Berkeley County Council on Sept. 28 gave final approval to Lake Village, a 5,500-unit planned development next to Cane Bay Plantation, despite objections from some nearby residents, Live 5 News reported.
Gramling Brothers Real Estate and Development plans the project on about 2,000 acres off U.S. 17A near Cane Bay and the rural Lakewood and Windwood communities, according to Live 5. The units range from single-family homes to commercial space and include some affordable housing. A town center on the northern end of the “Big Lake” would have waterfront shops, restaurants and a public plaza, a Gramling Brothers executive said in an email to The Post and Courier. Nearly half the land would stay as lakes and green space, the newspaper reported.
Under the development agreement, the developer will give the county $10 million for road improvements, Live 5 reported. Ben Gramling, the company’s president, said in July that five connections to U.S. 17A would be built in the earliest phases, The Berkeley Independent reported. A traffic study of the area is to be updated every five years, according to the newspaper.
The developer will also donate about 30 acres for a school and 2.5 acres for a fire and emergency services station, The Berkeley Independent reported. Each home will carry a $1,850 school impact fee and a $500 emergency services fee, and nonresidential space will pay an emergency services fee of 35 cents per square foot, Live 5 reported. County leaders said the agreement will bring more than $50 million in infrastructure investments.
Supervisor Johnny Cribb said the plan replaces a 2006 development agreement that “didn’t provide any funds for public safety, any funds for infrastructure, any funds for schools,” ABC News 4 reported.
“I think if you objectively looked at this development, it is the definition of smart growth,” Cribb said, according to Live 5.
Some residents raised concerns about traffic, flooding and crime. The county expects full buildout to take about 15 to 20 years, and the project still must go through county permitting, Live 5 reported.
