Pritchardville residents give ‘resounding no’ to optometrist opening office in their area
A property off May River Road in Pritchardsville won’t be rezoned from residential to commercial to allow for an optometrist to open an office after a unanimous vote against it by the Beaufort County Council Monday night.
The rezoning request for 3 Benton Lane fought an uphill battle from the beginning, originally being turned down by the Beaufort County Planning Commission and the Community Services and Land Use Committee.
Dr. Micheal Campbell Jr., the son of Dr. Micheal Campbell Sr., who owns three Optical Solutions locations on Hilton Head Island and in Bluffton, had his eye on the parcel of land in Pritchardville, an unincorporated part of Beaufort County near Palmetto Bluff and New Riverside, for another optometrist office.
But residents of Pritchardville had multiple concerns about the potential rezoning.
“My concern is that, once 3 Benton Lane is rezoned, a host of objectionable uses would be allowed as a matter of right,” said neighbor Felicity Rob during the proposal’s second reading and public hearing last month. “I may find myself raising my child next to a bar or a restaurant with late-night hours ... just a few years down the road when these folks realize that their use is not as profitable as it could be.”
Rezoning the property would allow general retail, gas stations and restaurants as well as medical practices, bars and nightclubs. Worsening traffic along May River Road and the possibility of a chain reaction of rezoning in the area were also concerns.
About 100 people turned out for a community meeting about the property on April 25, according to Councilperson Tab Tabernik. The consensus of the meeting was a “resounding no.”
Although the younger Campbell insisted that, like other locations in his family’s practice, his office wouldn’t be closing any time soon, the council sided with the residents.
“It was clear they don’t want to change the character of the area, and they don’t want this rezoned,” Tabernik said.
Councilperson Tom Reitz, who also attended the community meeting, added support against the rezoning. “How can we do our job if we don’t listen to the people?” he asked.
While the council’s vote was unanimous, the sentiment wasn’t.
Councilperson Paula Brown, who has largely supported the rezoning because of the need for medical facilities in the area, expressed concerns about a petition from those opposed and about signs that made residents aware of the rezoning request.
She inevitably voted against the rezoning anyway.
After the meeting, Brown said she decided to vote no because her sole vote wouldn’t have changed the outcome and that she ended up agreeing with Tabernik and Reitz about listening to the residents.
