Update: Lady's Island residents oppose rezoning, possible fast-food restaurant

Some Lady's Island residents are speaking out during steps that clear the way for what they believe will be a fast-food restaurant on Sea Island Parkway.

An ordinance annexing 226 Sea Island Parkway into the city of Beaufort and one zoning the property as highway commercial passed first votes by Beaufort City Council on Tuesday.

Lost Island Road residents believe the land will be used to build a Taco Bell or similar drive-through restaurant and will create serious traffic problems, affect the environment and decrease property values, according to a letter to the city from the neighborhood's residents.

Some Lost Island residents, however, said they are not opposed to all growth and new development in the area.

"But we believe it's fair to be concerned that whatever growth occurs in/around our neighborhood is the right kind of growth and a growth that respects the wishes of the community it's destined to affect," the letter said.

The L-shaped property, with frontage on Lost Island Road and Sea Island Parkway, sits across from the Beaufort County Airport near the planned Walmart shopping center, where there will be a traffic signal. City planning director Libby Anderson said the highway commercial zoning had already been established in the area and that staff had no objections.

Any commercial activity would be set back from wetlands in the area, she said.

Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling told a large group of area residents Tuesday that they would have "three bites at the apple" -- that any development would have to go through more steps, including traffic studies.

"We might annex it, we might rezone it, but that doesn't mean anything's going to happen to the property," Keyserling said.

At a public hearing last month, residents said traffic flow from a restaurant would make turning onto Sea Island Parkway difficult and unsafe, among other concerns.

Council members suggested those concerned contact the S.C. Department of Transportation, state Rep. Shannon Erickson and state Sen. Tom Davis for possible traffic solutions.

Lost Island resident John Holden is among those who see an impending serious traffic issue -- specifically a dangerous left turn from Lost Island Road toward Beaufort.

The intersection is where Sea Island Parkway goes from two lanes to one. Cars heading toward St. Helena from Lady's Island often use the middle turn lane to pass a car turning right onto Lost Island Road, Holden said.

Turning left into the median while a car turns right is a "white-knuckle" experience, Holden said. Another Lost Island Road resident opposing annexation Tuesday referenced the "bloodshed" that would occur with all the additional traffic.

Holden hopes that Lost Island can be incorporated into whatever traffic plan is instituted with the new Walmart, even if it is rerouting Lost Island Road to come out at the same stoplight as Walmart customers, he said.

Holden's traffic concerns are with the perspective of having survived a horrific crash near the same stretch in 2014. Holden and his wife were in the median turning left from Sea Island Parkway toward the Beaufort County Recycling Center on St. Helena Island.

A man driving a stolen car the opposite direction zoomed in the median to pass cars, striking Holden's pickup head-on.

The crash killed the driver of the stolen car and almost cost Holden's wife, Lisa, her foot. The Holdens will require physical therapy the rest of their lives, John Holden said.

Holden, a retired U.S. Marine, said he recognizes that the small number of Lost Island residents don't present a widespread concern.

"We just really hope that, between the city and county and state, that somebody really does take a comprehensive look at this quarter mile," John Holden said.

Follow reporter Stephen Fastenau at twitter.com/IPBG_Stephen.

Related content:

• Plans underway to build Walmart Super Center on Lady's Island, March 3, 2015
• Walmart Supercenter to bring 300 jobs to Lady's Island, company says, March 4, 2015

This story was originally published December 8, 2015 at 9:13 AM with the headline "Update: Lady's Island residents oppose rezoning, possible fast-food restaurant."