Residents react to Mt. Pleasant retail development proposal

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) - Bowman Consulting is proposing a 69,800 square foot area of retail businesses, restaurants, a racquet club facility and more to the town of Mount Pleasant.

The Highway 17 North Retail Village will be located on almost 15 acres off Highway 17 around Joe Bryant Court.

People who live nearby question the effects it will have on traffic and congestion.

“Personally, I think it’s been overbuilt,” John Messineo, who has been a Mount Pleasant resident for seven and a half years, said. “And I remember them saying a couple years back that they were going to build a moratorium, supposedly, building, and that never happened. And trying to get out of my complex now in the mornings to go to work, I mean, the traffic has like tripled in the time I’ve been here. And they keep building, but the streets are insane. So, I don’t think it’s a good idea to keep building without doing anything to the infrastructure.”

In contrast, there are people like Joseph Laudatia, who has been a Mt. Pleasant resident for nine years, that think having a greater access to jobs at a time like this is more important than traffic.

“I feel like with the increase of production and infrastructure around here, traffic could definitely be a little worse,” Laudatia said. “But, I feel like overall it would be good for our local economy. I feel like people have more job opportunities, and I feel like it would be a good thing.”

This project will cost about $28,640,000 according to its impact assessment. The assessment also states that this retail village will support the town’s goals of protecting the character of the existing town and improving livability.

The fate of the project will be decided in Tuesday’s Mount Pleasant planning committee meeting at 10:30 a.m.

The village is also expected to include retail shops, medical offices and luxury pet boarding and grooming.

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