May 10, 2016 – This week the club received a very timely message on a topic of interest to us all from our very own President Elect Elect, David Burt, who was pinch-hitting for our scheduled speaker who had to cancel at the last minute. In David’s work with LS3P, he has headed the team working with The Beach Company on re-development of the Sargent Jasper site. At the outset of his talk, David pointed out that the Board of Architectural Review (“BAR”) in Charleston was founded in 1931, making it one of the oldest, if not the oldest such institution in the country. It has been instrumental in preserving the historic nature of downtown Charleston, which makes our community Mecca it is for both tourists and those new residents alike. The City of Charleston Planning and Zoning Departments regulates the use, height, footprint and the like of buildings, but the BAR is charged with ensuring that buildings are in character with neighboring structures.
The site where the Sargent Jasper building is located was originally the site of a saw mill where logs brought down the Ashley were turned into lumber to build many of the homes in Charleston. The site was filled in some 50-60 years ago and shortly thereafter The Beach Company built the Sargent Jasper to provide affordable housing. While the building certainly met that goal, David says no one would consider it great architecture worthy of preservation. As the building has aged, The Beach Company has begun to explore what to do with the site. It held meetings with the neighborhood associations and the general public. In 2014 discussions turned toward creating a planned unit development (“PUD”) for the site. The current structure contains 200 living units, but the zoning regulations in place today would only allow 80 units at its location. Creating a PUD would have potentially allowed a higher volume. This concept was presented to the planning and zoning department in October of 2014, calling for mixed use including residential, retail, office and parking. When news of the PUD was released many local residents and organizations expressed concern. Over 500 people showed up at the hearing and since the legal occupancy for the hearing room was 200, the Fire Marshal shut down the meeting.
Discussions with planning and zoning and the BAR resulted in the development of a design dubbed the “building in the park” and also known as “Plan B”. Its classical style was acceptable to the BAR, but there was concern regarding the height. A shorter design was submitted to the BAR in June 2015, but the BAR denied the design. David says that normally changes recommended by the BAR are supposed to be communicated to the applicant, but this was not done in this case. There is no appeal procedure for BAR decisions and, thus, The Beach Company had no choice but to file a lawsuit in Circuit Court. The case was assigned to Judge Nicholson who quickly ordered the parties to mediate the issues, but the first question was who would be at the table for the mediation. Ultimately several neighborhood groups were involved along with the developer and the city.
In the meantime, The Beach Company had to develop an alternative to Plan B which in an odd quirk of timing has come to be known as Plan A. That plan envisions renovation of the existing structure and addition of other structures on the site. Officials with The Beach Company believe this plan complies with existing zoning, while Plan B would require a change in zoning to create the PUD designation. The Beach Company intends to begin offering the Sargent Jasper for rent.
On April 20, 2016, Judge Nicholson issued his ruling that the BAR exceeded its authority in denying approval of Plan B. Judge Nicholson preserved the constitutionality of the BAR, but how his decision will affect the operation of this board which is so instrumental in the preservation of our city is unclear. The judge’s decision can still be appealed. At this point all that is certain is that some redevelopment of the site is going to happen. Just what that redevelopment will be and when it will begin is still unknown.
— Alex Dallis, Keyway Committee