Developer hopes to build senior housing

A large wooded parcel at the entrance to Whitehall subdivision on Dorchester Road could soon be home to a senior housing development.

A Michigan-based company wants to build about 180 senior living units at the corner of Netherby Lane and Dorchester Road. It will be called Twelve Oaks at Coosaw Creek.

Coastal Ventures LLC wants the city to approve a change in the zoning for the 13-acre tract from neighborhood office use to a planned development district.

Dozens of Whitehall residents on both sides of the issue packed the North Charleston Planning Commission meeting earlier this week, but the panel unanimously approved the plan and sent it on to City Council for a vote next month.

The company wants to use 10 acres of the 13-acre tract for independent and assisted-living units while the rest would be set aside for commercial space, including a restaurant and small shops fronting Dorchester Road.

The plan calls for 152 units to be independent living and the rest for assisted living, but North Charleston Planning Director Bill Gore said the greater number of units should be set aside for assisted living and not independent living, which he said was basically apartments.

The assisted living units would help with daily activities such as bathing, mobility and eating, and part of the facility would provide care for patients afflicted with Alzheimer's disease or dementia, said Mike Parks of Coastal Ventures.

Coastal Ventures was seeking variations for building setbacks, internal buffers, driveway width and building height, but the company has agreed to meet city guidelines for the most part on those issues.

Gore also said a proposed three-story building on Dorchester Road would be out of scale with development along the highway in that area, and the company agreed to limit the height to 35 feet.

Whitehall President Mike Canino said he and most residents objected to the plan initially, but they now support the concept after meeting with company officials.

There will be no fast-food or drive-through restaurants on the commercial parcels, and residents believe a quality restaurant within walking distance of the 730-home neighborhood is appropriate.

"We do not object to this," said Jim Tuten, president of the Dorchester Corridor Coalition of Neighborhoods.

Whitehall resident Sid Shaw opposes the project, saying the use strays from the city's intended office-neighborhood zoning. He also said the density of units was too great, but Parks said most of those who live there won't be driving and will not add an undue amount of traffic to crowded Dorchester Road during peak hours for those who have cars or visit the facility.