Board of Zoning Appeals - Special Meeting

All right.

Okay. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the town of Lexon Board of Zoning Appeals Meeting. This board is comprised of town citizens. We are appointed by town council and we serve without pay. We are legal board operating under the comprehensive planning act of the state of South Carolina. Although this meeting may not seem as formal as a hearing in court, all statements must still be true, factual, and not made in a manner to mislead us. Please understand that if we make our we must make our decisions within the parameters of state law. State law requires us to grant a variance if and only if we find that each of the following four statements are true. Number one, there are extraordinary and exceptional conditions pertaining to a particular piece of property in question because of its size, shape, or topography. Number two, these conditions do not generally apply to other property in the vicinity. Number three, because these conditions because of these conditions, the application of the ordinance to a particular piece of property would effectively prohibit or unreasonably restrict the utilization of the property. Number four, the authorization of the variance will not be of sub substantial detriment to adjacent property or the public good, and the character of the district will not be harmed by granting the variance. Moreover, state law prohibits us from granting a variance simply because the property could be used more profitably if the variance were granted. We are not concerned with the use of the property. Use of the property is determined by others. We ask that you please confine your remarks to the issues at hand should we make a decision you believe is incorrect. You may appeal our decision to the circuit court within a certain time within certain time limits by state law. In cases such as that an appeal is made, it is important that the circuit court know who testified at this meeting. Please sign the sign signin sheet and identify yourself before speaking. Call the meeting to order. Before we start, I'd like to make an announcement. Um, for the record, I'd like to state

that Don Don Weatherly, formerly of this board, has uh resigned her position due to the fact she's recently been appointed to the Columbia Metropolitan Airport Commission. We appreciate her service to this community and to this board. With that being said, uh old business Jessica.

Um on February 1st, 2024, the board approved variance 2023-8. That's an error on my part. Um from section 154.05.10J. 10J of the land development ordinance conditioned upon the applicant storage units of Lexington LLC completing engineering permitting and right-of-way acquisition for a planned right turn lane as an alternative transportation improvement um and that ordinance was in regards to connectivity. Since the approval, the town is considering plans for a larger transportation improvement at this intersection. Because of this larger scale improvement, the original condition requiring the applicant to provide engineering and permitting services is no longer relevant. The applicant is requesting the board to consider revising the conditions of the variance to reflect this change. Specifically, it may be appropriate to modify the condition to require the applicant to obtain and convey any additional rightway needed to complete the town's future project in lie of the prior engineering and permitting requirement. All righty. So, do we need to hear from the applicant on this?

They're here if they would like to speak. Good day. I'm Tom Britt representing the applicant. Um, I spoke before you last year on this. Uh Todd Lucas who was also here last time fully intended to be here but he's been homesick for the last three days and couldn't glad he stayed home

from Florida. So um I think uh Jessica uh explained the details of the situation. The the project has changed um the rightway acquisition. We basically were um asked to acquire uh approximately 136 ft of frontage on Sunset Boulevard and now it's 266 or it's almost doubled. Um project formulation has also changed in that uh the engineering and uh permitting that we would do that we agreed to do wouldn't be meaningless. And uh so we're we're we're asking that uh those two elements be uh uh taken away from the original agreement or or whatever the process is like the original be modified to only include land acquisition. Um and surveying also because um that's associated with it. Um the the the net the net gain to the town is very significant. the value of engineering and perming was far less than the the additional cost of the additional land acquisition. So, we think this is a uh uh a positive for the town. Uh we ask that you approve the the request.

Okay. Any questions for the applicant? No. Anyone here to speak against or for this change? Randy, do you have anything you'd like to share? And for the record, just state your position as well.

Randy Edwards, director of transportation, town of election. So, just for clarity, the original approval, I guess, from this body was based upon what we refer to as um local transportation improvement project number, and I honestly don't remember the number, but it was at the Hope Fairy intersection identifying the need for a right turn lane. Um since then we've begun the process of developing a local transportation improvement plan second edition um which has identified that the original project was not going to really do a lot. And so with this after speaking with the uh land owner, it was discussed as to the options to actually be able to obtain the additional land. Um, and so that's where the the genesis of how this all came to be to where it didn't make much sense to finish the engineering permitting for a project that essentially we wouldn't build. Um, and so this will position us to actually move forward on that piece when funds are identified and made available.

Any questions for Randy? No. Thank you, Randy. So, uh, do I have a motion to for the amendment? Correct. Yes. Yeah. So, you would make a mo if you're in favor of that or want to to amend.

Yeah. So, I'd like to make a motion to replace the conditional statement of variance 2023-8 with the following. The variance is conditioned on the applicant obtaining and conveying any additional right ofway and performing any surveying needed to complete the town's future transportation projects at this intersection. Further, the approval of the ovarian will expire should there be a change of ownership or usage on the adjacent property. Do we need to identify an expiration, a time frame? Okay. Is that I wouldn't think so. No, I get that. Is this Is that a good Is that Okay. Do I have a second?

I'll second. All right. Roll call vote, please. Ron Fisher, yes to the motion. Yes to the motion. Justin Brown. Yes to the motion. The amendment is passed. Thank you. Have a good weekend. Um, do we have a motion to approve minutes from our meeting? April. Is it April? April 2nd. Yep. Make a motion to approve the minutes as written. Second. I'll second. All in favor say I. I. I. I. Any news from the town or from excuse me from from staff that I need to be aware of?

No, sir. No August meeting we discussed earlier but we will have two at least two items for September. Correct. And that we is the fourth. September the 4th. Yes. Correct. Cool. Cool. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? I'll make a motion. All in favor? I thank