A 62-home subdivision is coming to Bluffton’s burgeoning New Riverside area. What we know
A new subdivision of 62 single-family homes is coming to a part of Bluffton bustling with new growth along Okatie Highway.
On Wednesday, Bluffton’s Development Review Committee approved a subdivision plan from engineering firm Thomas & Hutton to build 62 single-family lots on 35.6 acres in the Cypress Ridge community.
The subdivision will be the second-to-last addition to the Cypress Ridge development, a sprawling D.R. Horton community of up to 1,888 residential units on Bluffton’s western border.
Cypress Ridge is one of 48 planned communities within the town of Bluffton — and it’s one of the most dense.
The 62-home addition approved by Bluffton will be near or in (depending on who’s doing the talking) Bluffton’s burgeoning New Riverside area, where developers are clearing land and constructing the new Four Seasons at Carolina Oaks age-restricted community by K. Hovnanian Homes.
Two weeks ago, Bluffton approved a 43 single-family home subdivision inside Palmetto Bluff — located about six miles from the New Riverside area.
Increased development in the New Riverside area has caused Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority and town officials to jump-start several infrastructure projects to keep up with the growth.
A large BJWSA water main line will be installed along S.C. 46 from the entrance of Heritage at New Riverside to Gibbet Road and from the intersection at Gibbet Road and S.C. 170 to H.E. McCracken Circle to provide safe drinking water and increased water pressure to the area.
That project also requires a new water tower planned for Bluffton and Buckwalter parkways.
Bluffton council member Larry Toomer said in January that although he doesn’t think the water quality in the area is poor, BJWSA is building the waterline to prepare for the influx of development in the New Riverside area.
“According to [BJWSA’s] statistics and their engineering, [water quality and pressure] is rapidly going to become an issue when some of the other new developments come online,” he said. “They were concerned they won’t have enough volume to meet the needs of the new developments and to better serve the ones that are already online.”
Infrastructure work on the new subdivision is already underway. After Wednesday’s approval, the cleared land will be subdivided and sold to potential home builders.
Prices for homes inside the Cypress Ridge development start in the mid-$200,000s, with floor plans ranging from 1,600 square feet to 3,300 square feet.
