That's going to be a big pump

Charleston has strict limits on the height of new buildings, but the city's zoning board was quick to make an exception this week for a 60-foot-tall pumping station planned along the Ashley River side of Lockwood Boulevard, between the Highway 17 overpasses.

The pumping station is part of a proposed $130 million project to address flooding around the Crosstown Expressway and throughout the West Side and surrounding neighborhoods; an area that comprises about 20 percent of the peninsula.

The question of how to pay for the massive drainage improvement project remains unanswered, but the city is spending about $5 million on engineering and planning work, and the zoning variance was a part of that process.

City zoning rules limit new structures in that part of town to a maximum height of 35 feet.

Charleston's Zoning Board of Appeals on Tuesday voted 4-0 to grant a variance allowing a 60-foot height for the planned pump station.

"This pump station is doing to run on diesel power," said Laura Cabiness, director of Charleston's Public Service Department. "The extra height is needed to be able to maneuver those diesel generators in and out of there for regular maintenance."

The last pump station constructed by the city, near the eastern end of Calhoun Street, runs on electrical power. In August 2005, a power outage led to flooding around Calhoun and East Bay streets because the pump station could not operate.

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.