Plans underway to build Walmart Super Center on Lady's Island
Plans are underway to build a Walmart Super Center and Sea Island Airport Shoppes complex on Lady's Island near the Beaufort County Airport.
Originally proposed in 2008 and rejected by the city, the plan led to lengthy litigation and rewriting of a planned unit development agreement for the 41-acre parcel known as Airport Junction.
The marketing brochure from WRS Inc. Real Estate Investments shows the complex would be in a mostly wooded area bounded by Sea Island Parkway and Airport Circle, southeast of the airport.
A Walmart spokesperson could not be reached Tuesday.
Drawings show a 150,000-square-foot Walmart Super Center at the rear of the property and commercial space for lease fronting Sea Island Parkway.
The marketing information lists rental rates as negotiable for three retail outparcels of 1 acre, 1.43 and 1.48 acres each. During a pre-application meeting Tuesday at City Hall, developers said the development plan is for 26 acres.
Some of the concerns discussed during that meeting included utility and road infrastructure, stormwater management and permits, and tree preservation.
City landscape planner Liza Hill said the parcel is unusual because of a large percentage of live oaks and other prominent trees.
City planner Libby Anderson said a traffic study and efforts to reduce traffic, such as a traffic signal, might be needed because of the size of the project.
Because there is a planned unit development in place that dictates development, the buildings do not go through the typical public review process but will be reviewed by city staff, Anderson said. After design plans are submitted, they will be posted to the city's website.
When asked about the Walmart and complex, Mayor Billy Keyserling referred to the City Council's previous attempts to stop the project.
"They have a right to do it, and they have started the process," he said. "We can't pick winners and losers."
Walmart applied in January 2008 for permits to build a 195,000-square-foot store. City officials initially refused to allow a big-box store, but after losing in court, they began negotiating a settlement with landowner Fred Trask. His company, Airport Junction LLC, sued the city in 2009 after it denied Walmart's application.
A Circuit Court judge determined in December 2009 that the property's development agreement allowed a big-box store, and the city appealed in early 2010.
The settlement terms limit a big-box store to 150,000 square feet and require that it -- or any structure larger than 55,000 square feet -- sit 300 feet from the street, much like the Lowe's on Robert Smalls Parkway in Beaufort, according to The Beaufort Gazette archives.
All structures larger than 55,000 square feet would have to face Airport Circle rather than Sea Island Parkway, with parking between the building and Airport Circle.
Follow reporter Erin Moody at twitter.com/IPBG_Erin.
Related content:
- Top story of 2008: Walmart 's failed attempt to build Lady's Island megastore, Dec. 27, 2008
- Compromise elusive in zoning dispute on Lady's Island, Jan. 21, 2009
- City to appeal ruling allowing big-box store on Lady's Island, Jan. 26, 2010
- Lady's Island, city of Beaufort in talks on area once slated for Walmart, June 22, 2011
This story was originally published March 3, 2015 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Plans underway to build Walmart Super Center on Lady's Island."