Dollar General denied zoning exception

Unless there’s an appeal to the circuit court, there will be no Dollar General at a 4-way stop intersection in rural Oconee.  The final vote taken last night by the county Board of Zoning Appeals denied a Woodruff-based development company the special exception that it needed to build a 9,100 square foot Dollar General at Ebenezer Road and SC 188/the Keowee School Road.  Board members complimented Lauren Patton of Patton Development for an illustrative site plan that incorporated characteristics of the rustic elegance look which county leaders have adopted.  But, in the end, the weight of community opposition won out as nearby residents spoke out and wrote letters, claiming a Dollar General would be incompatible with  traditional rural zoning.  They also expressed concern about traffic and safety at an intersection where, according to one speaker, as many as five thousand vehicles pass every week.

DG