Nearly 500,000-square-foot Mount Pleasant business park raises concerns

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCSC) – A massive 60-acre industrial business park is currently being built in northern Mount Pleasant, raising concerns with traffic and the safety of nearby residents.

Located at 425 Faison Road, the Carolina Business Park is developed by Cameron Property Company. The park will include three buildings totaling 484,000 square feet with offices and warehouses inside.

Additionally, the Carolina Business Park will include more than 400 parking spaces for employees and 67 trailer spots.

Traffic is a major concern for residents as Faison Road is only two lanes and already gets congested from the nearby Costco and high school, Oceanside Collegiate Academy. All the traffic from Faison Road will drain onto Highway 17.

“You will have all that traffic coming into the area, and then coming and going all day long down Faison Road,” One Mount Pleasant resident, Michael Trotter, said. “There was no traffic survey done, in my opinion; no planning of any kind, which typically would prevent a building of this nature to go in.”

Safety is also a concern as a large assisted living and senior living neighborhood is directly across the street. Patrick Faver is one of those residents, who explained the construction has not made a big impact yet, but it has only just begun.

“It’s fairly quiet so far but we are concerned and wondering what is going to happen when folks start moving in,” Faver said. “Not really sure what the big building here is going to do.”

“That’s the big concern; Restore was built there as a retirement community, and now you have an industrial complex the size of an airport going across the street,” Trotter said.

Many neighbors or residents of Mount Pleasant explained they didn’t know or were guessing what was being developed on Faison Road for months.

“There’s not a lot known for sure, a lot of rumors,” Faver said. “I’ve been a little bit concerned for a residential area, but this is an industrial complex, so not sure what that means to future traffic and the future value of the homes.”

Trotter said nobody knew about the Carolina Business Park and there was no communication with the public.

“I think regardless of what the property will be used for, I think traffic and growth in the area should be monitored by the town of Mount Pleasant,” Trotter said. “I don’t think the area can support what they’re proposing, and that would have prevented it.”

When it comes to the Town of Mount Pleasant’s involvement in the approval of this project, Mayor Will Haynie said Carolina Park is part of a decades-old Planned Development Agreement.

“Town Council does not get to vote on their development plans. This existed prior to every home being built in Carolina Park,” Haynie said.

The Mayor also referenced a car dealership going in near Costco across from Park Bend.

“We previously voted it down at a location outside of Carolina Park, but it conforms with the pre-existing development agreement at this location,” Haynie said.

Essentially, the town’s hands are tied when it comes to deciding what can or cannot be built in the area.

The Town of Mount Pleasant also provided the following statement on the traffic concerns in the area:

The developer of Carolina Park previously met the required obligations for road improvements with the widening of Faison Road from Highway 17 to Park Avenue Boulevard along with related intersection improvements.

The Carolina Business Park is expected to be completed by Dec. 2024 or early 2025. It is unknown who will operate out of the park as the developers are currently looking for tenets.

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