined.

    The planning commission was then instructed to meet with the property owner to come up with a rezoning plan that eliminated the planned development district but gave the property a zoning designation which the new owner could support, while also being consistent with town planning documents.

    Monday night’s recommendation by the planning commission was the result of this process.

    At Monday’s meeting, members of the Dinkins family, who now own the land, were asked to share their thoughts about its potential future development.

    Marshall Dinkins, who has spoken previously for the family during the process, said there is no specific development plan in the works. Understanding what the zoning will be and what type of development the town will allow and consider favorable, he said, will play a role in what sort of plans are considered going forward.

    “There have not been any plans made at all on development,” he said. “We’re riding four-wheelers on it. That’s all we’re doing right this second.”

    His father, Byron Dinkins, said most likely his children will oversee the land’s development – but his vision for the property would include a site for something that benefits the whole community, such as a new medical center.

    “Right now, with everything going on,” he said, “houses and apartments and all that are totally out.”

    Blythewood Planning Commission Chairman Rich Mckenrick said that, all things considered, the planning commission’s recommended zoning is a good resolution to the issue.

    “[If this is approved by the town council] you would not and could not build 232 single-family homes, and you could not build 300 apartments. This zoning would prohibit that,” Mckenrick said.

    “I really don’t think any developer could’ve gone in there now and tried to act on the planned development without some kind of significant pushback from the town and probably some kind of litigation for how long that development [plan] sat there,” he said.

    “In the end, is it perfect? I don’t think anything is ever perfect, but I think it’s a step in the right direction if you’re going to curb single-family development along the Blythewood Road corridor, and you put a lot of responsibility back on the town with that town center development [zoning].”

  • BTC gives Red Gate reprieve on zoning

    BLYTHEWOOD – The rezoning of the Red Gate Farms property, a large undeveloped parcel near the heart of town, will go back to the planning commission Monday night after a convoluted vote by the Blythewood Town Council.

    The reason was to allow time for the new owners of the property, who purchased it in June, to come up with a plan and request zoning consistent with their plans to develop it.

    The land, roughly 143 acres on Blythewood Road, between Muller and Syrup Mill roads, is currently designated as a PD (Planned Development) district, a site-specific zoning designation for mixed-use developments.

    It’s been that way for more than a decade after a developer had designed a mixed-use project to include 232 houses, 300 apartment units, and 36 acres of commercial development, but never moved forward with construction.

    Town officials noted during the meeting that any development other than the original mixed-use plan would require rezoning.

    At its Sept. 3 meeting, the Blythewood Planning Commission voted to recommend rezoning of the property to D-1, a zoning designation for large parcels on the fringe of urban growth where the character of development has not yet been determined.

    The commission was acting on a town ordinance that requires rezoning to be initiated when projects with PD zoning do not move forward after two years. The Town officials did not appear to be aware at that time that the property, which was owned by Arthur State Bank for several years, had recently changed hands.

    “A rezoning of this property has been discussed ad nauseum over the past 2-3 years,” said Town Council Member Donald Brock, a former planning commission chairman who recalled some of the meetings leading up to the commission’s recent recommendation.

    During a public hearing on the rezoning at Monday’s town council meeting, town resident Marshall Dinkins spoke on behalf of the property owners, his parents, Byron and Susan Dinkins, asking that council defer the vote for 90 days to allow them to decide how they wanted to develop the property.

    Dinkins suggested the family might want to rezone the frontage along Blythewood Road as commercial and the rear of the property D-1.

    Town Councilman Eddie Baughman expressed support for the Dinkins family’s request, citing their history as longtime residents of Blythewood.

    “I think the Dinkins have always been fine businesspeople in this town, always cared about this town,” Baughman said. “I think we need to work with them.”

    Mayor Bryan Franklin agreed with Baughman.

    Brock argued that, nonetheless, rezoning to D-1 would put the property in an appropriate holding pattern and establish a “clean slate” upon which to make a plan for rezoning. This, he said, would be preferable to leaving a long-defunct mixed-use development plan sitting on the books.

    He assured the Dinkins family that, despite the coincidental timing, the rezoning was not personal – and the intent of an approval of D-1 was for them to come back before the planning commission with a fresh plan and a fresh zoning request of their town.

    Town administrator interjected that if the Town voted to rezone the property to D-1 as recommended by the Commission, that it would take a  couple of for a second reading and then for the Dinkins to come back to the planning commission for a new zoning designation. If they denied the recommendation to rezone to D-1, the family could apply to the commission next month (or the next) for the zoning they want and move on, then for a decision of the town council, saving them two to three months of time to be rezoned.

    Mayor Bryan Franklin, noting Cook’s timeline involved with rezoning to D-1, agreed that it would delay the opportunity for the Dinkins family to work with the planning commission, requiring them to wait months through the process before their work could begin.

    “What we’re talking about is saving time,” he said, insisting that rezoning to D-1 is not necessary to create a “clean slate,” which can instead be accomplished with a rezoning request initiated by the Dinkins family based on how they’d like to develop the land.

    The council voted 4-1 to deny the rezoning recommended by the planning commission, indicating an expectation that the Dinkins family would work with the planning commission on a new rezoning request. Brock voted against.

  • PC votes for council to rezone Red Gate

    BLYTHEWOOD – As was expected, the Blythewood planning commission voted 5-0 Tuesday evening to recommend that Town Council rezone the Red Gate property and a smaller adjoining property from Planned Development (PD) zoning designation to Development (D-1) zoning.

    But the properties’ owners, who sat in the audience during the commission’s proceedings, say they are not happy with the commission’s recommendation, and that it will keep them from developing their properties as they had planned.

    The rezoning of the 143-acre property has been discussed by Blythewood town government for the last couple of years. Annexed into the town in 2007 from Richland County where it had been zoned Planned Development District (PDD), the property was subsequently zoned PD by the Town. Before it could be developed, however, the property went through several transitions. After the larger parcel (Red Gate) went into bankruptcy, its ownership was assumed by Arthur State Bank. It was purchased last month by Blythewood resident Byron Dinkins.

    The 2.41-acre corner parcel was purchased by Larry Sharpe, who said he had planned to construct a service station and convenience store on the property.

    “I don’t know what’s been going on over the years. It seems like it’s always one thing or the other,” Sharpe told the commission.

    “At first, Winnsboro couldn’t supply us with water. Now we don’t have the sewer. We’re trying now to work with DOT (SC Department of Transportation). The curb cuts have already been approved, but they can’t tell us exactly where the new road is going to be,” Sharpe said. “I’ve already cleared the property and brought it up to subgrade and built a detention pond off site according to the recommendation of the engineers. Everything is approved on that site, except we still don’t have sewer. That’s the only thing that’s actually holding us back – that and the DOT recommendations. So, if those things were in place, I would be ready to move forward.

    “I would like to see the zoning stay as it is, because the property is already predesigned for that use,” Sharpe said.

    But the Town of Blythewood code of ordinances places a time-specific condition upon the established PD zoning district, with a mandate for the planning commission to initiate a rezoning under certain circumstances. The commission determined at its Aug. 3 meeting that the Red Gate property fails under those ‘certain circumstances,’

    Town Administrator Brian Cook confirmed that if the zoning were changed to D-1, and Sharpe planned to construct the service station and convenience store, he would have to apply to rezone that corner parcel.

    Dinkins attended the meeting with commercial real estate broker Tom Milliken, who told The Voice following the meeting that Dinkins had purchased the property with the intent of developing it according to the original PD plans, and that the rezoning to D-1 would make it impossible for him to do that.

    The original PD zoned property was to be comprised of 232 single family units, 300 multi-family apartment units and 36 acres of general commercial.

    The D-1 zoning designation provides for large tracts of land located primarily on the fringe of urban growth where the predominant character of urban development as not yet been fully established, but is predominately residential or agricultural with scattered related uses.

    Council will met at 7 p.m., Monday, Sept. 28, at Doko Manor for the first of two votes on the zoning fate of Red Gate.

  • PC begins process to rezone Red Gate

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood Planning Commission has begun the process to rezone a 143-acre undeveloped site across the interstate from downtown after developers failed to initiate construction of a planned mixed-use development.

    The large wooded site, which is known as Red Gate Farms, sits on Blythewood Road between Syrup Mill and Muller Roads. It lies across Syrup Mill Road from Cobblestone; across Muller Road from Muller Road Middle School and across Blythewood Road from Fairfield Electric Cooperative.

    The property is currently zoned PD (Planned Development), the town’s site-specific zoning designation for planned or mixed-use development.

    It was given that classification years ago, explained Town Administrator Brian Cook, after a developer presented a plan for a mixed-use development that was to include 233 single-family homes, 300 apartments, and 36 acres of commercial development.

    The zoning for this property has been on the books since the town annexed it in the mid-2000s, Cook said, but the project – and other, subsequent proposed variations – never occurred. According to county records, the bulk of the land is now owned by Arthur State Bank.

    In its Monday night meeting, the Blythewood Planning Commission discussed rezoning the property based on a provision in the town’s zoning ordinance that mandates rezoning when a project with the PD classification fails to progress within two years.

    After some discussion, the commission voted unanimously to direct town staff to craft a proposal to rezone the property to D-1, a development district designed for large tracts of land on the fringe of the town’s developed core.

    “It puts the power back in our hands, especially since we don’t know what the uses are going to be for this particular parcel of land,” said Planning Commission Member Dereck Pugh, speaking in favor of classifying the property as D-1. “It will give us the opportunity to review it again once the [future] developer puts in the application.”

    Cook said the commission discussed the issue of this property in 2018 and again in early 2019, when a new proposal for a zoning amendment and lower-density development was made but never moved forward.

    “The applicant withdrew the application before town council could take a vote on the proposed project,” Cook said, “and it stands today with nothing happening on the property from a permitting or development standpoint.”

    The D-1 zoning classification, Cook said, is a kind of holding pattern for land that’s likely to be developed in the future, allowing for uses like single-family residential, parks and recreation, and religious or government buildings, but requiring zoning approval for more intense types of development.

    “The district is intended to provide for large tracts of land located primarily on the fringe of urban growth where the predominant character of urban development has not yet been fully established, but where the current characteristics of use are predominately residential or agricultural with scattered related uses,” according to the town’s zoning ordinance.

    “It is further recognized that future demand for development will generate requests for amendments in zoning designations to remove land from the D-1 classification and place it into other more intensely developed classifications as a natural consequence of urban expansion,” the ordinance states.

    Planning Commission Chairman Rich McKenrick said intentions are to hold next month’s meeting in person with social distancing measures in place with the option to participate via Zoom for commissioners and members of the public who are uncomfortable attending in person, with social distancing measures in place with the option to participate via Zoom for commissioners and members of the public who are uncomfortable attending in person. The current property owners will be informed of the meeting and invited to speak.

    Cook said the town is currently undergoing a technology upgrade that should make it possible to facilitate this plan from a technical standpoint.

    “We should’ve done something about this long ago,” said McKenrick of the need to address the zoning at Red Gate, referring to the property as a “golden nugget” on the edge of town. “The PD has sat out there for way too long and is probably more dense than we would even want to approve at this point.”

    Cook said there is no rush to complete the rezoning, and the town will follow the process required.

    “I think that D-1 probably brings it back to the intent of the master plan and comprehensive plan,” said commissioner Malcolm Gordge.

    “Let’s hear what the immediate property owners have to say about that,” Gordge said, “as well as the residents of the town.”

  • Council sends Red Gate back to PC

    BLYTHEWOOD – Approximately 60 residents filled the Blythewood Town Council chambers Monday night in Doko Manor to protest myriad aspects of a proposed rezoning of 143 acres, referred to as the Red Gate property, located along Blythewood Road between Syrup Mill and Muller Roads. The property lies across Syrup Mill Road from Cobblestone Park and in an area of horse farms and large acre residential properties.

    The rezoning was recommended to Town Council for approval by the Planning Commission on June 3.

    Originally zoned PDD (Planned Development District) in 2007 under the jurisdiction of Richland County, the property was subsequently annexed into the Town of Blythewood as a PD (Planned Development) zoning designation. That PD, which is still in place, allows for 232 single family units, 300 multi-family apartment units and 36 acres of general commercial.

    Before it was developed, the property went into foreclosure, and is currently owned by Arthur State Bank. Hoping to now develop the property, developer Harold Pickrel has requested an amendment to the property’s current zoning map that would actually reduce the density – from 232 to 138 single family homes, from 36 to 28 acres of commercial use and eliminate the 300 multi-family dwellings.

    But even that density seemed, Monday evening, to be a world away from what surrounding rural residents said they feel is appropriate for the area.

    Fifteen of those neighbors attending the meeting came to the microphone to ask council to send the rezoning request back to the planning commission for a re-do that would be more in character with rural properties in the area. In general, they called for ‘smart planning’ that would better transition the housing development to the rural area around it. Specifically, they asked for minimum 20,000 square foot lots, thus reducing the housing density further than 138 homes. They also asked for the addition of buffering around the development to protect the privacy of the surrounding properties.

    George Walker

    “We’ve been blessed with [large acre neighborhoods] like Surrey Woods, High View Farms, Camry Farms, Birch Springs and Center Creek that value trees and set the stage to create the kind of environment that makes people want to keep coming back,” Persimmon Fork Road farm owner George Walker said, addressing council.

    “We aren’t opposed to development and we appreciate that this developer has already made concessions in regard to multi-family units,” Walker said. “We aren’t trying to drive him [Pickrel] away, but we are trying to come up with a plan that is farsighted and works for everybody.”

    Walker reminded council that they had set a 20,000 square-foot minimum on lots in the town, and he urged them to honor that in the PD as well.

    “Backing homes on 10,000 square-foot lots up to a property that the town annexed under a Rural (RU) designation is overly aggressive,” Walker said.

    Another Persimmon Fork resident, Attorney Stuart Andrews, said he counted 15 areas of discretion in the project that are open to the developer.

    “He could make modifications on the plans that are presented with regard to boundaries and actually in changing the density of houses without any input from town council, the planner or the community,” Andrews said. “I suggest having a thorough study of this proposal before the plans are adopted, and then have the plan and the rezoning meet [requirements] that would be consistent with the rural character of the community.”

    John Moore, a resident of Cobblestone Park and a former planning commissioner, said the plan was one of the poorest he had seen.

    “There’s no mention of price points or the homes’ square footage,” Moore said. “Why are the 10,000 square foot lots even in this document?” Moore asked. “There should be a traffic study before the development is approved and it should be conducted during the school year when school is in session,” he said.

    Rue, who owns a horse farm in the area, asked council to protect her “little slice of heaven.”

    Mayor J. Michael Ross defended the planning commissioners’ decision to recommend approval of Pickrel’s rezoning request, noting that the current zoning allowing 232 homes, 36 acres of commercial and 300 apartment units could be built today without town council’s consent.

    “The commissioners probably thought they were doing a pretty doggone good thing to get the 300 apartments taken out and get some 20,000 square foot lots,” Ross said. He also said he empathized with the residents.

    “I thank all of you for coming, and I hear your passion,” Ross told the crowd, “and I understand it. I’m just like you. I used to live on Dennis Lane. So if I was there now and this [development] was coming in, I would be one of you sitting out there, too. But this land has been there since 2007, and it has been zoned so that if [a developer] came in, he could build on 5,000 and 8,000 square-foot lots. That’s what’s approved right now,” Ross said. “So there is a risk that if somebody else came in here and wanted to develop this property as it is now, then that is how it is zoned. This requested zoning is a new PD. The old PD that was established in 2007 is still on the books,” he added.

    “That being said, we don’t want that either, so we hear you. I do think a lot of the things you said are very important – a traffic study before action is taken, traffic and other safety issues,” Ross said.

    Council voted unanimously to send the rezoning request back to the planning commission for reconsideration.

  • Red Gate developer moves forward

    BLYTHEWOOD – The Blythewood Planning Commission is expecting to see major amendments next month to a proposed development plan for two parcels on Blythewood Road (between Syrup Mill Road and Muller Road) that are facing a rezoning by the Commission that their developer and owner do not want.

    The Red Gate properties are presently zoned as a Planned Development District (PDD). Because the properties have been dormant for the past ten years, however, the Commission has the option, under its zoning ordinance, to revert the PDD zoning back to Rural.

    The property is owned by Arthur State Bank, and attorney Bob Fuller told the Commission last month that development had been on hold for the past decade because of a lack of access to utilities and infrastructure needs in that area, and that the bank had been unable to sell the properties for that reason.

    Reverting the zoning back to Rural, Fuller said at the December Planning Commission meeting, would have been a “terrible blow.”

    Blythewood town administrator Brian Cook updated the commission Monday night on what he expects the developer’s/owner’s planned changes for the area might be. Among possible amendments are the removal of an apartment complex that was included in the PDD zoning.

    He also said the developer has expressed a desire to cooperate with those restrictions.

    “We do not know exactly what they will propose as of yet,” Cook said. “Less density was discussed, but a potential purchaser is reviewing the development options and will be working with town leaders on any future development.”

    On Monday, Cook told the commission that the issue regarding utility and infrastructure access appeared to have been resolved.

    “There does appear to be a transaction in process to at least get something started,” Cook stated. “Whether they want to stick with the Planned Development District or go to another will be a conversation we will have to have, but there is some activity.

    “They are [working on] an amendment that materially affects the characteristics of the plan,” Cook said.

    Once the amendments are determined, Cook said the development will essentially “start back from scratch,” returning to the planning commission for approval of the site plans.

    The owner and developer must submit new plans before the commission can make further decisions on the matter.

    Cook said the timeframe for that may be sooner rather than later.

    “This developer is, I think, on a pretty aggressive timeframe to get something started,” Cook said.

    Cook said the proposed Red Gate plans no longer include property owned by Sharpe Properties. While the zoning is the same, he said he expects Sharpe to seek commercial development at that location at a later time.

  • Lawsuit Aims New Accusations at Council’s Garrison

    Town Hall: Meeting Recordings Destroyed in Computer Crash

    South Capital Group, Inc., has amended accusations it made in a $10 million lawsuit it filed on Dec. 19, 2011 against the Town of Blythewood, Town Councilman Ed Garrison and Crescent Hills and/or Crescent Partners, two companies the suit alleges were formed by Garrison.

    The original complaint accused the defendants of civil conspiracy, tortuous interference with a contract and negligence involving 142.95 acres, known as Red Gate, that South Capital owned on Blythewood Road between Muller and Syrup Mill roads.

    The amended complaint alleges that Councilman Ed Garrison was a member of the Town Council at the time it voted to rezone the Red Gate property from a Planned Development District zoning designation to Rural zoning and that it did so without  South Capital Group’s knowledge.

    The new complaint further alleges that Garrison, who is a real estate agent and developer,  voted to rezone the property to Rural without disclosing his interest and the interest of his companies (Crescent Hills and/or Crescent Partners), in developing the property.

    It was reported in the July 8, 2010 issue of The Voice that Garrison failed to recuse himself from voting on the Red Gate property at both the first (Feb. 22, 2010) and second (March 29, 2010) readings to change the zoning of the property to Rural.

    While the town clerk records regular town council meetings, The Voice has learned that the recordings for these meetings are no longer available from Town Hall because a computer crashed the month following the second of the two meetings and the recordings were destroyed in the crash.

    Among South Capital’s original allegations are that, in or around April, 2010, unbeknownst to South Capital Group, Inc., the Town sent a letter to Garrison and Crescent Hills and/or Crescent Partners regarding a partnership between them to include development of the Red Gate property.

    The suit alleges that the defendants and others entered into an agreement to harm South Capital Group, Inc., by taking various steps to defeat their ability to utilize their property for commercial purposes, and therefore depriving them of income and profits.

    The suit also alleges that:

    • The defendants delayed and circumvented South Capital, Inc.’s efforts to have the property zoned in accordance with representations made to them before and after the annexation.

    • The Town zoned the Red Gate property in a manner inconsistent with the Town’s comprehensive and master plan for development within the Town limits.

    • The defendants committed these conspiratorial acts for the benefit of the project proposed by Garrison and Crescent Hills and/or Crescent Partners, among and including the other alleged coconspirators, and to further the Town’s alleged partnership with Crescent Hills and/or Crescent Partners.

    The property is now bankrupt and is owned by Arthur State Bank in Lexington. According to the agent handling the property, the bank acquired the property from the bankruptcy on Dec. 1, 2010.

    The case has been remanded from Richland County Court of Common Pleas to the District Court of South Carolina.