Darlington County planners approve industry expansion

DARLINGTON - The Darlington County Planning Commission approved a variance for Frazier Industries to expand, addressed census issues and approved three subdivisions in its final meeting of the year on Tuesday.

Frazier Industries requested a variance to waive the requirement for two-foot free board above the minimum standard base flood elevation, which is the elevation to which a 100-year flood would come. The variance allows the company to build lowest floor to Base Flood Elevation (BFE).

The commission adopted the two-foot free board requirement in 2004 in an effort to anticipate future development.

The variance was brought to the commission because the entire proposed building sits in the floodplain.

Doug Reimold, director of the county planning department, noted that the flood plain maps are based on data from the 1970s, though they were renewed in 1991. The map doesn’t take into account improvements to the area such as Interstate 20 as well as other developments on Evans Way.

Richard Peak, industrial engineer for Frazier Industries, said the variance was needed to build additional warehouse space on a concrete pad already on the property that would hold raw materials.

“It’s the only expansion direction we could go with our warehouse,” Peak said.

Peak said the company wants the extra space so it can expand to a three-shift operation. He said that since the economic downtown several of the company’s major competitors have dropped out, which will allow Frazier to move forward.

Frazier Industries, located in Lamar north of I-20 off U.S. 401 on Evans Way, manufactures structural steel storage systems. Its customers include Pepsi, Jack Daniels, Sysco among others. The company has five plants and six subcontractors in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The manufacturing headquarters is in Lamar, and the corporate headquarters is in Long Valley, N.J.

“The major danger in floods is materials flowing down stream,” Reimold said. The type of material at this facility would be unlikely to be swept off based on the weight and how it’s going to be secured, he said.

“In the worst case scenario, water will flood Evans Way but will still be three feet below the proposed building (in the plan),” Reimold said.

“According to the process flow, this is the best place to bring raw steel in, and bring it into the flow of how they build the racks,” Martin Fox with Weaver Engineering said.

From his analysis of the flood plain map, topographical maps and past and recent aerial photos of the entire industrial park, Fox said that in his engineering opinion the building would no longer be in the flood channel.

Fox added that he did calculations based on surveys of the area from the installation of surrounding drainage pipes. He said he expects the flood water level to be 4.1 feet below the building.

Vice chairman Grady Culbertson said the problem with the building being in the flood plain was the displacement of floodwaters.

Reimold said the displacement will occur whether or not the commission grants the variance.

It shouldn’t be a big deal since the company knows the dangers of building there and since the displacement will occur regardless of the commission’s decision, commission member Ed Krajack said.

The commission approved the variance as presented unanimously.

Reimold, who also serves as co-chair of the Complete Count committee, gave an update on the department’s work with the U.S. Census.

The department finalized an appeals list of just under 2,000 addresses in Darlington County that were not on the census’ records. That number started from 5,200 addresses that the bureau returned because it did not accept them as valid addresses.

There were several areas with clusters of missing streets and addresses too. The department is submitting photographs to corroborate the locations. The department will start on new construction and new addresses this week.

“It’s a lot of work to get the addresses right,” Reimold said.

He also submitted a draft letter to encourage churches and congregations to participate in the census.

Dr. Richard Antrum noted that there are missing and blocked street signs on Evelyn Circle and Norbitt Lane.

Reimold said that county residents should report missing or blocked streets signs to the planning department at (843) 398-4610 or the roads and bridges department at (843) 398-4054.

He added that problems with missing signs could cause some of the address issues with the census.

The commission also gave final approval and vested rights to Thousand Oaks Private Subdivision, north of Auburn, and conditional final approval and vested rights to Brookside Subdivision and New Market Estates.

The property owner of Brookside must obtain a lot-by-lot evaluation from Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) for septic tanks and a permit for water line construction. The owner of New Market Estates must also get a complete lot-by-lot evaluation from DHEC, which is in the progress.

Reimold said this condition will come up more often now because of state regulations that took affect in January 2008.

“This (process) is more costly and time consuming for developers,” he said.

Previously owners could get a DHEC permit based on one perk test. Now, every single lot must get a permit to construct a septic tank. The change occurred because of a lawsuit against DHEC.

Finally, Culbertson suggested the commission address elements of the comprehensive plan each quarter. The commission agreed and moved to add an agenda item during the first meeting of every quarter that looks ahead at the goals in the comprehensive plan coming up in the next six months.