Following the Developer’s Dog and Pony Slide Show and Strong Opposition, the First Parker’s Kitchen Public Hearing Was Continued Until a Later Date.

by Don Moniak
April 25, 2023

Last night, after a three month delay to await a traffic study, Aiken City Council finally conducted the first Public Hearing (Reading) for the proposed Parker’s Kitchen convenience store and fuel station. The meeting ended with Council unanimously voting to continue the meeting to another time pending more information from staff and legal counsel, a better understanding of traffic issues, and examination of a needed deceleration lane on Whiskey Road leading into Stratford Drive.

Council may have also been convinced that any approval at this time might actually cross the high bar of “arbitrary and capricious” and “not a reasonable debate” generally required to overturn any planning and zoning decision in the courts. Every citizen who spoke at the podium expressed strong opposition to this project, even while acknowledging the other two Parker Kitchen projects in Aiken were in suitable locations—the blighted former Dick Smith dealership and the greenfield East Pine Log Road location. “This is not the right place” was a prevailing theme.

The Dog and Pony Show

The hearing began with what can only be described as a dog and pony show. Parker’s Kitchen Daniel Ben-Ysrael presented a ten minute slide introduction and slide show from the 28 minute mark to the 38 minute mark. The presentation included slides of clean stores, happy customers, and top-of-the-mind images such as an impressive old growth veteran oak and a Cedar Waxwing.

That was followed by another ten minutes of question and answer from Council to Ben-Ysreal and colleague Cody Rogers that included a few testimonials from Council members on the quality of the company — which has not been in dispute. Both representatives explained how the development would provide three new entrances to the neighborhoods, but were forced to acknowledge the two new entrances involved hazardous left turns; and the intersection of Powderhouse, Stratford, and Whiskey Roads would still have the only traffic signal.

The reason for the presentation was obvious—controversy. As neighbor Peter Stein—-who was frequently interrupted in defiance of city meeting protocol—put it, even the first neighbor’s meeting “was not positive at all,” and that was followed by a contentious Planning Commission meeting that featured ~15 opposing speakers and zero supporters.

According to City Council’s meticulous meeting minutes, Parker’s Kitchen did not find it necessary to put forth their presentation at any of the previous four Council meetings for the other two Aiken locations; not on April 25 or May 9, 2022; February 27 or March 13, 2023. Both plans sailed through the process with unanimous approval and no negative comments. The presentation was also absent at the January 10, 2023 Planning Commission meeting.

The Citizen Comment Period: Public Safety, Cumulative Effects, Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus, and past ordinances

After twenty minutes of time devoted to the developer, citizens were finally called to the podium. In all, eleven Aiken residents spoke against the plan, and no supporters appeared at the podium. Neighbor Bill Reichart started off the conversation by first describing two recent horrific accidents at the Powderhouse and Whiskey Road intersection that disrupted traffic; before stressing the cumulative impacts of over-development along the Whiskey Road corridor, with each sentence preceded by “add:”

“Add 350 newly approved multi-housing units…apartments 1/4 of a mile away…the Aiken Mall (redevelopment)…the new Powderhouse subdivision…Lulu’s…Lowe’s Foods…Circle K…and now a new gas station.”

Following more comments on safety by neighbor Carol Martin and Jacob Goss-Ellis’ comment that any such development at Gem Lakes and Woodside would be immediately vetoed, neighbor Anthony Agresta presented a legal concept that City Attorney Gary Smith chose not to challenge. After reiterating that the “other two locations are a good fit,” he described why “falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus”—or “deceitful in one” claim, “deceitful in all” claims—applied to this case:

“During the January 10th Planning Commission meeting, Cody Rogers stated there would be two fuel tanker trucks a week. Later in the meeting Mr. Ben-Ysrael said they expect 240,000 gallons/week. Do that math, that is is 28.4 deliveries per month, not two per week. There is a legal concept called falsus in uno, falsus in animus, that I am sure Mr. Smith will agree to, that states false in one, false in all. Either the error was intentional or a mistake does not matter. We did not have access to accurate information. When one item is false, there is an obligation to reevaluate everything, and Council should remand this back to planning.” (1:13 of meeting).

There were no interruptions and questions.

Neighbor Jean Greenwald, who unsuccessfully appealed Council’s approval of the LuLu’s car wash development in 2020, was not deterred by that decision that did not find Council acted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner. Greenwald, who lives ~300 feet from the proposed gas pumps, stated:

“There were certain conditions that were in effect when LuLu’s was approved that were removed.”

She then listed the major concerns of public safety, health, and traffic before stating, “Do your job and protect this community.”

Kelly Cornelius, who has prepared a video to document her points on discrepancies in the LuLu’s and Parker’s Kitchen zoning process, expounded for the alloted five minutes on how past approval conditions that deny car washes, 24-hour stores, and gas stations are still in effect.

“The parcel got rezoned from Limited Professional to Planned Commercial in 2003…the conditions are still on this parcel in question, according to a July 9, 2014 memo from planning director Ed Evans.”

Council appeared unaware of the 2003 ordinance defining limits on the Planned Commercial property. Cornelius’ documentation was cited in Council’s decision deferring a vote on the matter and continuing the process until more information was forthcoming.

It did not end there. Aiken Citizen Luis Rinaldini described how overdeveloped for “development’s sake” Whiskey Road is, how out-of-town developers profit while Aiken residents pay, and asked Council to “keep in mind and look after the people who already here.”

Bad Math

In addition to the conflicting math provided by the developer, Mayor Osbon added a puzzling calculation.

During the frequent interruptions of Mr. Stein early in the comment period, the issue of distance from the intersection to the gas station entrance arose. After Stein stated 420 feet was not much distance, Mayor Osbon described bumper to bumper traffic as a reasonable, safe situation:

“420 feet is not close (to the intersection. If you use 10 feet per car, you’d have 42 cars that could fit.”

In reality, the average car length is now about 14.7 feet, meaning that bumper to bumper traffic would involve fewer than 30 cars. If each car had one car length of space, which is less than the two-second rule, a safer, though not safe, number of cars would be closer to about 14 cars.

These estimates exclude passenger trucks (average of 17.5 feet), the daily flow of delivery trucks, and 3-5 fuel tankers per week, which might bring the safe amount of vehicles on a 420 foot stretch of road to fewer than ten.

After the debate and constant interruptions and arguments by Council, Stein ended with the statement, “We should rename Powderhouse Road Powerkeg Road.”

Mayor Osbon responded, “Very clever Peter, Very clever.” (1:06) Whether the statement can be perceived as complimentary, sardonic, or a mix of the two, is up to the viewer.