Nail down details on Riverside project
While the Riverside development, which received initial approval from the Rock Hill City Council on Monday, looks promising, we hope some vital details are worked out before the council gives its final go-ahead.
On Monday, the council voted to annex 32 acres near the Catawba River and across Cherry road from Riverwalk, and to rezone the property for planned development. The $70 million project will include two large apartment and condominium complexes facing the river and 235,000 square feet for stores and restaurants.
Developers and city planners hope that, in addition to adding retail and residential options to a fast-growing part of the city, the project also will create hundreds of jobs. That, of course, will spawn more traffic in the area, but Premiere Design Solutions, the developer, said the worst-case scenario would be an additional 13,000 trips per day.
Another issue regarding cars – namely parking space – has yet to be fully resolved. Current plans would allow for between 1,084 and 1,281 parking spaces.
But city officials say that is about 20 percent fewer spaces than the city usually requires for a development of this size. And the rationale for installing fewer spaces is somewhat suspect.
Premiere Design Solutions claims that many of the residents of the apartments and condos will be people who also work at shops or offices in the Riverside development, so, ostensibly, they wouldn’t need cars. But people use cars for many things other than commuting to work, and there is no reason to think that these residents will own fewer cars than other segments of the community.
Developers say they could add spaces in an underground parking deck if necessary. We hope that option makes it into the master plan.
There also appears to be some uncertainty about how the site for the development will be cleaned up. It reportedly has served as a makeshift dumping ground for years.
City officials say that York County has issued a citation requiring a cleanup, and that will remain in effect even now that the property is being annexed by the city. City officials also say they have no authority to let developers off the hook for the cleanup.
Premiere Design Solutions said it will conduct a phased-in cleanup of the property. That also should be part of the master plan.
Finally, we urge the city to nail down the details on retaining easy access to the river and ensuring that land is set aside for the continuation of the Carolina Thread Trail that would connect with a segment of the trail in Riverwalk. The trail, much of which already has been dedicated, is designed eventually to run all the way from North Carolina to the southern coast of South Carolina.
Premiere Design Solutions has agreed to a perpetual access easement and daily clean-up and maintenance of the trail, as well as a multi-use trail on the east side of Cherry Road. That trail would run from Riverwalk under the U.S. 21 bridge for another 1,500 feet, with access to Riverside’s shopping area.
Developers also have been asked to ensure a future river access road on Dunkins Ferry Road, but discussions have yet to begin on that.
A development such as this featuring quality residential and retail options and adding hundreds of jobs in the bargain is welcome. But we hope all the details have been covered before the council gives its final approval.
This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Nail down details on Riverside project."