1 week Ago
The Aiken City Council won't be considering a plan to build a transitional tiny home community on Dyches Road on April 28. The applicant, Aiken County Homeless Housing, requested their application be delayed to a later meeting, City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh said. Aiken County Homeless Housing's application asks the City Council to rezone two properties and to approve a concept plan for a 39-unit tiny home village.
The community would be built on a currently wooded property between properties at 3814 and 3826 Dyches Road. Dyches Road parallels Richland Avenue between Kendrick Paint and Body Work and Classic Collision on the city's Westside. The property is part of a larger 17-acre parcel owned by the Aiken County Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (the Aiken Center).
Aiken County Homeless Housing has a contract to purchase roughly four acres of the property from the Aiken Center, President George Clare said in February . The Aiken Center is immediately north of the proposed community. And its proximity is part of what makes the property a good location, Clare continued.
Research indicates roughly two-thirds of homeless people have a history of addiction, according to the American Addiction Centers . Research also indicates roughly one-third of homeless people have a current addiction, the centers add. Also, the Aiken-Barnwell Mental Health Center is adjacent and Aiken Regional Medical Centers, Walmart, the Salvation Army thrift store, Christ Central's job training, thrift store and food distribution center are nearby, Clare added.
There is also a smaller property across which an easement to access services would be granted. The Aiken Center property is zoned Office. It would be rezoned to Transitional Tiny Home.
The Aiken City Council voted Feb. 10 to create the Transitional Tiny Homes zoning designation and the Aiken County Homeless Housing project is the first effort to rezoning a property to it. ".
.. the total number of proposed sleeping units is 39 units," City Manager Stuart Bedenbaugh wrote to the council.
"The sleeping units will be single story, conventional 'stickbuilt' on concrete footers and stem wall or slab on grade. The single units will have 160 square feet of heated floor space." The two-bedroom units will have 320 square feet, Bedenbaugh added.
The concept plan is unclear about the number of parking spaces, he continued. The zoning designation calls for one spot per tiny home, so 39 parking spaces would be required but this can be waived by Planning Director Marya Moutrie, Bedenbaugh continued. There would be one entrance and the community's expected to generate enough traffic to require a traffic survey, he added.
Aiken County Homeless Housing would have to pay to have water and sewer lines added and those would remain private, Bedenbaugh said. The requested delay comes after several neighbors expressed concerns about the project at an April 15 Aiken Planning Commission meeting and in letters to the Planning Department. The residents said they're not opposed to the tiny home village but don't want it built near their homes out of concerns for safety for themselves and their children.
"Putting that many problematic people in our neighborhood will absolutely destroy the value of our property," Patricia Lockey said in an email to the Planning Department. Lockey also said she was concerned about the residents of the community would be selected "unless there is some sort of requirements to live there such as compliance with mental health and drug testing." "Will you not just be giving them and their friends, a warm, dry place to continue their self-destructive lifestyle," she asked.
Clare has outlined that residents would be required to follow certain rules and would be kicked out if found in violation. Shannon Smith said her father owns two rental properties on Dyches Road and would be forced to sell if the community impacts his ability to rent to young professionals..
