Development Heads for Final Approval

UPDATE: The council's annexation committee has approved the annexation of 621 acres associated with the Oyster Point development. Only 200 acres is dry land and able to be developed. There's one more vote today at 2 p.m.

The original story is as follows:

A controversial 593-unit residential development planned for the end of Six Mile Road will be considered by Mount Pleasant Town Council today.

Developers are asking the council to annex the 200 acres on Hamlen Sound and to rezone the property with a first-of-its-kind conservation landscape district classification.

IF YOU GO
What: Mount Pleasant Town Council Planning Committee
When: 2 p.m., Monday
Where: Town Council Chambers, 100 Ann Edwards Lane
Details: This is the first of two final votes by the council on the Oyster Point residential development.

The land currently lies in unincorporated Charleston County where it already has approval for the same number of homes. The annexation vote and the conservation landscape district approval will give the project town water and sewer services.

The new zoning classification allows the developer to build some of the development's homes closer together, so long as it sets aside at least 25 percent of the project for open lands or conservation of historic elements.

Neighbors oppose the project because they believe it will have an adverse impact on traffic and home values in the area, as well as negative impacts on the area's Gullah-Geechee culture.

Monday's vote will be the third of a four-vote town approval process. The town's planning commission gave approval for the project last month despite two dozen or so residents who spoke against it.

Commissioners said even if they voted to deny the annexation and rezoning, the developers could still likely get town water and sewer services without being part of Mount Pleasant.

With town restrictions, at least, there are some limits on the project and the town can enjoy tax benefits, the commissioners said.

D.R. Horton Homes is developing the project, which will include single-family homes, duplex style homes and multifamily homes for elderly residents. It could get underway by the first of 2013 if it's approved.