Parking Lots as Open Space and Converting Residential to Commercial

The 100-acre Village at Woodside development has been classified by the City of Aiken as “Planned Residential” zoning since 2005. From 2001-2005 the development was part of the larger Woodside Plantation, which is also zoned Planned Residential. In its most recent proposed Concept Design amendment, Village at Woodside’s developer continues classifying paved parking lots as non-commercial space, and claims a proposed shopping center with 339 parking spaces and fronting Silver Bluff Road is primarily for its residents. The City of Aiken’s Planning Department and Planning Commission have accepted these proposals, and Aiken City Council is poised to make the final approval. (Update: City Council unanimously approved the development on November 28, 2022).

“Planned Residential”

Planned residential is a special use district within the City of Aiken’s Zoning Ordinance, described as a flexible and creative class of zoning:

“The Planned Residential (PR) District permits greater flexibility and more creative and imaginative design for the development of residential areas than is generally possible in other residential districts while potentially allowing a limited range of nonresidential uses primarily serving the residents of the PR project. In exchange for there typically being no minimum lot sizes and widths or minimum setbacks, and a variety of housing types, the developer gives City Council control of the details of a proposed project through approval of a concept plan. The District promotes more economical and efficient use of the land, a harmonious variety of housing types, a higher level of amenities, compatibility with surrounding uses, preservation of natural features and open space, and the interconnection of trails and sidewalks.”

Some design standards in the Planned Residential category that are prone to creative manipulation include:

• A maximum of five percent of the total area is “permitted to be devoted to uses other than residential and open space, but there is no entitlement to any commercial or institutional use.” 
• Any commercial development “shall be designed primarily to serve the residents of the Planned Residential project.” 
• Twenty percent of single family residential areas, and forty percent of multifamily residential, must be devoted to “open space;” and half of this must be improved for recreational use. (1)

The Village at Woodside was separated from Woodside Plantation in 2005, after Woodside land holding company Sidewood Development, LLC transferred more than ninety-three acres of property to Silver Bluff Development Corporation— which subsequently became the developer of record.

Since 2005, Silver Bluff Development has deeded 14.5 acres of its property to two property owner associations, retained 33 acres, and sold the remainder to residents and businesses. One-third of property owner association lands consist of paved parking lots or roads.

Since its inception, area residents have voiced concerns about the scale of commercial development at the Village; and the prospect of the undeveloped stretch of Silver Bluff road devolving into a congested area like Whiskey Road. Some city officials joined with developers to calm concerns by portraying planned commercial development as limited:

• “The developers had stated that 69% of the commercial area will be green space and not developed.  Approximately 30 acres will be developed in that section.” (Aiken City Manager Roger DeLuc, June 11, 2001 City Council Meeting Minutes)
• ” The commercial area would be more like 21.4 acres rather than 30 acres” (Aiken Mayor Fred Cavanaugh, June 11, 2001).
  
  Commercial Space Without Parking Lots?
  
  Due to the five percent commercial use rule, The Village at Woodside is allowed by the City to have a total of 229,000 square feet of commercial space, or 5.25 acres. The Village at Woodside has minimized its total commercial space through the loophole of deeding commercial parking lots to the Woodside Village Master Neighborhood Association.
  
  Under state law, “the special valuation of homeowners’ association property shall not result in any homeowners’ association property being valued at a rate less than five hundred dollars an acre.”(2) These lands held by property owner associations are classed as “common areas” by the Aiken County Assessor’s Office. This classification applies whether the property is an open field, a recreational trail or a busy, paved parking lot.
  
  In its most recent Concept Plan amendment, the Village provided a listing of commercial properties in Schedule A (3). All but one property, the maintenance building, involve only the square footage of buildings, which collectively total 189,000 square feet. While Village at Woodside breaks down its commercial space to the square foot, its concept plan fails to break down the 37 acres it claims as “open space.” (4)
  
  However, the three paved parking lots that service businesses are not categorized as commercial space. If these 4.5 acres of parking lots are considered, the total commercial area more than doubles. These parking lots are owned by the Woodside Village Master Neighborhood Association, are categorized by the county as ‘common ground,” and appraised at the standard rate of $500 per acre. The total appraised value of the paved “common areas” is less than $2500. Thus, the POA’s annual tax bill for each parking area is about ten bucks.

Aiken County does not categorize these “common area” paved parking lots as improvements; unlike the approach in most commercial developments where pavement is considered an improvement often appraised at a rate of $75,000 to $90,000 per acre. For example, down the road at Center South Shopping Center, the 6.2 acre paved parking area is appraised at close to $580,000; as compared to the less than $2500 total appraisal for Village at Woodside parking lots. In downtown Aiken, the improvement value of a 0.3 acres of pavement in a parking lot owned by R&O Enterprises, LLC (Agent Rick Osbon) is appraised at $25,000.

While the Village at Woodside developer is not unique in exploiting this tax loophole, it is unique in presenting the illusion that commercial parking lots owned by its property association somehow constitute open space within a planned residential development.

This trend will continue if Aiken City Council approves the latest annexation and design change. The newest proposed addition to the commercial total, situated in a 4.6 acre proposed annexation parcel, is also the largest—a 60,000 square foot shopping center composed of a 47,240 square-foot grocery store and seven 1,400 square-foot shops. Again, only the buildings are considered part of the commercial space equation, leaving the large, multi-acre, 339-space parking lot and road system in the default category of open space.

The proposal also includes other infringements on the open space concept. Silver Bluff Development has labeled buffer areas along Silver Bluff Road as “open space,” all future, proposed commercial development will require the clearcutting of approximately fourteen acres of currently undeveloped, real open space, and the new shopping center will destroy an existing trail and fragment the interconnection of trails and sidewalks. (5)

The Planned Residential Shopping Center

Village at Woodside has promised its residents its own grocery store since 2005. In every amendment to its concept plan, the grocery store was always listed as 20,000 square feet, and its location was always presumed to be in the Village, not facing Silver Bluff Road. Beginning in 2001, in order to better maintain the rural, residential character of the area, developers also promised no commercial development along and fronting Silver Bluff Road.

The 20,000 square-foot promise continued through Feburary, 2022. Seven months later Silver Bluff Development announced that it had attracted a grocer who would build a 48,000 square foot “speciality grocery store” with seven adjacent shops of 1400 square feet each, a three-fold increase over what was promised and approved for seventeen years.

Even though the planned shopping center with a large grocery store fronts Silver Bluff Road, is one-third of a mile from the nearest resident, a half-mile from the center of the residential development, and contains more parking spaces (339) than allowable residential units (318), Silver Bluff Development and Peach Properties insist that its shopping center will primarily serve residents of Village at Woodside, and thereby meet the requirements of Planned Residential zoning.

It should be clear that the developers are exploiting the Planned Residential category to avoid the visual of converting an area zoned residential for decades by Aiken County into a commercial shopping center. This distortion of the zoning concept is further seen in updated drawings in the Design Concept plan which exclude adjacent neighborhoods across the road and behind the proposed shopping center, and present the Village at Woodside as an isolated, stand-alone community.

FOOTNOTES

(1) Section 10 of the City of Aiken Zoning Ordinance defines “open space” as:

“OPEN SPACE: Outdoor or unenclosed area on the ground accessible for outdoor living, recreation, pedestrian access, or landscaping. Open space shall not include parking areas, driveways, deck or terrace areas, utility or service areas, or any space with a dimension of less than six feet in any direction.”

Section 4.2.6(G)(5) of the The City of Aiken Zoning Ordinance sets the following conditions for Open Space in Planned Residential areas:

“a. All open space areas shall be held in common for the enjoyment of the residents of the development or dedicated to the City for the use and enjoyment of the general public.

i. A minimum of one-half of the required open space area shall be improved for passive and active recreational use.

ii. Required open space shall be in addition to any required landscape, buffer, or setback areas required for individual uses with the development.

b. The portion of the project composed predominantly of detached single-family dwelling units must have at least 20 percent open space. The portion of the project composed predominantly of multifamily residential units must have at least 40 percent open space. The portion of the project composed predominantly of nonresidential development must have at least the open space required in the PC District. City Council may vary the standards of this section to allow for creative design. (Ord. 09122011C)

c. Common open space required by these regulations shall be developed in accordance with the following.

i. The amount of open space required shall not include land area devoted to other uses, including buildings, except for recreational structures.

ii. Common open space shall be used for amenity or recreational purposes. The uses proposed for the common open space must be appropriate to the scale and character of the development considering its size, density, expected population, topography, and the number and type of dwellings to be provided.

iii. Common open space is intended to serve as a community amenity, providing focal points for the development (including squares, plazas, or greenways), as well as passive and active recreational space that serves the needs of the residents. Residential development within the PR project is intended to have a close visual relationship to the provided open space.

iv. Common open space must be suitably improved for its intended use, but common open space containing natural features, existing trees, and groundcover worthy of preservation may be left unimproved.

v. The site planning of the PR project shall provide open space which provides for internal connectivity and is useable by the residents. For the purposes of this Section, parcels under 25 feet in width or located without access by residents shall not be counted as open space.

vi. Open space should connect with similar open spaces on adjacent properties in order promote an interconnected network of greenways and trails.

vii. The buildings, structures, and improvements proposed in the common areas shall conserve and enhance the amenities of the common open space.

viii. Proposed development staging shall provide for coordination of the improvement of the common open space and the construction of dwelling units in the PR project.

ix. Legal instruments as provided under the Horizontal Property Act of South Carolina shall govern the permanent retention and maintenance of any common open space not dedicated to the City. A description of such lands shall be recorded with the proper authorities.”

(2) SC 12-43-227 defines state property tax requirements.

Woodside is not alone in exploiting this homeowners association loophole for tax purposes. There are paved parking areas all across Aiken County that are appraised at $500 per acre because they are owned by a not-for-profit property owners assocation; even though the commercial buildings or residential complexes that are served are commercial for-profit.

For example, the 5.65 acre parking lot of the Aiken Regional Medical Center’s medical office building across from the hospital is owned by a POA and is appraised for $2825. In contrast, the paved, “improved” parking area at Aiken Regional Medical Center is appraised for nearly $600,000.

(3) Schedule A. All figures are in square feet.

(4) The Village at Woodside provides detailed accounting of commercial space and residential units, but “open space” is simply identified as “37 acres,” with no subsequent, detailed accounting.

In the most recent version of the Concept plan, the proposed “Village Inn” hotel is removed from the commercial accounting and added to the residential totals; and the 20,000 square foot grocery store is replaced by the much larger shopping center.

(5) Some open space that is identified on the Concept Design map is the buffer between commercial developments and Silver Bluff Road, as the example below shows.

Future development will require approximately fourteen acres of existing undeveloped, forested land to be clearcut and converted to buildings or parking areas.