Mount Pleasant details attainable housing project

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - Mount Pleasant planning officials learned more details about a proposed attainable housing development that some neighbors worry might cause more harm to the area than help.

Prosperity Builders, the developer of the project, is proposing a 100-unit townhome complex off Park Avenue in the Carolina Park area. The homes would have three bedrooms each and there would be eight units per acre.

Michelle Reed, the town Planning Director, says the council already approved the first reading, but with a few questions from public comment, the planning committee set out to get answers before the project goes to council a second time.

“It’s certainly something that the town needs. But there are concerns and those are valid concerns. You always hear the same ones which are traffic. So people are concerned about the transportation impacts, particularly with the growth, the substantial growth that we’ve had over the last, you know, 20, 30 years,” Reed says.

Concerning traffic, the planning committee saw a traffic analysis that estimates building 100 units would increase daily traffic by about 700 trips. But that’s 200 trips less than the estimate if an office building or business were built on the land.

Reed explains the zoning is currently industrial, so the options for the site are very wide open. The traffic analysis estimates a medical plaza could add nearly 2,000 trips a day.

“I do think it is an excellent use for that property. The industrial zoning and Carolina Park is incredibly intense. You could have uses like an amusement park there, you could have a sewage disposal facility there. Those are just a few examples of some of the really intense uses that you could have. So I think given that it’s surrounded by other multifamily uses and some single-family along the boulevard there, I think it’s an appropriate use,” Reed says.

The town is in the design phase of a roundabout that is meant to alleviate traffic and increase safety in the Park Avenue corridor. Town leaders say that project would likely be opening around the same time as the completion of the housing units.

The developers will keep four of the twelve acres as wetlands with ponds in the community as well. Prosperity Builders has another attainable housing project in Mount Pleasant called Gregorie Ferry Towns.

The committee also heard from facilities managers at Charleston County School District. District leaders say the Carolina Park Elementary eight-classroom expansion completed by the end of 2024, and they say Wando High School’s capacity is prepared for growth and has space.

“Throughout our region housing, there is a housing crisis. But as responsible planners and responsible elected officials, we need to make sure that these are going in the appropriate areas, and that they don’t negatively impact our existing residents and it’s important. So it’s a balance between meeting the housing need while maintaining the services and the quality of life that we have for our current citizens,” Reed says.

The townhomes will be up for purchase around $300,000 to $4400,000. These prices are income-restricted to buyers earning 80% -150% of the average area median income. Mayor Will Haynie showed strong support for the project at its first council reading.

Many of the concerns from Carolina Park residents stemmed from the fact that Faison Road nearby is already slated to have affordable housing built on its highlands in the coming years.

The project will appear again before the council at its April meeting.

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