BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – A Lowcountry builder wants to develop a subdivision in the ultra rural Beaver Dam community near the Macedonia area in Berkeley County. However, not everyone who lives nearby embraces the future growth.
TC Property Investors, LLC, which is owned by Mike Frank of Bonneau, purchased 689.49 acres of land situated along a large, unpaved portion of Walleye Road for $2 million in early May 2021 from the Moncks Corner-based real estate investment firm, JohnCo, LP, according to Berkeley County property records.
With the help of his real estate agent, Frank is selling 5 to 25-acre lots – 15 in total (for now) – with prices starting at $60,000. Most of those lots, which are zoned Flex-1, have already been sold.
“Some people have bought two lots. Some people have bought three of those lots,” John Joe Salazar with Keller Williams Realty told Berkeley County’s planning commission last month. “Most people do have intentions of building a house but not all of them. Some of them have intentions for strictly recreational.”
Salazar said his client is looking to sell a large portion of the 689-acre tract along the unpaved portion of Walleye Road adjacent to the Francis Marion National Forest in two phases, which would result in approximately 45 lots.
Walleye Rd.mp4 from JC Lopez on Vimeo.
“We’re not even marketing the top hand portion of this property just because we did not realize that it would become the red tape that that it has become,” Salazar told the planning commission.
A Request For A Waiver
A Berkeley County ordinance concerning proposed subdivisions requires that an access road be paved when it will serve more than 15 lots.
On July 27, Frank and his real estate agent met publicly with members of the county’s planning commission to request a waiver of the ordinance’s private roadway requirements. Frank wants the planning commission to grant him the ability to keep the road unpaved. During the meeting, he told county leaders he intends to maintain the road but wants it to be gravel, stating that it would be cost effective for him and safer for the community.
“That road is over 1.25 mile long, and right now people drive up down that road at 60 mph. When it’s paved, how fast are they going to go? My grandchildren are going to be playing on that road. If we asphalt it, at 80 miles per hour, what’s going to happen?” Frank asked the planning commission.
Board members, however, were not quick to approve the waiver request at the initial meeting.
“You said that it would be cheaper, but a financial disadvantage cannot be the reason [to request a waiver],” planning commission member, Lynn Hoover, commented. “I’ve been on the planning commission for 23 years, and we’ve never had anyone ask to do a complete subdivision with this many lots on an unpaved road.”
According to the commission, Frank did not meet the conditions, which includes safety standards, for the waiver to be approved at the time.
Commission Member James Sineath asked Frank if he had clear plans that show how he intends to improve the road along with the costs associated with it.
“No, sir,” Frank responded. “John Cumbie [who owned the land] passed this winter. Deryel Cumbie came to me and offered me this land, I had to make a decision in a week. Things are in progress. As soon as the sign went up, people were putting in on the property. We’re talking with an engineering company on what they have to do to keep the road maintained.”
In the end, the commission unanimously agreed to table the waiver request, taking no action at the July 27 meeting.
So what’s next? According to the county, planning and zoning staff will update the public meeting signage with the updated planning commission meeting date and time should Frank decide to proceed with his waiver request.
Some Residents Oppose Frank’s Waiver To Keep The Road Unpaved
Seven people attended last month’s planning commission to oppose Frank’s request for a waiver. One of them was Gail Roberts who lives down Douglas Acres Lane, which is located off the unpaved portion of Walleye Road.
According to Roberts, the road is not currently maintained and hasn’t been for years. If Frank intends to increase traffic with the proposed subdivision, she told county officials that she wants the road properly built and supports the road being paved.
“When it rains, it just washes the road away, and we can never get anyone to fix it,” she told planning commissioners. “It needs to be ditched. It needs to have culverts. You can’t pass on the road without going into the grass on both sides.”
Allen Brazier, who also lives down Douglas Acres Lane, echoed Roberts’ concerns.
“If you rock it, it’s going to be the same way. It ain’t going to change. I’ve been out there for 23 years. When it rains, at the head of Walleye Road, it floods, he said.
While residents said they understand that growth is inevitable, they believe infrastructure, such as roads, has to be able to handle the load.
“To be honest, I’m not sure how he can even sell those lots before the road is up to code,” said Marc Cerino, another resident who calls the Beaver Dam community home.
Closed Off Access To The Unpaved Portion Of Walleye Road Worries Some Residents
For decades, residents have traveled the unpaved portion of Walleye Road that intersects Beaver Dam Road as a shortcut to get primarily to Hwy. 41 – until recently when a yellow gate was put in place to prevent vehicles from passing through.
“When I bought the property, we researched and found out that I do own the road. It’s a private road, and I plan on possibly building my retirement home way in the back on the 500 acres,” Frank told the planning commission last month.
Most residents had always assumed that the unpaved portion of Walleye Road was owned and maintained by the U.S. Forest Service.
“That property [road] has never been owned by the United States government,” said Jeremiah Zamora with the U.S. National Forest Service.
According to the county, at one point, the U.S Forest Service had a prior right of way easement of 40 feet in width, recorded in 1988, between the prior owner, International Paper. This gave the USFS the right of maintenance of Walleye Road; however, the agreement has since expired and the agency hasn’t maintained the road in quite some time.
Ultimately, it is up to Frank to maintain the road.
However, a gate recently put in place doesn’t sit well with neighbors who’ve used that road for years and worry about a longer travel time.
“It’s 4.5 miles to my friend’s house using that road. It is 18 miles going around,” said Dean Yates who has lived near Walleye Road for 51 years. “And if he closes the road, the owner of the first 200 feet has the right to close that also, so he [Frank] can drive around also.”
Yates said he is currently talking with a lawyer to see what, if anything, can legally be done to keep the road open to the public.
“He [the attorney] said that when you buy land with a through road on it, it doesn’t make it your private road. And with the road being over 100 years old and traveled a lot with other houses down further that he nor the county can cut it off,” said Yates.
On Sunday, Yates also launched an online petition on Change.org in hopes of keeping the road open to the public.
“Gating off this road not only affect residents and land owners of Beaverdam Community, but residents from our surrounding counties as well. For our community, many residents use the road as a way of daily access to work. Walleye road helps to limit traveling through heavy traffic on 17-A, Bethera Road, and through Jamestown with limited access points onto Hwy. 41,” a portion of the petition reads.
When The Berkeley Observer asked the county if Frank could legally close the unpaved portion of Walleye Road to the public, the county responded with this statement:
“The access is private; therefore, any concerns or questions about through-access will need to be handled in a civil capacity (among neighbors),” the county said. “Please note that the county does not maintain or control any portion of Walleye Road. The paved portion is state-maintained. The gate is on private property and the U.S. Forest Service maintains the dirt portion.”
Video of the July 27 planning commission meeting:
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