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Question 003

What is the story Verdier Plantation (opposite 170 gate)?

Answer 003

Island Packet

Bluffton gets downzoning
Published Monday, October 14th, 2002

To The Packet:

I read with dismay the subheading on your Oct. 10 article entitled, "Town (of Bluffton) OKs annexation of Verdier Plantation." Highlighting traffic trips in light of the 1-cent sales tax issue verges on irresponsible.

We stress the following, which resulted in a downzoning of the property from the county's zoning:

Prior to submitting the annexation petition, the applicant was told the town would consider its property only if a reduction in traffic resulted. The traffic assessment demonstrates a potential research and development center of 460,000 square feet of office space and 520,000 square feet of high-technology industrial space would generate 8,261 daily vehicle trips and 939 peak-hour trips. The town's approval of 200,000 square feet of commercial space and 510 residences produces a reduction of 1,600 daily vehicle trips and 580 peak-hour trips.

Island Packet

Town OKs annexation of Verdier Plantation
New development expected to generate 6,600 vehicle trips a day

BY CAROL WEIR, The Island Packet
Published Thursday, October 10th, 2002

BLUFFTON -- Bluffton is a bigger town this morning, after Town Council voted Wednesday to annex Verdier Plantation.

The 125-acre parcel, on the east side of S.C. 170 across from the entrance to Sun City Hilton Head, will be developed by a Florida company. It abuts the Buckwalter tract to the east.

Council voted 3-0 to approve the annexation, a developer agreement and planned unit development zoning for the property. Emmett McCracken and Lucille Mitchell were absent.

Longview Village Development Co. of Palm Coast, Fla., is in the process of buying the property from DJL Associates. The sale is scheduled to be finalized Nov. 22, representatives of both parties have said.

As planned, the development will have 95 patio homes, 136 town houses, 216 condominiums in three-story buildings and 60 units above commercial space that will be either offices or residences, depending on market conditions, according to documents on file at Town Hall. The residential portion will be gated.

The development also will include 200,000 square feet of commercial space, including offices and retail, and a 25,000 square-foot building with a clubhouse, gym, spa and business center.

The developer will donate right-of-way for a 10-foot leisure trail and the planned future widening of S.C. 170. The company will build the leisure trail and put in a traffic signal, if warranted.

The project will generate an estimated 6,600 vehicle trips per day, according to documents on file at Town Hall, and will have two entrances on S.C. 170 -- one full access across the from the Sun City entrance and one permitting only right turns to enter and leave the neighborhood.

As stated in the development agreement, The Village at Verdier will pay $44,000 a year for five years to the Town in administrative fees.

"This money is mostly to cover the cost of providing them with police protection," Mayor Hank Johnston said before the meeting.

Starting on the sixth anniversary of the development agreement, Verdier will begin paying $70,000 per year for the next 10 years in lieu of taxes. Because the land is part of the New River tax increment financing district, the town won't receive taxes from the property during the life of the TIF district.

Tax increment financing captures rising tax revenue from new development in the district and uses the money to pay back construction bonds. The county is using the district to build a University of South Carolina at Beaufort campus off U.S. 278.

The developers also will pay fees for each building constructed, which vary with the square footage.

"The development fees are concurrent with the Buckwalter tract and the Jones tract," Johnston said.

In Bluffton, annexations since 1998 have increased the size of the former square-mile town to more than 30,000 acres.

[ ... ], other topics omitted, Ed.

-- material taken from Island Packet Online,  2002/10/10

Carolina Morning News

Another landowner wants to be annexed

BLUFFTON: Verdier Plantation, as planned, would consist of 450 homes and apartments and 225,000 square feet of commercial space.

Bluffton's annexation spree, on hold for a couple of years now, fired up again earlier this month when the owners of the 125-acre Verdier Plantation petitioned to join the town.

Verdier Plantation, just east of Sun City on S.C. 170, would be home to 450 or so homes and apartments and 225,000 square feet of mixed commercial usage, according to plans filed with the town.

Those plans are on the agenda for Wednesday night's Bluffton Town Council meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. Head town planner Pam McFarland said the project is expected to receive first reading by title only -- a mere formality that opens it up for more in-depth discussion -- and then be sent to the town's formal Annexation Negotiating Committee.

McFarland said the final reading on the annexation has been tentatively scheduled for the Town Council's Oct. 9 meeting, although that could change.

The property, a pentagon-shaped parcel southeast of McGarvey's Corner, is zoned by the county as "research and development," which allows for "test plants" and laboratories, but not housing. The "planned unit development" zoning requested by the developers would allow homes to be built.

The developers, the Village Development Co., say in their plans that Verdier Plantation would be a "high-technology, mixed-use community," home to 450 or so commercial buildings, apartments, patio homes and townhomes.

"They may not get all this, but it's a place to start the discussions," McFarland said.

McFarland said it's really too soon to talk details, since the master plan submitted by the developers doesn't have many. Those will come out in the upcoming meetings with the Annexation Negotiating Committee in late August and September.

The annexation, should the town approve it, would be the sixth major acquisition by the town since late 1998.

Seeking to control the growth on undeveloped land around it, the Town Council annexed the 20,000-acre Palmetto Bluff and 630-acre Shults Tract that November. It followed that with the 5,680-acre Buckwalter Tract and the 4,403-acre Jones Tract. Bluffton Village, at 29 acres, was the most recent major annexation.

The town's acreage has shot up from one square mile to about 50. More than 18,900 homes have already been permitted for the land.

Reporter Rob Dewig can be reached at 837-5255, ext. 107.

-- material taken from Carolina Morning News on the Web, 2002/08/12

Island Packet

Annexation petition before town

BY CAROL WEIR, The Island Packet
Published Wednesday, August 14th, 2002

BLUFFTON -- A Florida company is petitioning to make 125-acre Verdier Plantation near Sun City Hilton Head part of Bluffton.

When Town Council meets tonight, it will hear first reading on the annexation petition, master plan and proposed zoning for the parcel.

According to documents on file at Town Hall, Village Development Co. of Palm Coast, Fla., is in the process of buying the property from DJL Associates. Village Development couldn't be reached for comment Tuesday.

As planned, the development would have about 450 houses, town homes and apartments and 225,000 square feet of commercial space, including offices and retail.

The parcel currently holds the Beaufort County zoning designation of research and development, which permits offices, laboratories, commercial day-care centers and other uses but not homes. Bluffton's planned unit development zoning, which the town's planning staff is recommending, does permit residential uses.

Town Council will be asked tonight to recommend members for a new annexation committee. After the first reading of the Verdier Plantation petition, the project will be sent to the new annexation committee, which will draft a developer agreement.

The council is scheduled to take a final vote on the annexation petition at its Oct. 9 meeting, but that date could change, said community development director Pam McFarland.

Annexations since 1998 have increased the size of the former square-mile town to more than 30,000 acres.

-- material taken from Island Packet Online,  2002/08/14

Material  edited for WWW presentation, Steve Koehl].  Revised: March 22, 2004 .