Dunkin’ Donuts is planned for Lady’s Island. Why it’s been held up for a second time
A controversial drive-through coffee restaurant on Lady’s Island has been tabled — for the second time — by the Beaufort County Zoning Board of Appeals, which wants more information on its traffic impact before voting again.
Developer Graham Trask says he’s in discussions with Dunkin’ Donuts about locating at 131 Sea Island Parkway.
“Nobody has signed any documents at this point,” Trask said of Dunkin’ Donuts. “But that’s where we are headed.”
If approved, the coffee restaurant, which would have a drive-through, would be the first on Lady’s Island.
Trask needs a special use permit, but that hasn’t been easy to get. Trask has been before the Zoning Board of Appeals four times. On the last two occasions, including Thursday, the project was tabled.
“I’m fine with it if that’s the process the Zoning Board of Appeals needs to go through,” Trask said of the board’s decision to table the special use permit. “Four of the six (members) have taken on the role of traffic engineer, none of which they are qualified for.”
Traffic has been a central issue in the discussion of the project because it is just west of the intersection of Sea Island Parkway and Sams Point Road. There also have been concerns raised about the design of the drive-through, and whether the project meets requirements for a special use permit in the T4 Neighborhood Center zone.
But Robert Merchant, the county’s Zoning and Planning Department director, said the site plan has been reconfigured with changes to the drive-through, which is now contained to the back of the restaurant. In the view of the staff, Merchant says, issues with drive-through have been resolved.
The restaurant’s impact on traffic, he said, remains a concern.
That’s why county planning staff had recommended that the Board of Zoning Appeals OK the special permit with the condition that Trask complete a traffic impact analysis and follow its recommendations when the project comes in for final review. That study, which already is in the works, would be verified by the county.
But on Thursday, a vote on a motion to approve the special use permit failed in a 3-3 tie. The board then voted to defer a decision until after the county staff reviews the traffic analysis and its recommendations.
Chuck Newton of the Sea Island Coalition, which has criticized the project’s design and the impact on traffic, said he’s pleased board members “recognized the disastrous traffic impact a drive through would create at that site.”
A traffic study, Newton said, will be helpful, but the group still opposes the project, arguing it does not meet standards for a special use permit.
“This particular site is at the worst possible location,” Newton said.
It is located where lanes narrow from four lanes with a center turn to two lanes with a center turn. Other residents who spoke against the coffee shop pointed to long lines of cars at the Dunkin’ Donuts in Beaufort that sometimes spill out onto Boundary Street.
Graham has argued that the project won’t impact traffic and that it’s been unfairly vilified by opponents. Results of the traffic study, he says, will not give board members any ammunition to block the project. After nine months of working with the Zoning Board of Appeals, he hopes to break ground by May, but that will depend on the county and the availability of construction materials.
“Yes, I would have liked to get it approved last night,” Trask said Friday. “Would another month matter in the grand scheme of things? No.”
Merchant, the county’s Zoning and Planning Department director, said recommendations in the traffic study could lead to on-site or off-site changes addressing traffic. The Zoning Board of Appeals is scheduled to meet again Jan. 27.
