BLYTHEWOOD – Developer Hugh A Palmer will be back before the Richland County Planning Commission on Oct. 2, to request commercial zoning on Rimer Pond Road. The request is for the 5.23-acre parcel at the intersection of Rimer Pond Road and Longtown Road West, across from Blythewood Middle School. Palmer is asking the County to rezone the property from Medium Residential zoning (RS-MD) to Neighborhood Commercial (NC) zoning.
Palmer has requested other commercial zoning for the property three times in the last three years, sometimes facing hundreds of residents in opposition, including Blythewood Mayor J. Michael Ross. In June of 2015, Palmer withdrew the request when he did not have the votes on Council. Later that year, in November, Council denied the request with a 5-5 tie vote. The third loss came Feb. 28, 2017, with Palmer receiving only one vote from Council.
Developer Hugh Palmer’s request for commercial zoning of a parcel at the intersection of Rimer Pond Road and Longtown West Road will be heard at the Richland County Planning Commission at 1 p.m., Oct. 2. Speakers for or against must sign up prior to the start of the meeting.
“I propose small retail development that would serve the needs of and be convenient to the surrounding area, to the people that already travel this area every day,” Palmer told Council at the February meeting. “This area is changing, whether these folks in here like it or not.”
He said his request fell within the boundries of the County’s land use plan, had County staff’s approval and met the standards for the commercial zoning he was requesting.
“Those should be the questions that matter here tonight,” he said.
Neighbors disagreed.
“We enjoy the rural setting,” Christopher Henchy of Eagles Glen said. “No one on Rimer Pond Road wants commercial development on our road.” There is no other commercial zoning on the road.
Boyd Brown, a lobbyist speaking on Palmer’s behalf, held up a petition that he said was signed by 125 people in the community who supported the rezoning. However, none of the signers showed up at the meeting.
Palmer told Council his goal was to bring commercial conveniences to the neighborhood, but speaker after speaker repeated, “We don’t want it. We don’t need it.” Residents pointed out repeatedly during the public comment session that there was already adequate neighborhood commercial entities within a four-mile radius to serve their needs.
To make his point that commercial zoning would bring the criminal element to the Rimer Pond Road area, Trey Hair handed out to Council members neighborhood crime maps that showed only a handful of crimes committed in a one-mile radius of the proposed commercial site. A map of the same time frame and radius of a nearby commercial intersection was almost sold with symbols showing where crimes had been committed.
A neighborhood Facebook page, Keep it Rural, which was a hub for neighbors seeking and providing information during the three rezoning attempts, became active again on Tuesday within hours of the zoning request sign going up on the property.
NC zoning, according to the Richland County land use code, is intended to accommodate commercial and service uses oriented primarily to serving the needs of persons who live or work in nearby areas. This district is designed to be located within or adjacent to residential neighborhoods where large commercial uses are inappropriate, but where small neighborhood oriented businesses are useful and desired. But, according to the County’s desired development pattern, commercial development should be limited to Rural Activity Centers.
Permitted land uses are listed in the Richland County zoning ordinance for NC zoning, Other uses are permitted if the property owner receives permission from the Board of Zoning Appeals.
The request will first go before the Planning Commission for a recommendation before going before County Council for three votes.
Palmer’s son, Patrick, who was either a member of or Chairman of the Richland County Planning Commission during each previous request, had served 12 years on the Commission before resigning earlier this year shortly after the third rezoning request for the property failed in February, 2017. Patrick recused himself each time the issue came before the Commission.
The Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on the rezoning at 1 p.m., Monday, Oct. 2. Those who want to speak for or against the issue, must arrive a little early to sign up.
NOTICE: Location for the meeting has been changed from the Council Chambers in the County Building to the second floor of the Main Richland County library at 1431 Assembly Street in downtown Columbia. The change of venue is due to ongoing renovations at the County Building.