Annexation request includes new Fort Mill hotel

Another new hotel could be in the works for Fort Mill.

An annexation request for almost 2.5 acres at Sutton Road and the I-77 northbound exit 83 ramp includes plans for a new, 100-room hotel. Drawings submitted to the town show a Sleep Inn. The plans include a pool and 117 parking spaces.

The annexation came up June 23 among a host of items before the town planning commission. If annexed for a hotel, it would be the third hotel built or announced for construction in Fort Mill. A Hampton Inn off Carolina Place, behind the Lowe’s, opened in mid-June.

“They did show a site plan that had a hotel, and a small building that I believe would be a restaurant,” said James Traynor, planning commission chairman.

If annexed, the latest hotel property would be within the Fort Mill Southern Bypass Corridor Overlay District. The property sits across from the River Crossing business park. Current county zoning allows large-scale commercial or residential uses.

The requested highway commercial zoning would allow mainly commercial or office uses.

The overlay district is a detailed list of requirements for everything from building materials to building elevations and landscaping requirements. Planners and Town Council set the overlay, but thus far haven’t had major projects to come in under it.

“There’s quite a few items in that overlay,” Traynor said.

The planning commission asked questions at the recent meeting and took questions from developers, but didn’t make a formal recommendation for Council.

“We need to come back together when everybody has had a chance to research it a little bit,” Traynor said.

Busy meeting

Other business at the Fort Mill Planning Commission meeting June 23 included:

▪ The planning commission finalized an impact fee and capital needs list recommendation for Council. Council can vote to charge fees on new construction, with money going to fire, park and recreation, municipal and transportation needs. Council will hold two public hearings, likely on July 27 and Aug. 10.

▪ A Lock-It Self Storage wants to put three new self storage buildings on its property at 1399 S.C. 160 E. The company has 11 buildings there now. The addition would bring 28,200 square feet of additional space.

Two buildings internal to the property would be metal panel siding, with metal roofing. Shrubbery and a fence would screen them from the road. The building along S.C. 160 would be more similar to surrounding buildings, with stone or brick.

▪ Owners of more than an acre at 1086 N. Dobys Bridge Road, immediately south of the Walmart Neighborhood Market being constructed at Fort Mill Square, want their property annexed into Fort Mill and rezoned from residential to commercial use. A home sits on-site, as do for sale signs.

Because the property is less than 2 acres, it would have to be zoned similar to an adjacent property already in town. The only adjacent property would be Fort Mill Square, which is highway commercial. The property would come in under the Tom Hall Street Corridor Overlay District.

The property is located in “a critical corridor in Fort Mill’s redevelopment,” according to the planning staff review.

▪ Rustic Labels, at 113 Railroad Ave., wants to rezone less than an acre on its property from local commercial to general industrial use. The label manufacturer could then expand the business and allow additional storage space.

Since the company set up shop in the area, planners marked the area with a mixed use designation on the town’s future land use plan. Over time, the plan is to create an area that will “bring people to downtown to live, work, shop and play,” according to the planing staff review. Staff recommended against the rezoning, because future industrial use could add jobs but would not otherwise bring those employees to the downtown area like mixed-use projects would.

▪ Fort Mill Chiropractic Health Center wants to put a 14-by-36-foot storage building on its property at 306 Tom Hall St. The property is zoned highway commercial, which allows such a building. The property also sits in the Tom Hall Street Corridor Overlay, which prohibits them.

The plan is for a vinyl siding building to match the current office.

▪ Developers of Pecan Ridge submitted a draft preliminary plat for the commission to approve. Pecan Ridge is on Whites Road, north of Waterside on the Catawba. Plans are for 192 homes on almost 75 acres.

▪ The planning commission approved names for roads in Kingsley North to serve Lash Group and LPL Financial. Approved names are Textile Way, Wamsutta Mills Drive, Kingsley Springs Boulevard, Broadcloth Street, Innovation Point and LPL Way.

This story was originally published June 26, 2015 at 3:52 PM with the headline "Annexation request includes new Fort Mill hotel."