Zoning board clears way for 60-foot-tall pumping station

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 on 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 already spending about $5.5 million on engineering and planning work, and the zoning variance was a part of that process.

Charleston's zoning rules limit new structures in the area where the pumping station is planned 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 going 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," he said

The last pump station constructed by the city, near the eastern end of Calhoun Street in 2001, 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.

Diesel generators large enough to power a pumping station are expensive but can ensure that the pumps keep working despite any electric power outage.

The pumping station for the Calhoun Street and East Bay Street area is located on Concord Street, and clears water from the area using a 140-foot-deep shaft and tunnel system.

The massive pumping station can handle more than 100,000 gallons each minute.

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