The Aiken Planning Commission will meet Tuesday to discuss changing the height requirement for downtown buildings, following a request by interim City Manager Roger LeDuc.
The work session is open to the public and will start at 5:30 p.m. in room 204 of the Municipal Building, 214 Park Ave.
The City has used its current rule since 1971 that no building be constructed higher than about 50 feet, but recently with the announcement of one of the City's largest public-private partnerships with local hotel owner Neel Shah, the City will have to review their ordinances on building height.
Shah is proposing to gut and revitalize Hotel Aiken on Richland Avenue.
The Hotel Aiken structure will stay the same, but Shah is proposing to build a six-floor addition on the hotel's Newberry Street side.
Those proposed changes include queen- and king-size rooms, a dining area and a possible exercise room on the bottom floor.
According to the agenda, LeDuc is requesting the current height ordinance be changed to 65 or 70 feet. Other cities, including North Augusta, have no height limits for buildings. Areas including Greer, Sumter and Rock Hill have height limits higher than 50 feet.
"We've been considering increasing the height (of buildings) for the downtown for some time," LeDuc told the Aiken Standard.
"Basically, because when the height was first stated at 50 feet, that's back when we had a ladder truck that only went up 50 feet. Now we have ladder trucks that go up to 100 feet."
The Planning Commission will also discuss possibly amending the current zoning ordinance to allow an RV camp as an accessory use.
Planning Commission will hold its regular meeting following the work session.
The regular meeting will start at 6 p.m. in Council Chambers.
Maayan Schechter is the local government reporter with Aiken Standard. Follow her on Twitter at @MaayanSchechter.