County clears way for Pepper Hall development, but future of property still unclear

After years of negotiations and hours of public debate, the Beaufort County Council has cleared the way for development at Pepper Hall Plantation.

But the question of what that development could look like — and when it could be built — remains as murky as ever.

County leaders approved a zoning change last week that allows Robert Graves, the owner of the roughly 120-acre parcel along U.S. 278 near the Okatie River, to build a mix of residential and commercial spaces.

But the new zoning is still far more restrictive than what Graves and his attorney Barry Johnson proposed during a series of negotiations with a special County Council subcommittee earlier this year.

The hope was the group could devise an agreement that permitted limited development while protecting the river and avoiding additional traffic congestion.

The proposal that collapsed during negotiations this summer would have allowed for construction of up to 700,000 square feet of commercial space and 480 residential units, more than the new zoning for the rural property allows.

The disbanding of the subcommittee came on the heels of a prior failure to negotiate a development agreement, nearly three years of debate by the County Council over rezoning, and consideration in 2013 that the county buy Pepper Hall from Graves outright.

Johnson thanked county leaders last week for the “cooperative spirit that many of you have shown” throughout the ordeal.

But, the new zoning approved by the council isn’t what Graves hoped for, he said.

“I am not in a position to tell you that the (zoning change) is likely to work for the Graves family,” Johnson told the County Council.

It’s unclear whether Pepper Hall’s owners will eventually develop the property under its current zoning classification, once again ask the county to reconsider and allow for a more ambitious project, or take the issue to the court system.

Regardless, the council’s involvement in the property is finished for now.

However, the episode appears to have left a bad taste in the mouths of nearly everyone involved.

“Not all of my questions have been fully answered,” Johnson said of the council’s rationale in deciding against allowing a larger development.

Councilman Steve Fobes said he felt “a great amount of disappointment” that an agreement couldn’t be reached at the negotiating table.

“The process was somewhat flawed in the way that we approached this … but it’s time we move on,” he said.

Councilman Stu Rodman agreed, saying despite “lingering concerns” about the process, “it’s time to bring this to a conclusion.”

This story was originally published October 31, 2016 at 2:08 PM with the headline "County clears way for Pepper Hall development, but future of property still unclear."