WATCH: West Columbia moves to final step of sealing Brookland Development deal

The West Columbia City Council is seeking to seal the Brookland Development deal at its meeting Tuesday

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — If you live in the greater Columbia area, chances are, your drives take you past it frequently. A four acre lot has sat empty at the intersection of Meeting and State Streets for decades.

Last spring, Columbia developer Estates and Companies announced plans for the “Brookland” development, a mixed-use space comprised of restaurants, shops and apartments.

West Columbia Mayor Bobby Horton says the project is ready to move forward, except for approving the most recent Planned Unit Development, or PUD.

At West Columbia’s City Council meeting Tuesday, councilors will amend a previous amendment to the PUD passed in December, raising the maximum permitted residential units from 200 to 235.

33-year-old Jennifer Moons Boyd has lived in West Columbia all her life. She says she’s concerned that the city’s excitement to get the long-time vacant lot developed, is clouding its ability to see the bigger picture.

“I’m excited, I’m just scared to death that it’s not going to be done right,” she says, “and it’s going to be a mess.”

Moons Boyd has been to a handful of meetings about the proposal, but she’s not convinced everyone has done its homework.

“Those of us that are questioning the traffic, and the surrounding streets, and the number of units, and the size of the buildings, we want it to be developed as much as everyone else does.”

Mayor Horton says he was elected to help make decisions that will benefit West Columbia as a whole.

“We’ve only got one chance to do this and we want it done right, and it’s gotta be done right,” Horton says.

Horton says the city has spent about a decade acquiring all the parcels of land that comprise the four acre lot. They’ve invested about $2 million. Horton says the deal with Estates Inc. is somewhere around $2.7 million.

West Columbia resident David Moye says the city has not fully addressed the issues that will arise regarding parking. Moye points to the need the residential units will have for parking, in addition to the existing traffic associated with the West Columbia Riverwalk, and the additional traffic that will come with new shops and restaurants.

“The public is starving for something to happen there after all these years, but what they’re proposing, will not be in the public’s best interest,” Moye says.

Horton says in the short term, this project will bring tax and business license revenues. In the long term, he says it will be a catalyst for growth in the area.

The development company did not return phone calls to ABC Columbia to give a statement or information.