An indoor go-kart facility could be coming to Bluffton’s former Stein Mart building
Prepare to start your engines, Bluffton.
An indoor go-kart facility wants to come to Belfair Towne Village on U.S. 278 — taking Stein Mart’s former spot.
On Wednesday, Bluffton’s Planning Commission will consider a request from NLM Services LLC to add “Indoor Go-Kart Facilities” to the Belfair Planned Unit Development’s list of allowed uses. Go-kart facilities are currently prohibited within the 31.5-acre Belfair Town Village, according to the planned unit development’s zoning rules approved in 1995.
NLM Services is asking the town to allow indoor go-kart facilities within Belfair, but prohibit outdoor facilities.
If the request is approved, NLM Services plans to be the franchise owner of K-1 Speed Bluffton, an upscale entertainment center with an indoor go-kart track, food services and corporate and private parties, according to planning documents.
Founded in 2003, K-1 Speed is an electric indoor go-kart company with over 30 locations nationwide, according to its website. The closest locations to Bluffton are in Atlanta and Charlotte.
Called Monday, Paul McBride with NLM Services, which is owned by his wife, Nicola, said he hopes the proposed facility will fill a void of entertainment for young adults in Bluffton — a void that town leaders acknowledged at this year’s strategic planning workshop was an issue.
McBride said the facility would be similar in “style and feel” to a TopGolf for go-karts.
“We’ve been here for 30 years, and there really isn’t much to do besides going to bars and restaurants,” he said. “This is an opportunity to enjoy some fun with the family.”
McBride said he hopes the town approves the amendment, saying that when the PUD was approved in 1995, the technology for indoor electric go-karts wasn’t even around and the prohibition of go-kart businesses was probably referring to outdoor facilities.
“The PUD was written 20 Plus years ago when the proposed electric go kart technology did not exist nor were any of the current commercial buildings built at Belfair Town Village,” McBride wrote in a March 4 letter to Bluffton’s Principal Planner Will Howard.
In the letter, McBride defends the proposed text amendment:
▪ The go-kart facility will ensure the “aesthetic beauty” of the U.S. 278 corridor and will not be visible outside of its building.
▪ The electric go-karts will have “zero noise impact” to the public and neighbors.
▪ The facility will have less impact on traffic than Stein Mart, the previous tenant of the building, and use only one parking space per 1,000 square feet.
McBride told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette that NLM Services plans to invest $2.8 million in the facility. That investment includes building two elevated indoor go-kart tracks.
After Wednesday’s meeting, the planning commission can forward the text amendment to Bluffton’s town council for first and second reading.
If the council gives final approval on second reading — tentatively scheduled for May 11 — McBride said he hopes to start constructing the go-kart facility in June with an opening date sometime in October.
Development in Bluffton
The proposed text amendment to Belfair’s PUD is one of several development plans Bluffton’s planning commission will consider on Wednesday.
Also on the agenda:
▪ Plans from SC Bodner Co. Inc., to build an apartment complex with over 250 units in Bluffton’s Buckwalter area
▪ Plans from Loftin-Moore to build a marketplace with a restaurant, shops and outdoor pavilion across the street from Washington Square near The Reserve at Woodbridge
▪ A plan to build an O’Reilly Auto Parts store at 4362 Bluffton Parkway.
