Design Review Board grants conditional final approval for Old Life Apartments after detailed utility, landscape and amenity review

At its May 28 meeting the Summerville Design Review Board gave conditional final approval to the Old Life Apartments development after the applicant team addressed site, stormwater and landscaping concerns and the board enumerated several follow-up conditions.

Civil engineer John Dangerfield and team described efforts to preserve trees by adding underground stormwater detention and redistributing parking; they also said the owner would provide on-site maintenance and a valet trash service rather than adding a second trash compactor. Landscape presenter Jessica Wise said additional mitigation plantings had been located to protect clusters of existing trees and that the submitted plan met town buffer requirements.

Board members asked for greater clarity and additional details in multiple areas: foundation trees and perimeter canopy trees along street-facing townhomes, screening for backflow preventers and transformers (especially where they encroach near sidewalks), accurate placements and screening of AC units and meter banks, concrete details for mailboxes (applicant reported relocating mailboxes to the clubhouse), and material samples for masonry and porch details. The board also requested amenity details for the dog park, pool deck and fencing, and suggested that some amenity structures could return for separate board review if necessary.

After discussion the board voted to grant final approval with conditions that will be detailed in the approval letter: submit foundation/tree species substitutions (for example considering longleaf pines instead of loblolly), provide confirmed screening and paint/sample details for transformer and meter banks, provide amenity fencing and dog-park details, adopt pine straw mulch where required, and verify porch dimensions (minimum 5-foot depth for primary apartment porches). Several follow-up items were referred to a subcommittee or staff review as enumerated by the board.