Greenwood County seeks new way to approve development plats
Developing in Greenwood County is getting more streamlined, as planning staff seeks to take over the responsibility of reviewing and approving plat applications.
At Tuesday’s Greenwood County Council meeting, Planning Director Carol Coleman spoke on an ordinance that would shift the responsibility of reviewing and approving the layouts of subdivisions from the city-county planning commission to the department’s staff.
Coleman explained this stemmed from an issue over a development the commission shot down. The commission denied a development without a reason, but Coleman said state law requires an explanation — but does not require that the commission be the one to make these decisions.
“In all honesty, we have to review these in the black and white of what the ordinance says,” she said.
Applications for variance, appeals of the planning staff’s decisions and zoning change requests will still go through the commission if the ordinance passes. The main benefit of this change, Coleman said, is that planning staff has a better working knowledge of what the law requires in this process, and decisions will come more quickly when done by staff.
Council unanimously approved second reading of the ordinance.
The veterans plaza at the Greenwood County Veterans Center is nearing completion. County veterans affairs head Rosalind Burke told council the project is in the final stretch.
“I’ve got one word for that,” she said, “hallelujah.”
Young’s Concrete has poured the sidewalk and foundation for six stone slabs that will honor each branch of the military. The concrete work cost about $39,460, and has been paid in full, Burke said.
But the Veterans Affairs office asked for help paying for the stone slabs themselves. Burke said they’ve paid $18,000 of the $36,800 quote for the slabs and have more than $8,000 left in their plaza fund. She asked county council to fund the remaining total, along with additional funds for ongoing maintenance, to the tune of $16,319.56 total.
When council members asked if Burke sought funds from the city, she said she asked for money and was told to raise as much as possible, and the city would see what it could do to support the project.
“I’m sure your organization will have needs in the future, and when you do, we’ll remind the city that we covered this,” said Councilman Mark Allison.
Council took Burke’s request into consideration, and Chairman Chuck Moates said they would revisit it at a future meeting.
In other business:
Council voted unanimously to rezone a property the county owns at 5624 Highway 25 N. to light industrial, as it connects portions of the North Greenwood Industrial Park.
County Treasurer Steffanie Dorn said her department has begun the 2024 fiscal year budgeting process. About 95% of property taxes for the current year have been collected, hospitality tax income is up $60,000 from the same period last year, while accommodations tax income remains similar to last year’s measure. Although the Capital Projects Sales Tax saw less funds come in than expected in the past quarter, Dorn said she’s still optimistic the county will collect its expected total.
Cheryl Agnew-Bell was reappointed to the Reynolds Colony special tax district commission, and Duncan Swezey joined her as a new member. Megan Adams and Amy Botts were appointed to the Winding Creek special tax district commission.
Originally Published by Index-Journal on:Feb 22, 2023
By DAMIAN DOMINGUEZ ddominguez@indexjournal.com