Neighbors aren’t happy with plans for Beaufort apartments near hospital, rail trail
Residents of a nearby neighborhood are pushing back against plans for more apartments in northern Beaufort County.
The project is planned on Ribaut Road near Allison Road in Beaufort. The units would be market rate, developer Sam Levin said Friday, and convenient for medical staff at nearby Beaufort Memorial Hospital, staff or students at Technical College of the Lowcountry and within a short walk or bike ride to the Spanish Moss Trail.
Developers, under the name 1026 Ribaut Road LLC, don’t yet have formal building plans. An online petition opposing intrusion into the nearby Mossy Oaks neighborhood warns of a three-story building with hundreds of units.
“The building will loom over single-family residential homes and devastate the privacy, peace and character of Mossy Oaks,” the Change.org petition started by Mariah Robinson reads.
A city public hearing to consider a rezoning request related to the project planned for next week has been postponed due to the coronavirus and hasn’t been rescheduled. Much of the property planned for the project is zoned to allow apartments.
The rezoning request is for a single-family property on Oak Haven Street developers want to buy to incorporate into the project’s layout. The petition contends the transition from a large apartment building to a family neighborhood is inappropriate, while Levin says he is attuned to concerns of nearby residents.
He said developers won’t turn the dead-end Oak Haven Street into a through street for the apartments if nearby residents disapprove. The apartments would be built on what was in part a former mobile home park.
“We are sensitive to the neighborhood,” Levin said. “It is a transition piece of property. We are looking forward to keeping the grand oak trees along Ribaut Road. We think it would be a very nice addition.”
When developers first considered the project in 2017, they anticipated 234 units with open floor plans and high-end finishes. Levin noted the proximity to the hospital’s LifeFit Wellness Center, the rail trail and downtown.
More than 650 people had signed the petition as of Friday afternoon. It asks City Council and the city’s zoning board for a chance to review plans with developers and city officials. Some of the comments posted on the petition questioned the need for more apartments and noted the number of similar developments rising throughout northern Beaufort County, including another apartment project on Pine Court near Ribuat Road and a senior-living facility rising off of Ribaut and First Boulevard.
Developers don’t have a timeline for the apartments and are instead focused on a project on Whitehall on Lady’s Island, Levin said.
