Real estate developer RealtyLink received a recommendation from the planning and development committee last week in its quest to build a three-story self-storage facility in Greenville, S.C. The county council will vote on the project at its Aug. 21 meeting.

The proposal for the 2.5-acre parcel at the intersection of Batesville and Woodruff Roads calls for the construction of a 105,000-square-foot building behind the Firestone Complete Auto Care center. No one from the Five Forks community spoke against the project during the July 30 subcommittee meeting or at a zoning hearing held in mid-July, according to the source.

Although the project is garnering support, the county’s planning staff and commission previously considered rejecting it because it didn’t meet several county requirements. These related to the building size and an insufficient landscape buffer between the facility and neighboring properties. The county had approved a single-story development for the parcel nine years ago, the source reported.

The original self-storage development included a single-story, 35,000-square-foot building. The new plans call for a 38-foot-high building featuring ornamental stone and brick on the exterior and a flat roof. The property would also contain 20 parking spaces.

“It would be a much larger building than in the [planned development] or surrounding area,” said Alan Willis, the county's principal planner.

About 30 percent of the facility’s grounds would include landscaping, specifically along the back of the building, which abuts a 20-foot sewer-line easement, said Jack Jamison, who co-owns RealtyLink with Neil Wilson. “It will be a first-class building architecturally,” he added.

Lynn Ballard, chairman of the planning and development committee, noted that several neighboring buildings had comparable roof heights and the sewer easement could impede landscaping.

The county staff also recommended moving the building up 10 feet to allow for a landscaped buffer at the rear of the property. They also expressed concern about the lack of architectural details on the building's east, north and west sides. The planning and development committee didn’t discuss these topics but rather focused on the impact the storage facility could have on the area’s traffic. Woodruff Road has gained a 20 percent increase in traffic since 2011, from 17,400 cars a day to 22,300, the source reported. “We've got to help with that entire situation,” Ballard said, adding that self-storage was a good option.

Headquartered in Greenville, RealtyLink is a commercial real estate development company specializing in retail and restaurant development. It also has offices in Birmingham, Ala.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Milwaukee; and North Charleston, S.C. The company has developed more than 1,000 nationally known restaurants and retail establishments throughout the Southeast.

Source:
Greenville News, Five Forks Storage Units on Woodruff Road Expose County Ambivalence on Buffer Rule