Here’s where Rock Hill could grow by 25 acres and add new businesses.
Rock Hill may soon grow by 25 acres, with an auto lot and shopping planned. The city also may add some new types of residences for sites already in the city.
The city planning commission met earlier this month where the group recommended two annexations. The final decision on each comes from Rock Hill City Council. That group will hear the cases Feb. 24.
Almost 11 acres at 891 Albright Road would come into the city with plans for a car lot and shopping center.
“The property is actually under contract,” said property agent Wes Tuttle. “We do have an interested buyer who wants to do an automotive car lot, and also another retail strip center.”
The issue is, there aren’t water and sewer connections now. Those utilities are across the street. Bringing the property into the city and rezoning it would access utilities and suit the proposed buyer’s planned use, Tuttle said, or any other future developer.
“We want to try to help spur development in this area, and with this zoning we think it’ll be more attractive,” he said.
The vacant site is off Albright right beside the Colonial Shopping Center, across Albright from Jones Avenue Extension and Briarcliff Road.
A separate annexation involves almost 15 acres between Farrow Drive and McConnells Highway. The site is just south of the Meadow Lakes subdivision, with West End Baptist Church to the east. About half the property sits in a flood plain and would remain as buffer space.
Plans there involve a home and possible future subdivision with four lots. The home and possible future homes could become part of Meadow Lakes.
Another planning commission decision could impact what types of new residences come to the city. Proposed zoning ordinance amendments would make it easier to build smaller scale rental properties.
Zoning changes from 2015 created new standards for rentals and attached homes. Those amendments focused on large-scale projects like apartment complexes and issues from location to look. The standards made it difficult to build a small grouping of duplexes, a quadruplex or similar structures.
Proposed changes now would create a residential infill use to set standards for some of those potential uses.
“This would be a different use type,” said Leah Youngblood, city planning and zoning manager.
Small-scale rental units could in places be used as affordable housing. Youngblood said her department was given clear direction from city council that affordable housing shouldn’t mean low quality.
“They do not want us to sacrifice architectural standards in the name of affordable housing,” she said.
Youngblood pointed out several possible examples of what the new rules might involve, including one unit at about 2,200 square feet.
“That’s modest, right, but it still has enough architectural detail to be something anyone could be proud to live in,” she said. “And that’s what we’re shooting for.”
Like the annexations, the zoning code changes would require city council approval.
