Here’s what new development could be coming to Lake Murray area
Residents on a Chapin road near Lake Murray could see new businesses opening up near their homes, if Lexington County Council approves.
A zoning change could pave the way for new shops, restaurants and offices to open along a stretch of Amicks Ferry Road.
The change would allow for more commercial development on an otherwise residential one-mile stretch of road on a peninsula jutting into the north side of the lake.
Proponents say new development could help protect against other development that could create a glut of new housing — and add traffic to the road that drivers depend on to get them to and from home.
Lexington County Council will hold a public hearing on the rezoning proposal at its next meeting at 6 p.m. on Oct. 13.
County Councilwoman Erin Long Bergeson said she was asked by the Timberlake Country Club and an estate with more than 100 acres that could be sold in the area about expanding the area’s commercial offerings.
Long Bergeson detailed the process in a Facebook post. A hearing on the proposed change had long been postponed during the coronavirus shutdown, and the country club was later able to move forward with opening Fusco’s Market, a combination restaurant and market, on-site, so the zoning change will focus on the potential development of the estate land.
The heirs to the property told Long Bergeson they did not want to sell the 137-acre site for a new housing subdivision, but would need more freedom to allow for other kinds of development.
“Three of the heirs still live on Amicks Ferry, so they don’t want to have a lot of houses either,” she said. “But the family do have a constitutional right to sell their land, and if they have no other options, they’re going to go with a developer.”
Mark Ebert, a resident of the Timberlake area, said he could support more limited commercial development, because he thinks it will mean less traffic than a glut of new housing.
“I’m not a fan of clear-cut development, where they come in and stack houses,” Ebert said.
Growth is a big issue in this exurban community full of people who often move there to get away from more crowded urban areas. Construction of a new elementary school further up Amicks Ferry has sparked some opposition from neighbors, who worry it will encourage more people to settle in their part of the county.
“There are some people who have been here a while who want to continue to live the way they did before,” said Sean Wagner, who moved to the area last year from the St. Louis area. “They want it to stay cornfields and country roads, and that’s not realistic.”
Ebert would not be against small shops or “well-done” restaurants in the area, but he wouldn’t want to see a large grocery chain or big box store move into the area.
“A gas station would not be the end of the world,” he said.
Long Bergeson said on Facebook that a spa had expressed interest in building in the area, but the pandemic had put that project on hold. She had also heard of a wedding venue that could open in the area.
“That’s a use where you would have no traffic until the weekend, and then maybe 200 cars will come in for a day,” she said.
Ebert said the point of zoning is so an area can have “planned growth” in line with what local residents want. Wagner said he would like to see more services for the Amicks Ferry area, whether that’s a doctor or dentist’s office, or a substation for law enforcement or ambulance services. He’s less concerned about what commercial development will mean for the area’s traffic.
“What I think people don’t realize is that, in business, you need to have some inherent traffic,” Wagner said. “Customers are not going to drive 10 minutes out of their way to visit my store... I think we could build more services for the local community.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2020 at 3:08 PM.
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