Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

We bought this structure.

When we bought it, it was 20-21-21, something like that. And when we bought it, it was like that. Many people thought we were crazy about restoring it. My husband works in a building and we like the character of Jones Island. We like the historical ideas of the island. So we restored the structure, as you can see. Lui ha mantenuto il più possibile alcune delle porte interne. Quindi la nostra idea qui è di usare questa struttura come ufficio della nostra azienda. Siamo solo noi due e ogni tanto ci danno una mano i nostri figli. Ma vorremmo poter lavorare all'interno di questa struttura usando un computer. Per me... Possediamo un'azienda chiamata Metal Buildings of South Carolina. And all our buildings come from a factory in Texas. They go directly to the construction site. We don't have employees. All the people who work for us are subcontractors. So the only activity we will ask to carry out in this building is a computer administrative work. So we are asking to modify the zoning of this property. At the moment it is a rural residential zoning and we are trying to plan a development in order to be able to work from here. We hope to plan to maintain the rural residential character of the site. As you can see, we like it very much. The property at the moment, these are its current conditions, is 0.954 acres. We have a residential structure of 936 square feet there. We have a structure equipped with 800 square feet that is allowed and we have a container for shipments of 320 square feet that is also allowed. Our condition proposal is a very simple plan. We hope to maintain the residential structure and to use 312 square feet of the building for residential use. Currently we have a family friend who lives there. There is a kitchen, a bathroom and a small bedroom for him and he will stay there. We hope that one day our daughter of university age can also stay there. So it will be residential on 29 square meters and we ask you to allow us to use 59 square meters for administrative use. There will be two computers and a printer, quite simple. We would like to use the current 75 square meters roof for personal use that we already use now. And we are asking to use the current 30 square meters container for some of our tools and things like that. We are asking for the container to be removed in the future because we hope that one day we will be able to expand the residential part if we decide to move in ourselves. so we may have to remove it one day. Finally, we also have this in our plan. In fact, the only thing we are changing compared to these next points is that, based on your needs, we will add a monumental sign illuminated with the name of our company. We will also add that multiple request path in your needs. and we will certainly satisfy all the parking requests that you have in your needs and we will respect the cushion areas of the site. So once again, as I said before, we will continue to use the residential use. We have understood that there are no rents in the short term. It is a long-term family friend or maybe a daughter who lives there, maybe even us, one day. We still ask for a limited impact on the administrative use. We own a metal construction company. The maximum number of employees is three, my husband, me and my daughter sometimes. We work in a very simple way. Many of the activities take place in the premises and I also have an office in my house in Chison Road. So we don't go there very often, but usually from 8 to 4 p.m. In practice, it is only administrative and office activities. And as I said before, all our constructions are carried out by subcontractors and all our materials are delivered to the construction sites. So, as far as construction activities are concerned, there is nothing in the construction site. And here is a photo of our existing and authorized structures. Behind, you can't see from the road. and we are adding these are the few things we are adding and as I said before we will follow all the zldr requirements to satisfy all these passages we have a conceptual plan that we have created that shows the cushion areas shows everything that is necessary to make sure that this is the use we are trying to make and if you have questions on that plan we can answer it is a bit difficult to see here but this is our plan And this is fundamentally the project that satisfies these intentions. So, as I said, we want to continue to use the property and stick to the historical use of the Jones Island territory. We are on the main road, so we know that it is important for everyone to have a borderline panoramic point with the main road, which, if you have passed it and seen my photo, now we do it too. As for public infrastructure, we have talked With all the entities, everyone has been helpful. We are not influencing any type of school road. We are not causing traffic and certainly we are not destroying or damaging large trees. These are some of the agencies with which we have coordinated. We have had success with all of them and we have received letters of coordination. We also met the Council of Jones Island and we held a community workshop on Friday, actually. Actually, we've been trying to do it since 2023, so we held two community workshops because things have fallen apart. I have to say that we had to deal with several people from the county that helped us. We don't have a lawyer or someone to help us. We're doing everything ourselves. We were very grateful to Merce Miller. Let's hope it doesn't go away. Because all those we had went along the way, but she was so patient with our ignorance throughout the project. But we had the involvement of the communities, twice, and everyone around us approves it, they are enthusiastic. That it will not be a commercial project or a McDonald's. It's just a simple plan. And here is our conclusion. Again, maintain the historical and residential character of Jones Island, provide a limited administrative use on a small scale, limit the number of employees on the site, maintain the residential aspect of the property, create minimal impacts, and once again follow all ZLDR requirements to ensure that this happens. And again, I want to thank everyone for their time. As I said, you know, we have been working on this since 2023 and many people have spent time with us here and many questions have been answered on the phone. Patience from you. So thank you for allowing us to share the plan today. And now I have Patrick to help us with urgent questions if you have any.

I would just like to congratulate you. You have done a great job. Really, really a great job.

What do you need three employees if you are there only with a computer? Because you need three employees if you are there only with a computer.

Yes, so I just wrote that the three employees are me, that I am the computer, my husband who comes and goes, but he will also have a computer there. So the reason for this PD is because we are residential. Guys, you can't use the office inside. This is what has been told to me. Now, I was told that if this was my main structure, since this is my secondary structure, technically I can't work outside of there, put a sign, unless you reclassify it.

This is what has been told to me. It is a little more intense than what an occupation would allow.

If it were the main address of your daughter, could you give me the address?

Yes. If it meets all the requirements, no ethical signal, no deposit of, you know, stuff in place outside. And you know, that kind of thing. So, yes.

extreme for a friend.

I don't think you know that there is no real resistance to this, but I don't think so. This is just for...

So, what is the difference between...

I don't think so.

...in the development of the plan.

...to do something else.

So, is it just for this? ...the department... Yes, it's just for this.

...the development of the plan, for this. ...it couldn't have happened otherwise.

Yes, usually we have people who write that any right, this RR, so if it is not developed as an urban development department, they could do anything that is allowed in the RR, allow this option. Indicates that if it is not used for that, then it returns to be residential. Other questions from the Council and the Commission?

A clarification, when you say this, do you mean the specific use of your company or a similar use by other companies?

As I see it, it is for use. So if it is not used, but I imagine that another company should go through this process of changing name or whatever, but I don't know.

I imagine that Marsha can answer this question.

We don't necessarily do it with the name of the company. If it's a company that did exactly what it's doing and wanted to get in there, it would be fine, but it should be exactly the same. Or it should be modified.

It should be modified. Okay.

Well, I don't know. I can ask you, what is the zoning level? Lower. The next zoning level that would lead them to this use without a PDD. What's going on?

Sì, probabilmente in una zona rurale, quindi forse commerciale, rurale.

È significativamente più intensivo di consentire molte cose.

Ecco, questo è uno dei problemi.

So it's not a kind of, I want to say, I'm completely in favor of your project. I just think that from the point of view of where our code is in the ZEDDR we lack, if this is obviously acceptable for everyone in this organization and we don't have a way to do it legally in our code, it means that our code doesn't work for us. So how can we do it?

I agree with this, because I want to say this is a bit unusual. And as I said, if it were his main residence, he could have simply done it as a domestic occupation.

Right. But then how do they get back into the zoning? I mean, I'm just trying to understand.

So they also had to ask for some reduction in the back on both sides, since it is an angle lot. So there are some more specific things about the site that they had to deal with in the PD.

And if you heard Warwick here, he would say, well, we're giving you something for your PDD. What is the public benefit if you do this PDD before that? This is what Warwick would say. He's not here. I'm talking for him, but... Right. I'm just saying that I... And this is the process. Like, I'm just trying to understand where we are as an organism when it comes to these things, because... You could see this happening for every property, right? I have a house, I have a house, I want to do something here, and I write. And I write my PDD. Like, now we have 6,000 PDDs in the county and we don't have a code that works for everyone.

And this is a very different situation. Just a bit of history. They had transferred the entire activity on the property without permits. And so it all started a few years ago, trying to write a PD to deal with the issue. And then they resolved that violation by moving that activity. This is how we got here, because it was a kind of activity, all the effects that were there.

So, It is no longer a violation, because they solved that problem. But these other things that have remained are outside the scope of what the district RR would allow for this site. Is it like a light office?

Is this the use that the underlying PDD would have in the future for everyone?

It could be. Yes, they have a warehouse.

So they classified it as a part as an administrative office, another part as a residential and then they also have the roof. On the back there is also the Connex container, so much of it occupies more area on the ownership of what would normally be allowed with a normal residential unit.

Sandy, can I ask you a question? Talk about a monumental mark, which in my opinion means a great light mark. I am a bird lover. We are about to have 8 million birds at night crossing the coast here and I know that light pollution is a problem everywhere. A monumental light mark makes me nervous. What does it mean?

A monument-style sign is a sign that rests on the ground, not on a pole. We usually require a garden lighting, so it cannot be illuminated internally, as I think you are saying. And then there are rather severe controls on how high they can be. Retracted from the road. So it's not.

There is a time limit in which they have to turn them off at a certain time of night or we do not have this type of lighting regulations.

Requisites, because it would be really difficult for us to respect them.

Well, it would hurt the neighbors first, but... It would be fantastic. Thank you. The birds thank you. No, on itself.

And honestly, the only reason we made the sign of the monumental elevator was that it was in the LDR under it. So we're trying to do everything you ask us. Okay, anything else?

I do. I'm just worried and it's not a personal thing. I'm worried that there is a situation in which some people, a owner, was not in order because he started an activity in a property that was not commercial and then we are looking for a way to go back and I understand that it is what we are trying to do here. And what I feel, right, is that we are trying to find a way to find a solution to the problem that has been created, being in order with the current zoning. And I just have the feeling that this is What would prevent me from starting an activity, getting a permit and saying, oops, sorry? I think I'll pay the fine and then I'll try to figure out how to do a PD to do it. Will you also help me in this case? How will we remain consistent with this process from a legal point of view? It seems confusing to me and I don't believe it at all.

So we often get into application problems because, you know, we go out and find out that someone is doing something without permission, whatever it may be. And our goal is to make things conform. I mean, bringing people to court, getting a sentence does not cancel the violation. This means they have to pay a fine. The violation is still there.

So we are trying to find ways to make people conform.

So, you know, we try to help them in that process, whatever it is, to make them conform, that you have to go, you know, get a permission for that structure or that zoning does not allow what you want to do here. So the options are to move everything or try to reclassify it so that it allows you to do what you are trying to do in this position. This is not the only situation we have to deal with. We deal with it every day, but we try to help people to reach the conformity, whatever the procedure, to get there.

So if I had to subdivide my property without knowing the restrictive clauses that were there before, we would only have to understand how to do things for good. This is the kind of...

Procedure that you should follow to get the approval. So let's hope we'll find out right away. We never received a fine. As soon as we found out, we went straight to the bottom. Like when we demolished a chicken coop that had been there for years. They told us where to free you. Everything they said we did immediately.

And in fact I mean the way in which we are using it and the way in which we ask to use it now, right? It was to enter, sometimes I will help it with some estimates. Usually I'm on the field, I don't stay at least 8 hours. 8 hours a week, right? If you add up all the time that passes. So it would be mainly 16-20 hours a week, right? Yes, our agreement is that as the main residence we could do the same thing, right? so that's what we're just asking to use so if it were our main residence we would use it in the same way we are asking yes it's a bit of my thought why not understand how to make you pass through all these circles and jump between them more slowly when we should simply if I'm a little confused about nothing confusing it's just

The part related to the occupation of the house is, I think, also where the fact that you cannot have a sign is a bit delicate. They could not have any of those storage spaces in place because they are things that make you understand that it is not just someone's house. So if you think about it from this perspective, that is, any domestic occupation, no one around you should know that commercial activities are carried out there. Here, it is there that they had problems with some small things that they wanted to do, in addition to the fact that they do not live there at the moment. Sistemare la situazione in modo che la zonizzazione potesse soddisfare ciò che volevano davvero fare.

Credo che il mio commento al tuo punto sia che non ho problemi con questo utilizzo. Il problema sarebbe. What will happen next? Suddenly you can have an insurance agency with all the effects in this position. Because it's what it seems. Or you can have a legal studio or a commercial studio, you know, all those things and those commercial activities that have a much greater impact than what is proposed here.

So this is my thought. There are limitations on the number of people who can come during

I don't think they have written for the public who can come in.

It would be very limited to the use of the administrative office for three people.

So it would be based on three people? Ok, so if someone had to sell the property and someone else entered, they would have to modify the pod. Number of staff or car or anything else and that would give the staff the possibility to say no, this does not work.

Yes, if they can't meet the parking requirements or something like that.

Well, it's just that it's very interesting that there's almost a clause in the PUD to dissolve it if it's not the same use.

We'll do it for everyone.

Yes, so it should be for all future users. To avoid that confusion in the design. Being on a trip and not wanting to do anything.

A restrictive clause, a PUD, it's more or less like that, right? So, uh... It's back to being rural residential. That's how it's written, and it's valid for any future PUD, that is, it would return to the previous zoning if it was not respected. And then this is valid only if... Like, I imagine wanting to buy a small office for my company and then I see that they have that property, so I want to buy it from them. But the use of my office is a bit different and it would dissolve the point. I imagine that it should emerge during the sales process and then I could potentially find myself in a situation where I might not know it or not fully understand it and I insert my company and then the accountant comes and says oh hey. Okay, so this would be the future process. No, I was just curious. Honestly, it's almost as if I could prepare a pudding that disappears at the sale.

But then how do you evaluate what you are buying as a buyer? So it makes everything very complicated.

Well, I think that fundamentally you are buying that property considering the buddha as a restrictive clause. So those are your conditions of use when you buy it. This is what you are examining. It is right that you are potentially aware of it or not, or that you are fully involved in understanding it. It would be almost easier if the buddhas disappeared from the ring. So you don't have to worry about throwing out all the rest.

Thank you.

And then I would ask if there are members of the public who wish to speak.

I don't think there are members of the public. This seminar is suspended as a memorial to the Commission for Planning and will hold its next meeting regularly scheduled on October 12, 2026 at 2 p.m. here in the Consulate. Suspended. Don't move.

It's a little thing to do. It's fun. Here's a hammer.

They will give me the toilet. And then I don't know. I'm getting something wrong with that portal.