Enterprise Rent-a-Car Plans Rejected

Mount Pleasant's Planning Commission on Wednesday shot down plans to squeeze an Enterprise Rent-a-Car location onto the odd-shaped lot between Trader Joe's and TitleMax on Johnnie Dodds Blvd.

Developers had sought to rezone the property from "Neighborhood Commercial" to "Areawide Business 2," a designation that would allow an office space and the parking and transportation impacts associated with the rental car business.

More than 40 residents of The Groves neighborhood, which lies just behind the proposed location attended, Wednesday's meeting and roughly a dozen spoke against the project.

Town rules that govern how the building looks required that it be close to Frontage Road and that it be a two-story building. Because its parking would be in the rear of the business, customers would enter and exit on Tall Pines Road, which has a few homes and connects into The Groves neighborhood.

Residents feared, and ultimately commissioners agreed, that the business wasn't appropriate for the lot because so many cars would travel through the residential neighborhood.

The property is already approved for commercial applications such as a restaurant or office space, but commissioners did not recommend approving the project for the Areawide Business 2 zoning.

The vote was unanimous, but the developer could ask the Town Council at its September meeting to set aside the Planning Commission's recommendation.

Enterprise Rent-a-Car already operates an office near Johnnie Dodds Blvd. and Bowman Road. The developers said the company is looking for a larger office with a more convenient location.