New zoning urged for electric cars

At the end of Betsy Kerrison Parkway on Johns Island sits Freshfields Village, a small, upscale shopping area that is the unofficial gateway to Kiawah and Seabrook islands.

Car dealerships aren't allowed there, but Charleston County Council is considering making a zoning exception for all- electric vehicles.

The immediate beneficiary of the action would be Current Electric Vehicles, a local dealer of Korean-made, low-speed electric cars and commercial vehicles, which rents and leases out of its showroom in Freshfields Village. Current zoning rules prohibit sales of vehicles in the Freshfields Village area.

Mark Permar, representing the shopping area developer, spoke at a public hearing Tuesday evening in favor of the proposed zoning change. He said residents of the two islands have embraced low-speed electric vehicles, and it only makes sense to allow them to be sold, as well as rented.

"It's the beginning of what we have started to witness in recent years, with property owners who have a high interest in electric vehicles for use on the islands," he said.

"Both islands lend themselves well to this kind of street- worthy vehicle," Permar said after the hearing. "The world is obviously dealing with limited resources, and this fits right into that."

The county's planning staff recommended approving the zoning change, as well as allowing electric-vehicle charging stations in the 58-acre area that includes Freshfields Village.

"We knew that the infrastructure would also need to be considered," Permar said.

Electric vehicles, the staff reasoned, are in keeping with county planning goals that emphasize alternative energy uses and sustainability.

Unlike some of the all-electric vehicles that major automotive manufacturers are beginning to roll out -- the Chevy Volt and the Nissan Leaf, for example -- low-speed electric vehicles are restricted in South Carolina to top speeds of 25 mph and are barred from roads with speed limits above 35 mph.

In Charleston, the nonprofit organization Plug In Carolina separately has been working on plans to install 14 charging stations for electric cars.

That plan is unconnected to the zoning issue but related to the increasing use of all-electric vehicles.

County Council's Planning and Public Works Committee will consider the proposed zoning changes at a meeting Sept. 16.

Also on the agenda for that meeting will be plans to replace a 176-foot communications tower along Six Mile Road, adjacent to a Mount Pleasant fire station, with a new, 295-foot tower. The taller tower is needed to improve countywide emergency dispatch operations, according to the planning staff.

The zoning change requested for the communications tower would allow for two towers, each up to 400 feet tall, but the current plan calls for only the 295-foot tower, County Council members were told Tuesday.

Reach David Slade at 937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com.