 Press star one to listen Star two to leave a voicemail to be read into the record or star three to be placed into a queue to speak live when prompted Please wait until your case is called to hit star three If participating by phone while also streaming the meeting on a computer Please mute the audio on your computer and only use the phone audio so as to avoid audio issues When being patched into the meeting to speak Roll call Mr. Dinkins here mr. Gregory Mr. Gignard Apologize about that. I'm a little behind too But all right applicants with requests before the board of zoning appeals are a lot at a presentation time of 10 minutes This time should include but it's not limited to an overview of the project case history in any pertinent meetings held regarding the requests This time also includes all persons presenting information on behalf of the applicant such as attorneys engineers and architects This time limit does not include any questions asked by the board of zoning appeals or staff regarding the request Any member of the general public may address the board in intervals of three minutes or Five minutes if by a spokesperson for an established body or for a group of three or more The applicant will then have five minutes for rebuttal The board reserves the right to amend these procedures on a case-by-case basis All right, those of you who plan to speak must be sworn If you are here as an applicant or here to speak in any case, please stand at this time and raise your right hand Do you affirm or attest that the testimony you will give today? It's the truth and nothing but the truth All right, thank you very much The board uses the consent agenda to approve non-controversial or routine matters by a single motion and vote If a member of the board or the general public wishes to discuss an item on the consent agenda That item is removed and placed on the regular agenda The board then approves the remaining consent agenda items first item one the consent agenda is case Is twenty twenty two zero zero one one One ninety seven Greg Parkway a variance to the maximum fence height requirement in the rear yard the next case is the twenty twenty-two dash zero zero one two dash s e 902 Dervais Street sweet D Special exception to permit a type two eating and drinking establishment Next is twenty twenty two dash zero zero one three dash s e forty four six 64 Divine Street a special exception to permit a liquor store Next is twenty twenty two dash zero zero one four dash s e forty three oh one Fort Jackson Boulevard Special exception to permit an accessory drive-through use for a restaurant is twenty twenty two dash zero zero one seven dash v forty three oh one Fort Jackson Boulevard variance to the form and design Standards for a restaurant use next is twenty twenty two dash zero zero one eight V To a one more Hopkins Lane a variance to the max Minimum parking requirements for a multi-family development Does anyone wish to speak on a case removing that case from the consent agenda? So there's an unusual amount of cases on the consent agenda in relation to how many are on the normal agenda So anyone in the audience, please understand that we are about the vote on just about every case except for the last one of the regular agenda so one point that out now is your time if Any objection? Do not have any callers or emails Any members of the board like to remove a case from the consent agenda? All right very good like to ask for a motion for the consent agenda, please All right, we have a motion a second all those in favor, please say aye All right any opposed All right very good motion passes. Thank you We'll move to the regular agenda We will use the following outline for the regular agenda items staff will introduce the case Applicant will have ten minutes to make their presentation Board may ask questions The public will be allowed to participate in person or phone comment and by email or voicemail Applicant will then have five minutes for rebuttal first case on the regular agenda is twenty twenty two dash zero one five Seven thirty seven Gadsden Street a special exception to exceed the maximum density of bedrooms per acre for private dormitory use Applicant is here Good afternoon. Can you guys hear me okay? Yes, right? Thank you I'm Jeff Shouse with holder properties where the developer and acting as an agent for the foundation USC foundation Hunter Lambert Their quest today is for seven thirty seven Gaston Street So it's caddy corner to the colonial life arena and adjacent to the green street bridge That's about to open and our our request is to increase the the bed density from 150 beds per acre to 260 per acre Which will give us a max of 975 total beds So again, it's in partnership with the foundation and we're in the concept planning stage So our request is to allow us to move forward with the design and the foundation So you can see a rendering here and just to be clear It's green and Gaston corner that you're looking at right there So as you come off the bridge The corner of green and Gaston is what you're looking at there and it's nine total levels Which would allow for plus or minus nine hundred seventy five beds any questions or concerns? You know, we've seen a lot of these in the past. It's a pretty significant Increase sure you're aware of that edging we are, you know compared to some other Projects in the city of Columbia. Yeah, I know there's been one that's gotten 700 beds per acre We feel like this was a reasonable request go from 150 to 260 plus You know, we feel like the the surrounding environment with student housing the basketball arena and really being located adjacent to campus It's appropriate request. So have you done these projects in other other areas? We've done a 650 Lincoln with the same partnership foundation in Columbia. We also did 719 beds in Auburn, Alabama Actually Kevin and Andy and do you remember Andy was a part of it? Come come on come on up. He's gonna speak. We can't take any testimony from the floor and state state your name for the Rector, please or any barfield with older properties 883 beds on 650 Lincoln and what does that break down? approximately over six acres That's split between the two blocks Yeah, the math is It would be greater than 650 but less than some other projects located in the city of Columbia substantially less And 650 So double right you're talking about doubling the density. Excuse me. Can you ask a question one more time? The the current Development nearby that you've already completed Had how many beds sure? 883 I believe over five and a half acres Works out to be probably just under 200 beds per acre Okay, and what is the proposed number of beds per acre? 260 is what we're proposing for 3.75 acres Which we thought was well shy of some of the others that have gone through approval here in the city as of lately Correct correct night stories correct. I think Lincoln is seven stories 650 Lincoln is seven stories. That's correct. It also sits down elevation wise It's actually 650 Lincoln finish floor is actually up another 15 to 20 feet relative to the site So it looks like the operation and management plan is well thought out. That's a part of these variants requests Is this modeled after some other site that you have or actually 650 Lincoln, okay? Yes, very similar that partnership is exactly the same. We partnered with them five years ago on 650 Lincoln and so They own the property the foundation owns property and asked us to come back in and looks pretty strong to me I'm a little concerned about the I mean I didn't review I was not on the board for the last Approvals so I don't know but I know that when I read the thing and it was like Students won't share the Carolina card and students won't prop the doors open and I'm sorry. That's I live in University Hill. I know what students do. They don't listen to that. What is how are you going to make them do it? Great? great question actually University security the police department is actually the one that monitors the security for 650 Lincoln and we holder properties manage 650 Lincoln So between honors and athletics there. Yes, it's a challenge It's a challenge anywhere in student housing But we do feel because of the partnership with the foundation as well as with the police department We have a better control of that than most in our business I mean are you going to have an alarm will sound? Oh, of course and Exactly 650 Lincoln has over 125 cameras So that's how we make sure that that the card readers and everything is being respected And again, you could look at 650's record. We feel very strong about the way that we've managed that for the past five years now Catherine I was on the board for a lot of these Different cases and this is as strong as a management plan. I've seen okay Are there and I appreciate that is there going to be preference given to certain students like you mentioned athletics and Actually, they have not formulated that yet This is this land has actually been owned by the foundation for I think going on two decades now And so right now it's a gravel parking lot and so they obviously there's something bigger and better So working with the foundation and the university We're trying to figure out exactly how that would be structured But we know that from a from a bed perspective There's a need and this seems like a great spot considering it's Honestly a lot of asphalt around it and so there's there's some real true density there And I think you know their desire to create retail walkability is is also part of this plan So you'll see that as well as the the variants on the setback because we want to create some active Sidewalks down in that in that community. I was just curious given the history of the site Yeah, it was it was a yeah intermule field and now it's a gravel parking lot So I guess The other one that gave me pause because I live I go through the Blossom Street down Blossom Street by the Bull Street parking garage and And life is very different since the Bull Street parking garage opened Sure, and you're taking a small gravel lot Correct explain to me how this parking and how this is not going to be adverse I mean, I don't like parking gravel parking lot. So that's fine, but I mean, we're all the same house Not going to adversely, you know impact. Yeah, good question So how many spaces and you're putting in how many spaces in the garage and how are people going to be coming and going? Right, right. So so the zoning code requires 0.5 her bed We're around 0.7 right now Depending on the relationship and how that works with the university that could contract a little bit more, but we agree I mean, we want to create I mean, there's gonna be a bus stop So we feel that honestly the students and residents can get around Without putting more cars on the on the roads Also, the foundation owns a discovery deck, which you know is about two blocks closer to campus And they think that there's actually some opportunity there Maybe to take some of the parking that you would need for this and actually put it over there We would still meet zoning code, but we're still working out the exact ratio Can I see the map of the location on the map geographically where this is? How long is that 160 Lincoln been open? The first phase first phase was open in the summer of 2015 the second phase was 2016 So I feel like that's been successful in improving everything down there And I think this would just be a continuation of that for the most part. Yeah, we appreciate that We're continually trying to get good retail in that space and that's the partnership with the foundation We think that we can do the exact same thing just one block down and create Some real walkability between those two sites for sure the numbers that you gave us that were closer to 160 beds per Correct, so it's a pretty big jump What's the reason from you know 160 was successful or 160 Lincoln was successful at 160 That's an acre and now you want to do 260. What's the dry demand? It is the University needs beds and you know, that's again We felt like it was a modest ass relative to kind of what we've seen in the market lately That's can be up to public opinion, but we do feel that the demand is is imperative There's not enough beds for freshmen right now. So they they want to accommodate both under and upperclassmen Okay Well, I'm sure we'll have some board discussion, but do we have any specific questions be careful not to get into board discussion But there's specific questions for the applicant. I just want to confirm the Two bedroom four bedroom counts. I mean that's all y'all are doing here two and four bedrooms. Yeah That was the desire they feel that they can peer that Especially work on the University and into some capacity that they compare that and so the two and four one It makes sense not only from roommate matching, but also from a stack ability So creating some some consistency up on each floor. All right, very good. Thank you very much. Sure. Thank you No, I think that's it unless you guys have questions on the first one. Yeah So go ahead and we're gonna move into public input. So if you have a seat in the one great Yeah, thank you. Okay. Well, thank you applicants for your presentation I think your application was thorough and Does a good job of describing your case so that makes it easier for us But at this time we'd like to ask are there any members of the public either here or On the phones or text messages that would like to speak regarding this matter I do have a few callers. I don't know if they're here for this case or not I'm sorry Apologize a few callers. I don't know if they're here for this case or not. So I'll wait to see if they raise their hands Yeah, now's their chance How many are there Well, one of them just hung up, so okay Okay, nobody. All right, very good All right So at this point then we've had the applicants presentation and we don't have any feedback for the community So I'd like to open it up to board discussion. What do you all think? You know I can you know, I mean I can say the the density at first to me was a little bit shocking To go from 150 to 260 Especially understand the 160 Lincoln was only 160. So it was a 10 bed increase per acre But in general the area isn't heavily laden with you know Houses and residential and people that it'll be impacting and I think they did the 160 since it's been around for seven or eight years It's been successful I feel like this likely would follow suit This is moving to 60 remember Right. Yeah, it's a it's a lot more But it's I feel like it's the area that can support it. I don't know I Am I think I'm I'm to the one thing that gives me pause Is the fact that they were like well you have precedent from a previous project that allowed lots of other beds? Well, okay at some point we're just gonna keep having you know escalating precedent and that that really concerns me that said I Sure do I mean I've always said that I'd prefer to see students in real USC dorms But I understand that the limitations I've been around for a long time on this I understand limitations on actually having straight-up USC dorms because of their bonding and bonding capacity and so on And so this seems like the second best option It seems to me that they're going to have much less impact on the community there Then just about anywhere else you could put them But I am concerned about the precedent and I guess if the zoning people could explain that Are we bound by some kind of notion that well because you know, they approve this number of beds or something It's specifically laid out that we are not like just because somebody else Pardon me. There's a lot of density cases Or private dormitories. I don't recall. I've been on the boy one less year than Eugene But I don't recall a density case There's been some some of these two Dorms aren't allowed in many places, right, right, but there is I mean, I know there was the station at five points as a private dorm And that's because they have the buffer and that But I mean that said I think that this is probably the Best way to stow the maximum number of students the best location to stow them because They're not as likely to be driving everywhere They won't be as likely to be clogging up Blossom Street going over to the fraternity houses the Greek village walk across the street They could walk across well, we would hope they could walk across the street Yeah, I think that's really my only concern with the project is because it's so close to that bridge construction That's being built there. I'm concerned about how they're controlling the speed of traffic right there That's gonna be a very popular location once the Once that it's completed because that is gonna be a direct route to the stadium, which is right there But what I do like about this project is I like the proximity to the stadium as well as it kind of creates a closed loop for What's happening at nine hundred and sixteen or one particularly if you're thinking about Visitors visiting the colonial colonial like Marina you're thinking about students being in that area thinking about the walkability of that area It's kind of it kind of ends right there system on one With that I think it's sixteen one for one grill there or something like that So it doesn't really create an atmosphere of what you would expect that other stadiums Well, you have a place kind of walk around and eat prior to that and I think this provides an opportunity for that So I like that a lot But I'm concerned about it being because it's so close to that bridge and there's gonna be incredible traffic there doing games I'm wondering what what the talks are with transportation about how they can Speed So close to that building Well, they're engineers here if you'd like to ask them looking for you What are those conversations like can I ask absolutely what are the conversations with transportation concerning traffic? No, hang on a second. We need to have an approach podium approach the bench Could the applicants engineer, please come up Kevin you banks with SSO East evens works. Thank you right shard. Go ahead state the question. How you doing? I'm what's the conversations with? Transportation Department of Transportation regarding the traffic flow here for walkability because I see the sidewalk is right here right next to where That bridge is gonna be Those roads are controlled by City Columbia We are we're getting a preliminary site plan together and we're gonna go sit down with the city traffic engineer Okay, and make sure we incorporate anything any concerns he has Consider me and we're putting a bus stop for students and we're also Pull off in the front on Gadsden There's any concerns that he has a role So the city is working with you on the transportation. Yes part of this. Okay, okay Yeah, I mean I think Any idea so this is very early still so you guys don't have an idea yet of? Retail what's gonna happen in the bottom of that? Yeah, right now. There's they're still doing some research with a couple companies on about they're trying to get you know certain commercial companies down in there, but right now it's anywhere from 20 to 30,000 square feet I Think this is something they could be a cool project. I'm just concerned about student safety. All right. Thank you Okay, well, you know think board think that was some good questions and good discussion and good thoughts I mean kind of like always a rundown the criteria for the special exception So we've got 13 criteria here and Some of these cases there's some gray areas and we can stray a little bit on some of them It's not always one size fits all But for me at least the way I've always looked at it I look at the criteria and I try to figure out whether or not they can fit the criteria and In my mind as I run through the 13 criteria. I don't see any that they don't fit So I'll simply leave it at that. I think you'll have some good questions But unless anyone has any further comments, I'd like to ask for a motion Motion to approve pending staff comments We have a motion just to prove in the first one. Yes, we have a motion a second all of the favor. Please say aye. Bye. Any opposed? All right, very good motion passes Thank you. All right. Well the applicant like to approach and describe please what you're planning to do Thank you So 737 Gaston in addition to the special exception As we've discussed the Green Street Bridge the Gaston they connect when that bridge opens We're requesting a 15-foot setback along Gaston Street right now the code calls for a 10-foot from your property line In order to sufficiently fit the bus stop for students that we want to fit in and also the retail We're requesting 15 additional feet along Gaston and also to give the buffer from the bridge We're asking an additional five feet on that side to give some distance between our project and that bridge So the two variances for the sidewalk basically additional depth on those two sides and Again, it's it's really for the pedestrian experience and also to allow for students to go to and from class at that bus stop and queue there So I believe one of the criteria that we look at when we're looking at variances is is this the minimum necessary? In our opinion it is due to the bus stop We really feel like we need a queuing area and for the pedestrians not getting on the bus We want spit sufficient space for them to come and go as students are waiting at that bus stop Well, again, I think that Thank the presentation was very well done, and I think your request is clearly laid out So I personally do not have any questions We have any questions I thought it was going to be asking for less That is different you're not adhering to any, you know urban like context keeping you're not Urban context is it's a whole block, you know, and there's not a whole lot of context otherwise Yeah, I just got one question just Obviously going from gravel parking lot to creating all this impervious Structure, I like the water sidewalk What are y'all thinking about what building material y'all thinking about using for that sidewalk? Just curious it will be a concrete It'll be a heavy-duty concrete or it won't be asphalt. It'll be a nice-looking concrete sidewalk Any consideration of something that's a little bit more pervious Yeah, you know, we're gonna have landscape planners, you know, we can definitely Potentially look at some type of pervious paver again. It's conceptual right now. Yeah, we do have to comply with stormwater Yeah, so we're gonna have to find find ways to do that But again, it's not impossible to do that. Okay, you know, that's a good question John Let's get engineer up here to tell us about the stormwater. That's a good question DDRC But uh, what are you gonna do with your stormwater? so Again, it's all conceptual right now But the plan is to basically have some form of underground attention on the back service road in the back because Basin elevation falls off Going down to Vine Street towards the rubber tracks So we're looking at doing the underground attention along that back service road Okay, well if you made your building five feet close to the road you still have to deal with stormwater anyway, right? Absolutely, because it'd be getting caught on the roof instead of the sidewalk Okay, I don't want to flood out the Amtrak. That's a good answer because it's not shown here on the site plan So that makes sense and that was yeah, I like that Thank you. Thank you. I'm good Questions specific questions not board discussion for the applicants Anybody all right very good. Is anyone here from the public or on the phones that would like to speak regarding this matter Okay, thank you. All right. Well, let's move into board discussion. Who wants to start? I mean, I'm good My that's not really only concern. I have no problem They're doing underground attention You like the fact that it's moved back 15 feet as opposed to 10 feet off People on the block Yeah, I can imagine they're backing up to get on the buses the shuttle bus because it is a bit of a hike To the main to the main classroom areas so I can see that they're going to be wanting to queue up And so I think having this extra space is probably a very good idea How about for retail? Isn't it nice to have a little bit extra room for retail for people to Sit around on a bench or you know, I was thinking about that coming down main street looking around and going You know, it's nice that they have some space on main street Put stuff up not going to get hit by a car and can sit out there in text or whatever You know really nice Okay, well, I think it's a very well thought-out and planned project Certainly I don't have any Disagreement at all. I like seeing the surface parking going away. Yeah, and it's a great spot I mean, you know right by the basketball Coliseum and Right in the middle of campus really there's not a centralized USC campus, but this is about a Yeah, it's a really it's a good thing. It's a great location. So you're not a butting any Yeah, railroad is the neighbor Well, I mean the other resident the other residents are yeah All right. Well, unless anyone wants to add anything like that for a motion I move that we approve subject to staff comments Second, okay, we have motion a second all those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Very good. Good luck with the project great project What else? Okay, do we have a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn. We have a second second all the favor, please say aye. Any opposed? Very good. All right