Controversial downtown Beaufort apartment project moves forward. What’s next?
A special exception needed by a developer to build a controversial three-story apartment building in downtown Beaufort was OK’d by the Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday.
The 3-2 vote came after a few hours of testimony from residents. Most blasted the project for being too big for quaint and historic downtown Beaufort. It would feature 19 two-bedroom apartment homes and retail.
In contrast, the city and developer 303 Associates said the $7.5 million project fits with the surrounding area and meets requirements for an exception.
“We feel they did not really hear the concerns,” Lise Sundrla, director of museum and preservation programs for the Historic Beaufort Foundation, which opposes the project, said after the meeting.
She argued the project had changed from plans previously approved by the Historic District Review Board, with a more prominent projecting tower and porches added. With the scale now altered, she said, it calls into question the earlier approval by the HDRB board and whether the ZBOA can even review it.
Walter Nestor, an attorney for 303 Associates, said afterward that 303’s goal is to develop a project that contributes to the community. He said the project has changed in response to input from the HDRB.
The HDRB will take final action Sept. 8.
About 70 people attended the ZBOA meeting with 15 people speaking against the project and two in favor.
Complaints centered on the building’s three-story size and its location within an area considered the emotional core of the city’s downtown National Historic Landmark District designation.
“It’s huge,” said Kim Poovey, who lives on Scott Street. “It’s out of mass. It’s wrong. It doesn’t fit down there.”
She believes the city is in danger of losing its National Historic Landmark District designation from the National Park Service if the project is built.
Others worried that approving the plan will lead to exceptions being granted for other projects in the vicinity being proposed by Dick Stewart of 303 Associates and the Beaufort Inn.
A parking garage and hotel also are in the works.
The large projects are the subject of a lawsuit filed against 303, the Beaufort Inn — also owned by Stewart — and the city.
“You can’t put the genie back in the bottle once it’s built,” said resident Yancey O’Kelley, another resident who spoke against it.
The three-story building is planned for 211 Charles St. at its intersection with Port Republic Street. The current one-story building would be demolished.
The 9,311-square-footprint of the project is not bigger than the existing building. However, a special exception is needed because the frontage of both the existing and proposed building along Port Republic Street is 133 feet long.
City rules say buildings with more than 100 feet of frontage within the historic district must be treated as large footprint buildings and require a special exception.
Senior planner Dan Frazier said city planners concluded that the project does jibe with existing land uses in the surrounding area, reflecting a mix of uses with an integrated streetscape.
The city’s comprehensive plan, he noted, encourages development with more density for the downtown. A conceptual drawing in that plan shows a three-story building with a roof-top patio, he noted.
The project along Charles Street would be “live-work,” meaning it would have commercial on the first floor and four apartment houses on the upper levels.
There would be 15 apartment homes on the Port Republic Street side.
Exceptions can be approved when it is reasonably determined there will be no negative impact on surrounding properties or general public, Frazier said.
Why not make it smaller?
Chairman Josh Gibson asked 303 Associates why it would not just change its design or make the building smaller so it does not need the exception?
A special situation, Gibson said, usually is needed for a special exception. An example he gave was a property owner needing to cut down a beautiful oak tree unless they get a break from the rules as written.
“There is always something previously there that we are resolving,” he said.
In this case, Gibson said, 303 Associates is not offering an explanation why it needs the exception other than to say, “We can make more money by doing it this way,” a comment that drew applause.
Nestor, the 303 Associates attorney, said it is possible to build two smaller buildings to meet the 100-foot frontage threshold, which would be more expensive, but the current plan for one building also is a better design.
ZBOA member Ken Hoffman argued the applicant met conditions required for the special exception and disagreed with many in the audience that the building was “large-scale” and not in harmony with the surrounding area.
“Unfortunately the things we love are the things bringing people here,” Hoffman said. “I just don’t think this type of project is going to destroy what we love so much.”
Hoffman also noted that Beaufort’s central core desperately needs apartments. Occupancy rates are well over 90 percent and average rents more than $1,000 a month, he said.
The cost of monthly rent for the apartments isn’t known yet, the developers said.
Gibson introduced a motion to deny the special exception. It failed 3-2. Gibson and Tim Wood voted yes. Voting no were Kevin Blank, Marc Sviland and Hoffman.
A motion to approve the exception was backed by Hoffman, Blank and Sviland and opposed by Gibson and Wood.
This story was originally published August 10, 2021 at 11:09 AM.
