Mount Pleasant boulevard may get new life

Coleman Boulevard, Mount Pleasant's main thoroughfare, slowly began dying after the U.S. Highway 17 Bypass came through and the former Charleston Navy base closed. Businesses relocated to the new road.

But town growth has sent the pendulum swinging back, and town officials want to make Coleman its main street again.

Town planners hope to take advantage of that growth by encouraging the area to expand up instead of just out, and The Beach Co. may be the first to take advantage of proposed new zoning that would allow building heights of up to 75 feet in some areas.

The developer began demolition of the former Family Dollar store recently. Glenn Hollis, company vice president of development, said they have not for-mulated any plans for redevelopment.

The Beach Co. is studying the best use for the property, Hollis said. The property and its out-parcels sit on about 3 acres of land.

"Those buildings are ... just not real pleasing to the eye," Hollis said. "There is no value to renovating those buildings at all, so they are being torn down."

Town Administrator Mac Burdette said he envisions a mixed-use development on the site that would combine office and living space.

"We see that as the initial major private investment on Coleman, and you need that kind of kick-start," Burdette said.

The site is one of three areas on Coleman Boulevard where planners propose raising building heights to up to 75 feet, or about six stories. The Moultrie Plaza shopping area across from the Moultrie Middle School site and the Sea Island Shopping Center are the other two areas designated by the proposed master plan. Those plans first would need to be approved by the planning commission. The current height limit is 55 feet.

Eric DeMoura, deputy town administrator, said shopping centers near residential housing would have to taper down building heights closer to those areas.

The town is prepared to spend between $4 million and $5 million in updating the roadway by installing mast-arm street lights and putting utilities underground. The rest of the plan, if approved, is just a suggestion. "These are all recommendations," DeMoura said. "Nothing in here forces anyone to change anything. As part of this master plan, we kind of acknowledge and celebrate the unique attributes of Coleman."