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Folly Beach council to reconsider height restrictions
By Shannon Cavanaugh
Contributing Writer
The Folly Beach City Council will again consider the planning commission’s recommendation to set a 40-foot above base flood elevation height limit for newly annexed commercial land. That includes the controversial Tollbooth House property on Folly Road, which is currently zoned C-4 with no height restrictions, allowing developers to build as high as their dollars can reach.
The council’s previous approval of this unrestricted zoning type prompted public protest and a petition drive that put the question of setting a 50-foot height limit to the voters on the April 4 ballot.
Councilman Eddie Ellis is the only one to vote in favor of height restrictions and had introduced an amendment last month that would have set a height restriction of 35 feet BFE on the newly annexed property. But Mayor Vernon Knox changed it to 40 feet above BFE and remanded it back to the planning commission for review at its Feb. 6 meeting.
Despite requests, the mayor refused to make the proposed amendment “pending.” This would have prevented developers from vesting under no height restrictions while council and the planning commission went back and forth on the issue of no height restrictions.
However, all it took was one set of plans submitted to city hall to convince the mayor to change his mind. Mayor Knox made the height restriction “pending” immediately after seeing a set of plans submitted to city hall to build a high rise on the Tollbooth House property. The high rise would stand at least seven stories high from the ground.
Zoning Administrator Aaron Pope said Caz Danielowski, the son-in-law of Robert Barber Sr., who owns the Tollbooth House property, brought in a site plan and basic elevations to file with the city. Those plans called for a four-story, 74-unit high rise with 296 parking spaces that is 65 feet above BFE for a total height of 77 feet.
“There’s nothing on Folly Beach that tall,” said Pope. “The developers had floated around the idea of 55 feet above BFE but never officially submitted, and this taller version has got everyone worked up. The mayor never expected that big a building.”
At the planning commission meeting, members unanimously approved the height restriction of 40 feet above BFE and sent it back to the city council for a Feb. 28 meeting.
Previously, city council ignored the planning commission’s zoning recommendation of setting a height limit.
Meanwhile, the planning commission held public hearings on oceanfront and marsh setbacks and will recommend that city council approve a 10-foot oceanfront set back on all properties, unless the setback would give property owners less than 35 feet to build on. This recommendation got mixed reviews from homeowners with some favoring the setbacks and others not.
“Yes, I want to control development, but this is about 20 years too late. If my house were destroyed, I couldn’t rebuild. It would put us out in the street and would make my land worthless,” said Keith Bolus, who lives next to the marsh. “My friend on 9th street had a contract on his lot, but the buyer learned of this proposal on setbacks going to the city council and cancelled the contract. My friend is not a rich guy, but just talk of a setback devalued his property.”
The commission exempted R-1 from the marsh setbacks, but the city council could change that at their next council meeting.
Bolus’ home is zoned R-1. Though his property is not included in the setbacks, he’s ready to speak out at city council if needed. Others favoring the setbacks said it’s time to stop allowing developers to block ocean views of other homeowners and allowing them to build right on the marsh calling it “real estate development craziness.”
“I’m looking out for the future of other people. I’m 74 and the 10-foot set back is still not enough, but it’s better than nothing. Run off is destroying our marshes, and now developers are building up to the marsh on both sides straddling a tongue of land,” said Michael Richard, originally from Canada who’s lived and fished on Folly Beach for 20 years. “Because Folly Beach has no set backs, it’s attracting all these developers. They say they build homes. I call (them) mini-hotels because half the time the people don’t even live there but rent them out.”
The commission also recommends a marsh setback of 10 feet on R-2 zoning and a 25-foot average with no less than 15 feet applied to all other zoning classifications.
They are recommending the city council change newly annexed marshland zoned commercial to a nature conservancy and also zone the Seabrook property by the Coast Guard Station as nature conservancy.
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