Planners approve Johns Island development

Rejection last month improper, lawyers for city, developer advise commission Charleston's Planning Commission reversed itself and gave preliminary approval this week to a nearly 200-home subdivision at Brownswood and River roads on Johns Island. Lawyers for both the city and the developer had told the commissioners their prior rejection of the plan was improper. The Swygert's Landing subdivision had been voted down by the planners last month despite the city staff's support for the development plan. This week, John Bleecker, a lawyer for the developer, told them to reconsider, saying the law requires approval when a plan meets all the qualifications. "What you've done is, you've thrown out two years of work by my client," Bleecker told the commissioners. "I don't think you really understand it, and that's why you turned it down." Several commissioners objected to Bleecker's tone, which they said was condescending. But he got what his clients wanted after Charleston's deputy corporation counsel, Adelaide Andrews, also told the commission they had no choice but to reconsider. Swygert's Landing is a proposed neo-traditional neighborhood development on 201 acres zoned for conservation, with a variety of housing styles, interior roads, about 50 acres of open space and walking trails, and some mixed-use buildings. While conservation zoning would allow 134 homes, the "neighborhood district" plan supported by the planning staff calls for nearly 200. "We feel the increase in density, which is very modest, is worth the trade-off for better design," said Christopher Morgan, the city's acting planning director. The Planning Commission in October rejected plans for a somewhat similar neo-traditional subdivision on the 1,000-acre Grimball Farms tract on James Island, citing concerns about the more than 300 homes proposed and the traffic that would be generated. Morgan said that in that case, the planners had broader discretion because the Grimball Farms developer needed a zoning change. Swygert's Landing met city zoning requirements and also met the requirements for a "neighborhood district" subdivision, Morgan said. Commission Chairman Francis X. McCann said subdivision approval can't be denied solely because new homes mean more traffic. Neighbors of the Swygert's Landing property who opposed the plan were mostly concerned about traffic, but they particularly disliked the potential for commercial buildings in the subdivision, which they feared could further increase traffic on River Road. "Why do we have to face this?" asked River Road resident Mike Leatherwood. "Why does the city have to force this upon us?" Morgan said that including some mixed-use buildings in a subdivision, such as at the I'On development in Mount Pleasant, can reduce car trips by subdivision residents because they can walk to some stores. Megan Terebus of the Coastal Conservation League also spoke in favor of the plan. "We want to do something that's not your typical dead-end, cul-de-sac development," said Marc Munafo, a Swygert's Landing development partner. At the same meeting, the planning commission gave preliminary subdivision approval for the 39-unit Brownswood Farms development on Johns Island and the 124-townhome Meeting Street Homes subdivision in West Ashley's Grand Oaks.

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