Sumter County Council Tuesday evening approved first reading of a request to rezone property on Loring Mill Road and also heard about a Community Development Block Grant recently awarded to the county.
City-County Planning Director George McGregor told council members during the last council meeting of 2018 about a request to rezone a 1.48 acre parcel and a .74 acre parcel at 2110 and 2115 Loring Mill Road from Agricultural Conservation (AC) to Light-Industrial Warehouse (LI-W).
The Comprehensive Plan designates the area as being under the Military Protection District (MPD), he said, and noted that utility lines run across a portion of the property. The applicant wishes to start a tiny house manufacturing operation and sales lot, he said, which would be classified as small recreational vehicles (RV) or manufactured housing, he said.
McGregor noted the tiny homes sit on a chassis, are increasingly popular and have been featured on TV shows. The Planning Commission recommended approval, he said, and found it compatible with the MPD and the power lines.
Councilman Artie Baker asked if Lee’s Preserve backs up to the property and McGregor said it did, and is in the area that was rezoned recently to allow for a large storage facility.
Baker asked if any complaints had been received and McGregor noted the Public Hearing would be held before second reading of the request.
Councilman Charles Edens said he’s sure he’ll hear some residents in the area, as they would likely be unhappy with a Light Industrial zoning.
“Anyway, we’ll wait and see,” he said.
Vice Chairman Jimmy Byrd moved for first reading and the request passed unanimously.
Edens said he wanted to add a comment, noting that “this use may not seem too bad, but things like this come and go.” Once the area is rezoned to LI-W, it’s open to other similar uses, he said.
CDBG AWARDED
Sumter County Administrator Gary Mixon told council members it is his honor and privilege to announce the county has been awarded a Community Development Block Grant in the amount of $283,983 from the S.C. Department of Commerce.
The project was presented months ago by the Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments (COG) as a means to eliminate blighted property in the community.
“And so we’re excited that we have been awarded that grant,” he said. “It is going to demolish 19 homes over a two-year period,” starting this month.
Credit is due to Chris McKinney, Executive Director of the COG, he said, and Kyle Kelly, who is Chief of Economic & Community Sustainability for the COG, who spearheaded the effort. The COG will manage the project for the county, he said.
Mixon said credit is also due to the Turkey Creek Neighborhood Association, which helped identify the blighted properties. All the property owners have to consent to enroll in the project, he said.
“So it’s important to have community involvement in the efforts by the Turkey Creek group,” he said.
In the big picture scheme of things, this grant helps with economic development and quality of life, he said. Council Chairman James T. McCain Jr. has been involved with the issue of blight since he’s taken office, Mixon noted.
From day one of being elected to public office, one thing he’s always fought for is to remove blight, McCain said, and dilapidated houses. The city’s Neighborhood Improvement Program, or NIP, had over 100 houses and dilapidated properties demolished, with roughly two-thirds of those in the Sixth District that is part of city jurisdiction.
A warehouse was demolished on Kingsbury and the old Dairy Queen on Manning Avenue, he said, and so he sought out the possibility of grants. McCain thanked several members of the Turkey Creek Neighborhood Association, who were in attendance at the council meeting.
“Without their efforts, this would not have been done,” he said.
Property owners will retain rights to the property once the buildings are demolished, he noted, unlike the NIP program.
“We appreciate what y’all did,” he said. “I think this is going to be a good thing for the south side.”
Mixon noted that this issue is not unique to the Sixth District, and there’s hope to duplicate the effort throughout the county.
“Hopefully this is just the first step,” he said.
REPORTS
In giving committee reports, McCain said the Fiscal, Tax and Property Committee met and discussed one item of business. A motion and a second came out of the meeting to sign an attorney/client agreement concerning opioid litigation. The motion passed in open council with Byrd and Councilman Chris Sumpter voting ‘nay.’
Mixon briefed council members about the yearly external audit, noting that the fiscal year is about halfway through. The auditing process begins in July, he said, and auditing firm Webster Rogers arrived in October to work with the Finance Department for about two months.
He anticipates having a final audit by the end of the calendar year, which is only the second time an external audit has been completed so quickly. The report will be presented to council in January, he said.
“Things are moving along well,” he said.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Russell Patterson of East Sherwood Drive said there’s been some crime in his neighborhood recently and he’d like authorities to get more involved.
Louis Watkins expressed concerns with the rezoning request on Loring Mill Road.
Randolph Black, who owns the property and is requesting the rezoning, said when he develops the property, it will be an asset to the community.
Councilwoman Vivian Fleming-McGhaney asked about a public hearing for the matter and McCain noted it would happen before second reading, and public notices would be made as well.
The meeting, which began a few minutes after 6 p.m., adjourned at 6:38 p.m.