A controversial planning committee recommendation to add 100 attainable housing units at Carolina Park saw the Mount Pleasant Town Council sign off on the project at the governing body’s April 9 public meeting.
After the council’s unanimous approval of an ordinance to create a new attainable housing district on a 12.64-acre parcel off Park Avenue Boulevard, discussion ensued with traffic being a primary focus.
Councilmember G.M. Whitley addressed concerns voiced by community members on the delayed construction of a roundabout structure at Stockdale Street and Park West.
Conflicting reports state that the traffic circle could take anywhere from 18 months to six years to install — as was noted during the public comment portion of the meeting — in the interest of alleviating vehicular congestion.
“We continue to accelerate forward with the project,” said Town Administrator Eric DeMoura in response to Whitley’s remarks. “The element that is unknown is the state of federal permitting ... it could be short, it could be long — we can’t control that. We will proceed as fast as possible to get those permits from those agencies.”
DeMoura also confirmed Whitley’s rising trip count assertions in the event of the developer (Prosperity Builders) pulling out and the land being used as commercial space.
While referencing traffic impact studies, the lawmaker shared that average daily trip counts generated by the 100 proposed townhomes would amount to 720. In comparison, the totals for day care/restaurant/fire emergency station would be 1,858 trips; a medical uses facility would produce 1,608 trips; a nursery/self-storage site would result in 924 trips and a free standing emergency room/clinic would create 1,990 trips.
“The other thing I wanted to address is the interest in some of the emails we received ... is that I want to clarify that this is an entirely private project. Is that correct?,” continued Whitley as DeMoura verified the accuracy of her statement.
The elected official went on to share that the undertaking will not require public tax dollars nor will the Town be asked to provide down payments on the construction venture.
In adding insight to the matter, Mayor Will Haynie stated that delaying the attainable housing project would only increase the possibility of developer Tony Berry walking away from it altogether. Prosperity Builders, he observed, won’t sit and wait for a roundabout to be built before he throws shovels in the dirt.
“And also, we talked about listening to our community. Ten thousand people go to Seacoast (Church), and Seacoast made the decision to sell this for this purpose — because it’s best for our community,” added Haynie.
To that point, the mayor mentioned how allowing a school to set up shop on the property in question would spawn considerably more than the estimated 57 P.M. Peak Hour trips resulting from the housing units.
Council discussion was preceded by residents weighing in on the new housing with a fairly even split between those who were pro and against construction.
The majority of the detractors asked for a delay to ensure that the homes and the roundabout are built concurrently.
Bruce Landsberg was among two of the speakers who argued against the project based on the property’s proximity to the Mount Pleasant Regional-Faison Field Airport. He advised that the zone wasn’t a fit for high-density development based on noise from airplanes flying over people’s roofs.
Supporters, such as Denise Fugo, asked Town Council to carry on with construction without delay in order to “put your people first” in affording teachers, first responders and other essential personnel to the chance to live in a largely economically-prohibitive Mount Pleasant.
Similarly, Councilmember Daniel Brownstein reminded attendees that another opportunity to integrate attainable housing into Mount Pleasant’s residential landscape may not be forthcoming upon delaying or denying the planning committee’s recommendations.
“We have a church that recognizes the value of attainable housing. They’re willing to sell the land to the developer at a reduced price to make the numbers work. And quite simply, if you look throughout our community, there isn’t an abundance of land that’s available at a price that would allow a developer to construct attainable housing without some sort of public subsidy,” imparted Brownstein.
