ANDERSON – A special exception has been approved for the construction of a Fairfield Inn at the southeast corner of Scatterfield Road and East 64th Street.
The Fairfield Inn will consist of 86 rooms on four floors and is located directly east of the Hampton Inn. It becomes the 12th hotel at Scatterfield Road and Interstate 69, Exit 226.
In February, the Anderson Plan Commission approved a request by Julie Armington and Jeanie Clem to create two lots on the property. The property was proposed as a site for “The Farm” athletic fields during the administration of former Mayor Kris Ockomon. The project was never finalized when private financing could not be secured.
The Fairfield Inn will locate on 2.5 acres of the property leaving 43.4 acres for future development.
The Anderson Board of Zoning Appeals approved the special exception and a variance from the five-acre minimum lot size but will require the construction of sidewalks.
“This will be the first development in the area,” said Steve Servies of Servies Engineering. “Several people have looked at the property but nothing has taken place. This is a positive project for the area.”
The Fairfield Inn is being developed by the owners of the Holiday Inn Express and construction is expected to start within the next few months.
The owners withdrew a request for a waiver to not construct sidewalks on the property along East 64th Street.
Servies said the street is designed for future expansion to three lanes and drainage is to the south of the street in an open ditch.
“If we don’t start there,” John Suko, BZA chairman, said, “where do we start? I can see people wanting to walk to the Culver’s on a nice summer evening.”
Servies said he will work with the city engineer’s office on the placement of the sidewalks.
Hotels currently located at Exit 226 are America’s Best Value, Best Western, Comfort Inn, Days Inn, Economy Inn, Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Motel 6, Quality Inn, Super 8, and the Deluxe Inn that is being converted to a Red Roof Inn.
In other business Wednesday, the BZA approved a special exception for an amended development plan for Anderson Retirement LLC, which operates Primrose Retirement Community of Anderson on Cross Street, west of Madison Avenue.
Servies said the plan is to construct a 24-unit memory care facility that will be adjacent to Primrose. There will be a driveway off Madison Avenue and the new facility will connect to Primrose.
“They did a market study and there is a need for this service in the area,” Servies said.
At the request of Todd Elliott, who owns the property directly to the north, the owners of Primrose agreed to install a 6-foot wooden privacy fence along 330 feet of the property.