Council Action Requested:
Application by Brian Cillian/Greybridge MacMillan LLC and LEH SC MacMillan LLC to rezone 7.286 acres at 1662 MacMillan Park Drive (TM# 0007-00-008.05) from Light Industrial (LI ) to Institutional (INS) District in order to convert existing structure to a K-12 private school facility.
Points to Consider:
UPDATE: The covenants and restrictions for this property do not allow a school to be located on the site. The restrictive covenants state that the properties in McMillan Park “may be used for: distribution facility, light industrial, and manufacturing purposes together with related warehousing and office uses, including but not to the exclusion of other permitted uses hereunder the design, manufacture, distribution and sale of wire and cable products.”
SC State Code Section 6-29-1145 states that "If a local planning agency has actual notice of a restrictive covenant on a tract or parcel of land that is contrary to, conflicts with, or prohibits the permitted activity...the local planning agency must not issue [a permit for any planning-related action] unless the local planning agency receives confirmation from the applicant that the restrictive covenant has been released for the tract or parcel of land by action of the appropriate authority or property holders or by court order."
Staff does not have a confirmation that the restrictive covenant has been released from the parcel by any appropriate action or court order. For this reason, staff must recommend denial.
Additional Points to Consider:
The proposed private school is located within an existing industrial park. With its neighbors being Continental Tire and Unique Loom Facility
This site is one of the few contiguous tracts of Light Industrial Zoned land within the Panhandle.
Previous tenant has a Fee-in-lieu Agreement with Lancaster County, this will not be transferred to the current tenant.
The applicant is claiming the site will not cross the 50-trip threshold for a Traffic Impact Analysis. Other uses in this area (daycares, for instance) were required to get a TIA before rezoning, and considering the school will relocate facilities from NC with students following, staff believes that a TIA for this use would be a reasonable request.
Funding and Liability Factors:
Liability 1: the covenants and restrictions do not support the rezoning request to a TK-12 school.
Liability 1a: the Comprehensive Plan does not support the request. If the Council elects to move forward with with the rezoning, a companion action to amend the Comprehensive Plan is required.
Liability 2: the property is one of the last sections of Light Industrial (LI) zoned areas in Indian Land. Staff and the Planning Commission are concerned about losing established LI zoned property in an established industrial park.
Funding 1: the previous tenant has a fee-in-lieu agreement with Lancaster County, and this will not be transferred to the current owner.
Recommendation:
UPDATE: After 1st reading was granted, staff recommends deferral as discussed during the Oct 23 Council meeting. Additional time is needed for the following:
Applicant - to successfully remove the restrictive covenant from the site.
Staff - to put a comp plan amendment on the agenda for the December 19, 2023 meeting.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Planning Commission recommended unanimous denial during their September Regular Meeting. Concerns that were discussed included traffic generation, having a private school surrounded by industrial uses, the lack of existing Light Industrial zoned land in the Panhandle and how difficult it would be to rezone other land to Light Industrial take its place within the Panhandle.
Staff recommends denial as well.