Some concerned by Port Royal affordable housing proposal

PORT ROYAL, S.C. (WTOC) - A proposed development in Port Royal has neighbors worrying about the future of their land.

“The uncertainty of what a two or 300 person apartment complex would bring to the area is not something we want to roll the dice on,” business owner Wilson Kirven said.

Kirven owns a company on New Horizon Drive. He said after moving here in 2019, he expected to keep the slow ambience of his new life for at least a few years.

But now, a developer is asking the town of Port Royal to make some changes. At the Joint Metropolitan Planning Commission meeting Monday night, the board recommended town council approve rezoning 3.34 acres on New Horizon Drive to build an affordable housing complex.

Not everyone is happy about the recommendation

Opponents of the development worry that if you build an apartment complex in the middle of this already residential area, it will make the area too congested. In fact, if you cross the two lane street you end up at what is already one of the largest communities in Port Royal.

The complex would have 48 multifamily units. But, despite attaching a study that says the tenants would not impact congestion on the roads, neighbors think bringing that many people to the small road would harm the area.

“It’s a small little road with a nice and quiet ambience. There’s already an apartment complex right down the street, multiple in the same area so I don’t think we want to inundate the whole area with more congestion, more density, just a nice quiet street and I think the congestion from more dense apartment complexes would be way too much for this road to handle.”

Just because the planning commission did approve a zoning change, that doesn’t mean that they are going to be able to start building immediately. In fact, the complex does to have to go to town council before they can even break ground.

Copyright 2021 WTOC. All rights reserved.