Forest Acres defers final vote on Cardinal Newman site redevelopment

Forest Acres officials for months have flirted with a major redevelopment project for the former Cardinal Newman School site on Forest Drive, but they aren’t yet ready to commit.

City Council last month gave initial approval to a Charleston developer’s plan to bring 256 luxury apartments, plus townhomes and retail shopping to the 12-acre lot on the busy commercial corridor between Beltline Boulevard and Trenholm Road.

But officials this month deferred a final vote on the plan until May 10, saying they need to think longer on solutions for Forest Drive’s traffic problems before adding a few hundred more residents to the fold.

“Traffic is the thing,” City Administrator Mark Williams said. “For better or for worse, this is the largest redevelopment parcel on the corridor.

“If the council is going to find a way to approve the development, I think they’re also going to have to come up with a plan that will at least mitigate the traffic impact.”

Forest Drive for years has been maligned for its speeding cars, dangerous left turns and poorly timed traffic lights. About 27,000 cars each day travel the road, which is nearing its 30,000-car capacity.

Officials in the next few weeks will consult with engineering firms to explore possible solutions and how to pay for them.

One possible fix is installing a roughly $3 million adaptive traffic signal system that would link the signals of major Forest Drive intersections to assess and improve traffic flow, Williams said.

City officials also want to learn more about the project’s potential impact on traffic and the effectiveness of several solutions proposed by the developer.

“We don’t want to rush (approving the development) too much without getting a better idea of this thing’s impact on traffic,” Mayor Frank Brunson said.

The Beach Co. of Charleston has said it would offset its traffic impact – estimated at about 2,400 more cars per day – by:

▪  Providing a second left-hand turn lane at the intersection of Forest Drive and Trenholm Road, where traffic sometimes backs up as cars wait to turn

▪  Adjusting a nearby traffic signal for easier left turns out of the proposed development

▪  Limiting access to nearby Gamewell Drive from the development to discourage cut-through traffic

▪  Allowing only right turns at the other exit from the development onto Forest Drive.

Ned Miller, development manager at The Beach Co., said he expects the city eventually will approve the $58 million project.

“Waiting a month is not going to hurt us, as far as this delay,” Miller said. “If it goes much longer ... we can’t wait forever to deliver on this.”

The project’s most vocal opponents, whose concerns mostly center on traffic, are cautious of celebrating the deferment.

“Maybe this deferment until May is a sign that someone is starting to hear our concerns now,” said Anne Reamer, a Forest Acres resident who vowed to push for a safer Forest Drive after her father was killed following a traffic accident in front of Trader Joe’s. “Most of the residents that I’ve talked to have felt that they’re just going to pass it on through anyway. Everyone is very discouraged.”

Courtney Hamilton, another Forest Acres resident, she is “cautiously optimistic” City Council has heard some residents’ concerns.

“Maybe they’re listening to us,” she said, “or maybe they’re just pushing it back until we all forget about it.”

Williams said he isn’t sure “council will be comfortable approving the development” without first identifying viable traffic solutions. But the city can’t wait on a silver bullet fix from the S.C. Department of Transportation, Williams said.

“You can’t rely on the DOT to solve these problems, and if you want to benefit from the solutions, you may have to step up,” Williams said.

Brunson said he’s “pulling for” the project and that it’s preferable to other possible uses for the land, such as a big-box store. “But I’m also hoping to have some solutions for traffic to make everybody happy.”

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Forest Acres defers final vote on Cardinal Newman site redevelopment."