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Tag: Richland County Council

  • Council approves industrial park 5-0

    BLYTHEWOOD – After much discussion among town and county officials, the five members of the Blythewood Town Council voted unanimously Wednesday to approve zoning for the remainder of a 1,300-acre site that Richland County plans to turn into an industrial park.

    The project site, located just west of Interstate 77 with access points in the heart of Blythewood, has spurred controversy because of anticipated traffic congestion and other impacts. But the council members said they and county officials had reached a good compromise in a series of meetings.

    “This is the way America should work,” said Mayor J. Michael Ross shortly after the meeting began, referring to the process that he said took into account both localities as well as the concerns expressed by the public. “I’m proud of the town of Blythewood working this way – unlike Washington, D.C.”

    The vote took place Oct. 2 in a Wednesday morning special called meeting. It was rescheduled after it had been announced at a prior meeting that the vote would be taken on Monday, Sept. 30. Significantly fewer opponents of the project were in attendance at the Wednesday meeting than had attended previous regularly scheduled meetings on the issue.

    Project details are spelled out in a declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions that includes what town leaders call a key concession – veto power for a town representative (appointed by town council) over several areas of the project. This person will sit on the project’s design review committee along with two people appointed by the county.

    “Two members appointed by Richland County and one by the town council. But this member gets a veto authority on eight different line items,” said Town Councilman Bryan Franklin.

    He said the veto power is important, as it represents an assurance that Blythewood will have a say in the project as it moves forward. He said the plan agreed upon was a compromise of “mutual respect.”

    Richland County Councilman Calvin “Chip” Jackson was in attendance and addressed the town council, expressing confidence that the project as currently conceived would protect the livability of the Blythewood community while building for the future – and that the industrial park would be as good as any anywhere.

    “I chair the economic development committee for Richland County Council,” he said, “and in that role and that capacity, I want to make sure that any development that’s occurring anywhere in our county represents the best interest of development, it represents the best interest of our county, it represents the best interest of our citizens and also of our community.”

    A couple of audience members also spoke against the project during the public comment portion of the meeting, the final reading for approval of the project which had previously divided the council 3-2.

    “A disaster awaits the residents,” warned former town councilman Tom Utroska. “I’ve done traffic planning for 45 years, and this is not well thought out.”

    Before voting for approval, the town council members spoke about it in the context of broad issues: Blythewood’s past planning and current growth trajectory, both of which they say dictate this type of development for a site that’s for sale and well-situated in relation to infrastructure and transportation.

    Town Councilman Malcolm Gordge said the town’s master plan has included development of the site for a decade – and, as an opportunity and economic climate emerged that enabled a plan to solidify, town officials had to take a hard look at what kind of development would bring the biggest advantage to the town.

    “We don’t know what’s going to be within the park itself,” he said, “but with the indications from the economic development council, the plan looks far, far better to me than an intense residential development that could add another 2,000 homes in that area, which would be the worst of all things.”

    Town Councilman Larry Griffin echoed the reality: whatever type of development is done on the land – whether business or residential – it will increase traffic. But Griffin, a lifelong Blythewood resident, said ultimately growth has been a good thing.

    “This is not perfect,” he said of the plan, “but I want you to understand – you talk about change, and you talk about growth – you’re talking to the wrong person here, because I’ve seen changes and growth that you can’t believe.

    “When you say, ‘I want to see Blythewood the way it used to be’ – no, you don’t,” he said. “You want to see Blythewood the way you see it and the way you moved to it. That’s not what it used to be…. Somewhere along the line, you’ve got to trust this council that we may be doing the right thing.”

    In reference to the traffic issue, Ross said the potential traffic snarl near Exit 27 will be solved by common sense, as both truck drivers and employees who work in the park choose a different entrance and exit point less bogged down by Blythewood commuters accessing the Interstate.

    Also, he said, a planned road widening project will include a traffic circle in front of the Cobblestone Park community to keep traffic flowing smoothly.

    “This is not going to be Killian Road,” he said. “There’s not going to be car dealerships on these corners. There’s not going to be a Walmart. You can’t put those there. We have ordinances against that.”

  • RCPC OKs industrial zoning in 29016

    COLUMBIA – Richland County Planning Commissioners voted unanimously Monday afternoon to recommend that Richland County Council approve the rezoning of 483.55 acres of property adjacent to the Town of Blythewood – 456.01 of those acres would be zoned Light Industrial (LI) and 27.54 acres would be zoned General Commercial (GC). The two parcels lie in Richland County’s zoning jurisdiction and are bordered by Blythewood Road, I-77, Ashley Oaks subdivision and North Pointe Industrial Park.

    While Town Administrator Brian Cook was in attendance and was asked several questions by the commissioners, no residents from the Blythewood community attended the meeting. The rezoning request will go before county council Sept. 24.

    The two parcels are part of about 1,300 acres that the county has been seeking to rezone for a Blythewood Industrial Park. The remaining 864 acres of the proposed industrial park lie in the Town of Blythewood.

    “I feel that this (LI) rezoning request will create a positive economic impact in the area.”

    Heather Carnes
    Richland County Planning Commissioner

    While the county’s staff recommended disapproval of the rezoning Monday afternoon, County Zoning Administrator and Deputy Planning Director Geonard Price said that disapproval was based on the 2015 comprehensive plan which designates this area as neighborhood low density for future land use.

    “Within this zoning [neighborhood low density] designation, the plan discourages industrial uses that will have significant community impacts, meaning noise, exhaust or heavy traffic. The uses allowed under this (LI) zoning district includes potential users which would be incompatible with how this general area is currently developed,” Price said.

    Price pointed out that the Town of Blythewood has already rezoned (in 2015) about 678 acres of the 1,300 acres for Limited Industrial 2 (LI2) uses and is in the process of rezoning 163 more acres as LI2. Town council will have second reading on the 163 acres on Sept. 23.

    “I point that out,” Price said, “because when you compare the location of that zoning request to what has been proposed, it may make this more compatible with the surrounding area.”

    In 2015, the county persuaded the Town to rezone the 678 acres to LI2, a new zoning designation created by the Town for county officials for that property. County asked Blythewood for the rezoning at that time for an industry it said was coming to the property. After the rezoning, the industry never materialized. At a recent town meeting, county officials disclosed that the rezoning of the 678 acres was part of their five-year master plan for a Blythewood Industrial Park.

    Jeff Rubble, director of the county’s economic development office, told commissioners that since March, his office has taken all the steps to get the zoning approved so the county could sell bonds to purchase the entire 1,300 acres. He said the bond closing is set for Nov. 1.

    “The folks that would purchase the bonds told us they want to see the land zoned consistent with how it will be used. And that’s why we’re going through this rezoning process before we purchase the land.” Rubble said. “We want to build a tax base, create quality jobs. This is another big, big piece. This is the next two decades of growth. We want to reserve the front edge along Blythewood Road for mixed use development, hotels, high end restaurants, offices. We don’t want growth to happen to us. We want to do what we want to do proactively.” Rubble said. “This is a major step.”

    Asked by Commissioner Heather Carnes what makes the area particularly appropriate for this industrial use, Tiffany Harrison, also with the Richland County Economic Development office, said it is prime for industrial grade use.

    “You have full infrastructure out there. You have 15 million gallons a day of water, telecommunications infrastructure, access to the land from two interchanges,” Harrison said. ”The area is primed for growth and development. It’s the idea of setting aside property to bring in industry to create jobs, to invest in the community. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”

    “With I-77, we’ve had companies like Sony, IBM, United Technologies all come in and buy big tracts of land,” Rubble said. “The interchanges at Farrow Road, Clemson Road, Highway 21 and Blythewood Road have all been swallowed up by commercial and residential. Some of these sites were our best industrial sites but were bought by car dealerships, etc. It (industrial land) just keeps disappearing. If we don’t act, this, too, will get swallowed up.”

    In making a motion for a recommendation of approval of the rezoning requests for the two parcels, Commissioner Carnes said her reason for going against the comp plan is that this is an opportunity to create a unique, well situated industrial park for the future.

    “The comp plan just didn’t anticipate this opportunity. But now that it presents itself to us, I think we should encourage it,” Carnes said. “I feel that this rezoning request will create a positive economic impact in the area.”

    Asked by Commissioner Wallace Brown if the county’s request is compatible with what the Town of Blythewood has in mind, Cook said it is.

    “Yes, based on the town council tying it together with the covenants and restrictions and their overall idea behind this project. But we need these assurances in place with the covenants and restrictions,” Cook said.

    Richland County Council will meet Sept. 24 in council chambers at 2020 Hampton Street in Columbia, to consider the planning commission’s recommendation.

  • County industrial property to go to RCPC

    BLYTHEWOOD – Of the 1,300 acres that Richland County hopes to purchase and have rezoned for a Blythewood Industrial Park, almost 500 acres (two parcels) are in the county, not the Town of Blythewood, and the county will have jurisdiction over their re-zoning.

    The two parcels, located along Blythewood Road, west of Fairfield Electric Cooperative’s facility, will go before the Richland County planning commission Monday, Sept. 9 at 3 p.m. for a public hearing and recommendation to council.

    While the public can sign up to speak their minds about the rezoning, county staff has already made up its collective mind, recommending that the planning commission not approve the rezoning.

    Both parcels are zoned rural (RU). The County is asking for one of the parcels (456.01 acres) to be rezoned to Light Industrial (LI) and the other (27.54 acres) to be zoned for General Commercial (GC).

    The 2015 Richland County Comprehensive Plan designates the RU zoned area as Neighborhood (Low-Density) for future zoning.

    According to the staff report, the LI district is intended to accommodate wholesaling, distribution, storage, processing, light manufacturing and general commercial uses.

    “The zoning request [for the 456.01 acres] is not consistent with the objectives for non-residential development within the Neighborhood (Low-Density) future land use designation,” staff stated in its report. “Within the Neighborhood (Low Density) designation, the Comprehensive Plan recommends that industrial development with significant community impacts, i.e., noise, exhaust, odor, heavy truck traffic) is discouraged. The variety of industrial uses allowed under the LI district includes potential uses which would be incompatible with the general area as it is currently developed.”

    For these reasons, staff recommended disapproval of the requested map amendment.

    Likewise, the county’s planning staff recommended disapproval of GC for the smaller parcel, stating that it was not consistent with surrounding zoning and would constitute leapfrog development.

    Blythewood Town Council has rezoned about 600 acres from Development (D-1) zoning to Limited Industrial (LI) at Richland County’s request and passed the first of two votes to rezone the remaining 163 acres of the 1,300 acres.

    The Blythewood planning commission voted 3-3 on the recommendation to Town Council which resulted in no recommendation. Blythewood Council will take its second and final vote on September 23.

    Richland County Planning Commission will meet on Sept. 9 at 3 p.m. in Council Chambers, 2020 Hampton Street in Columbia 29202. The Commission’s recommendation will then go to County Council.

    Blythewood Town Council will meet on Sept. 23 at 7 p.m., at the Doko Manor. That vote will be the final vote for the rezoning request for the 163 acres.

  • Council OKs first vote for industrial zoning

    County: Rezoning Must be Finalized by Late September

    BLYTHEWOOD – Richland County made another appeal to Town Council Monday night, the strongest yet, to approve the rezoning of 162 acres west of I-77 for industrial use. That effort was met by strong opposition from a room full of citizens and a couple of council members.

    The property is part of 1,349 acres the County hopes to purchase for $26 million for an industrial park. Town Council has already rezoned an adjacent 678 Blythewood acres to LI 2 at the County’s request. The remaining 509 adjacent acres are located in Richland County and are currently being rezoned for industrial use by the County. The county hopes to have the zoning of the entire 1,349 acres by late September. To pay for the purchase of the land, the County taking out a bond. Hence the hurry-up to rezone.

    “The goal is to close on the bond by Nov. 1,” Director of the County’s Economic Development office Jeff Rubble told council members Monday night. “As part of the bonding process, the folks that sell the bonds want to see that the property is zoned consistent with its intended use [prior to issuing the bond.] So that’s the reason we’re coming to you now.”

    After the better part of a two hour meeting and an hour of contentious speeches by citizens opposed for one reason or another to the rezoning process, Council voted 4 – 1 to approve first reading. While Councilmen Bryan Franklin and Malcolm Gordge addressed stipulations they would like to see in regard to the rezoning, only Franklin voted against it.  A second and final reading is set for Sept. 23.

    “We would like to have gone through a nice, slow process, with about 100 different community meetings,” Ruble said. “But they’re saying, ‘Guys, you’ve got to sign or we can’t buy.’ So that has accelerated our process. That’s why we’re here tonight,” Ruble said. Addressing the concerns of those he said he expected to oppose the rezoning during public comment time at the meeting, Ruble assured the packed audience that the county is not trying to ram something down their throats, giving examples of how the County is trying to be accommodating to the town.

    “We will set 100 foot buffers and try to route as much of the heavy traffic as we can to Community Road to the south, away from town,” Ruble said. “By the second reading, we want to have covenants and restrictions in place for you to see.  We plan to set up an Architectural Review Board (ARB) for new companies coming into the industrial park.”

     “The Town of Blythewood could have a designee on that review board. So you’re not just signing away your life now. You’re an active participant in helping us develop it,” Ruble said.

    Those concessions fell short for audience members who insisted the ARB should predominately be peopled by Blythewood folks since the 840 acres of the industrial park are in the town.

    Ruble said the county envisions walking trails, bike paths and other amenities in the park. He also promised clean, high tech manufacturing.

    “We’re trying to create that nice environment. The kind of companies we’re trying to target are the higher rated companies with high wages and technology companies,” Ruble said.

    Warning: We Walk

    “I wish we had more time to have meetings and talk. But this is a critical step that if you turn it down tonight, we walk,” Ruble warned.

    He also warned that the land could be purchased for homes, many homes that could bring higher levels of traffic.

    “We know the [property] owners are hearing every day from residential developers,” Ruble said. “There’s a lot of folks offering money. What we heard from the town was they don’t necessarily want to see more dense residential development. We proposed a solution. Let us come in. We’ll buy the property and we’ll work together to develop it in conjunction with the town,” Ruble promised.

    But former Town Councilman Tom Utroska scoffed at what he called the emotional tact.

    “I’m taken aback that politics in our country are now run by emotions instead of facts,” Utroska said. “One emotional statement was made that it would be a lot better if it was an industrial development rather than some huge, complex of homes. Well, as I recall, in D-1 you have to have 20,000 square foot lots. So you can only get two homes to an acre. I don’t like leading people down a road and influencing them by telling them something that it’s not,” Utroska said. “Also, we need some kind of Memorandum of Understanding, in writing, that says what’s going to happen with the traffic that will be generated by this LI2. We also need something in writing to address the need for a fire station.”

    Utroska said he doesn’t want to look back 20 years from now and say ‘I’m a party to this. It’s a screw up.’

    “We shouldn’t have just one member on the ARB. The preponderance of the members should be from Blythewood if it’s in Blythewood,” he said. Utroska also called for a new exit off I-77 to accommodate the industrial park. “We don’t need semis on Blythewood Road going to the LI2 area.

    “I understand their need to have this done. But we need to have some protection,” Utroska said.

    Cobblestone resident John Moore called on Council to beware of the County’s promises.

    “I’m not opposed to the development. But it can change the shape of what we are. I don’t have a lot of trust in Richland County,” Moore said.

    Rural Blythewood resident Bill Shives also warned about the effect the development would have on the town.

    “So many people moved here because of the quality of life and what it has to offer,” Shives said “Once the tax incentives for companies and factories expire, they’re gone. I don’t see where that’s a great economic value to the community.”

    The town’s planning commission voted 3-3 for the rezoning earlier this month, leaving no recommendation to council from the commission. At that meeting, Stuart Andrews, who lives in the Middlefield Lane area off Persimmon Fork Road, suggested council eliminate the more intense manufacturing uses allowed in the LI2 zoning district.

    “Let’s not just open the door to everything,” Andrews said. “Some of those allowed uses we don’t consider good neighbors – textile mills, steel fabrication, wood product manufacturing, copper recovery, sheet metal, small arms and aircraft manufacturing,” he said. 

    “You can’t have a first class project unless you have a first class process,” Andrews said. Speaking Monday night for a number of rural residents along Syrup Mill and Persimmon Fork Roads, Andrews said the group had not reached a conclusion about whether they support the project or not. It depends in large part on the process itself,

    “It’s not fair to ask the public to support something with so little understanding of it,” Andrews said. He called for a process the community could participate in. “We aren’t going to be comfortable with a product presented publicly in 30 days.”

    Andrews asked for his group and others in the community to be allowed to review the covenants of restricted documents proposed for the project.

    “We’ve reviewed those documents for similar projects and have a feel for what needs to be in them, where the opportunities are for further public protection…With the County as a developer and public body, we think more public participation should be encouraged,” Andrews said.

    Rural resident Wes Penfield called for a portion of the park to be carved out for playing fields for area youth.

    Councilman Bryan Franklin agreed.

    “We now have an opportunity here with this property right here to take 40 acres on the north part that sits right on Blythewood Road and build us the park we’ve so need for years and years,” Franklin said. “This is an opportunity for us. The public is buying this property, we’re going to rezone it, maybe, and now is an opportunity to develop that upper end, buy it at a fair dollar and put our park there. When the lights go on and stay on until 11 o’clock at night. They won’t disturb anybody because it’s in an industrial area. It only makes sense.”

    Councilman Malcolm Gordge, who is running for the mayor’s seat in the upcoming election, said Franklin expressed his sentiments perfectly.

    “I would like to ask Jeff (Ruble) if he has any difficulty at all in pursuing that vision of a recreation area and football field within that LI2 district,” Gordge asked Ruble.

    “Yeah, I don’t know. I certainly can’t commit to something tonight. I think we’ve had some conversations with staff. So we’re working toward it,” Ruble said.

    Before calling for the vote, Mayor J. Michael Ross defended the project and the County’s process, saying “we have known about this for a long time. This is no surprise. I think that when you hear some of the things that they have talked about [in executive session], I can’t imagine that you would not want that level of a technology industrial campus. It would be unbelievable for this community and for this downtown.”

    Ross agreed with Ruble that if the industrial park doesn’t come, then more homes might take the space. But he also agreed with those who spoke, that traffic is an issue, that a fire station “is a no brainer,” but hedged on the call for more Blythwoodians on the proposed LI2 Architectural Review Board.

    “That needs to be a group that would be equally divided between the County and Blythewood,” he said. “But the sports complex is the clincher. I think that’s something we need to work on hard over the next 30 days to see if it can be done.

    The next meeting is set for Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at The Manor.

  • County Council casts second vote approving rezoning of golf course

    COLUMBIA – On Tuesday night, Richland County Council cast a second vote in as many weeks in favor of a rezoning that could turn a former golf course bordering Crickentree neighborhood into hundreds of homes. A third vote, to be taken Sept. 17, will be the final say on the issue.

    The 9-1-1 vote came after Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson, who represents the Crickentree area, presented a plan for developing the 183-acre golf course property that she said was a compromise reached during talks that occurred on July 2, between six Crickentree residents and E-Capital, a Texas investment firm that purchased the property out of bankruptcy last year.

    But Crickentree resident Dr. Traci Cooper, who, along with the majority of Crickentree residents, opposes the rezoning, said she was shocked when she heard the plan presented by Dickerson.

    “That was not a compromise reached at our meeting,” Cooper, one of the six negotiators, said following Tuesday night’s council meeting.

    Dr. Traci Cooper, right, rallies her Crickentree neighbors outside Council chambers Tuesday night following a second defeat by County Council. | Barbara Ball

    “That was an exploratory meeting that started out very healthy with both sides putting all their options on the table. But no conclusions were reached,” Cooper said.

    “We proposed a map with a 500-foot buffer and a maximum of 140 homes. The E-Capital representative, to his credit, listened to us and said he would take the options we presented back to his planner to see if they would work and that E-Capital would get back to us. We were to have another meeting that never materialized. That’s what Ms. Dickerson should have presented to council, because we had not yet heard back from E-Capital and no consensus had been reached.”

    In an email sent hours after the July 2 meeting to inform his fellow residents of the status of the evening’s negotiations, Crickentree resident Russ St. Marie wrote, “We offered a 500-foot buffer option that would have allowed E-Capital 138 homes. However, Mrs. Dickerson said she would not support a 500-foot buffer.”

    In that email, St. Marie wrote that Dickerson had agreed to doubling the 150-foot buffer to 300 feet.

    The next day, July 3, residents received an email from Dickerson indicating an agreement had been reached at the July 2 meeting for a 250-foot buffer and 205 homes.

    “We did not hear back from E-Capital, so we sent a letter to Ms. Dickerson on July 7 reiterating our proposal but heard nothing further from either Ms. Dickerson or E-Capital until she announced her plan to Council last night,” Cooper told The Voice on Wednesday.

    “The negotiations were cherry-picked and presented as an agreed-upon plan. How were the other council members to know her plan was not something we had agreed to?” Cooper said.

    “Our proposal is a win-win for everyone,” Cooper told The Voice. “They still get to build and make a profit of about $24 million, and we get something that we want. I hope they [council] will look at our plan.”

    Dickerson told The Voice on Wednesday that she left the July 2 meeting with the understanding that a consensus had been reached for 205 homes and a 250-foot buffer.

    “I wasn’t going to make E-Capital give up any more homes since they were giving another 100 feet of buffer,” Dickerson said.

    “While I don’t doubt what Ms. Dickerson is saying was actually discussed [with residents], I would like to see it in writing,” Councilman Calvin ‘Chip’ Jackson said after Dickerson made her proposal to council.

    Jackson moved to table the issue until specifics could be worked out and sent back in writing to council.

    “I don’t see why there is such a rush to do this, why can’t we defer it until the August meeting, until the details are worked out and if not, then it can be deferred again until the details are worked out and presented to this council,” Jackson said.

    Jackson’s motion to defer failed.

    Council voted 9-1-1 to approve the rezoning with Councilwoman Allison Terracio voting against and Jackson abstaining.

    On June 25, the council voted 7-3 in favor of the rezoning requested by E-Capital. While the county’s planning staff recommended the requested rezoning from Traditional Recreational Open Space (TROS) to Low Density Residential (RS-LD), the Planning Commission voted twice against recommending the rezoning to Council.

    The third and final vote is set for Sept. 17 at County Council Chambers.

  • Dickerson led 7-3 vote to rezone golf course for homes

    More Than 120 Crickentree Residents Attended to Oppose Rezoning

    COLUMBIA – Richland County Council dimmed the hopes of more than 120 Crickentree residents who were in attendance at a public hearing Tuesday night, that council would save their quiet, treed, large-acre neighborhood from hundreds of homes being built on a former golf course along the border of their neighborhood.

    At the urging of their county council representative Joyce Dickerson, Council voted against them, 7-3, Tuesday evening to approve the first reading of a request by Texas investment firm E-Capital to rezone the 183-acre former golf course property from TROS (Traditional Recreational Open Space) to RS-LD (Low Density Residential).

    While the County planning staff recommended the zoning, the county’s planning commission voted 5-2 on June 3 to recommended that council reject the rezoning request on the basis that “a substantial portion of the property in question is zoned TROS and in light of the stated purposes within section 26-85, including preservation of conservation and open space, and to lessen the potential diminution of property values and to provide for a community-wide network of open spaces.’

    Councilman Bill Malinowski said he had researched TROS zoning and that he found it had been created by the Richland County Conservation Commission for government owned land only and that it would not be appropriate zoning for a golf course.

    E-Capital’s attorney Robert Fuller spoke at the beginning of the public hearing, but he did not mention the number of houses proposed on the property or the width of the buffer promised as he had done in past meetings.

    “E-Capital’s silence on the number of homes and width of buffer promised leaves the residents in the dark, now, as to what the company plans to build,” Resident Russ St. Marie said following the meeting.

    In previous meetings the numbers have ranged from 249 homes down to, more recently, 207, but according to the county’s planning information on the rezoning, as many as 672 (less 20 percent for infrastructure) could be built on the 183-acre parcel under RS-LD zoning.

    According to the County’s Planning/Zoning Director Geonard Price, the developer would be allowed to build the maximum number of homes allowed and would not be held to the promised amount.

    Before calling for the vote, Dickerson took the opportunity to vent her feelings about the Crickentree residents, Blythewood town government, LongCreek Plantation neighborhood and others.

    Without further explanation, Dickerson said she had watched as Round Top neighborhood “has been squeezed by Crickentree and LongCreek Plantation.”

    And she didn’t stop there.

    “I have been challenged with numerous threats and correspondence containing fabricated information, for instance, that Blythewood requested to put a park…that community is not in Blythewood. So for someone on Blythewood planning commission to tell you they can put a park there, that’s fabricated information,” Dickerson read from a prepared speech.

    Crickentree is located in 29016 which is in the Blythewood community, but not the town limits.

    When asked if she would provide the threatening emails to The Voice, Dickerson said she would have to check with the county’s attorney before she could share them.

    Dickerson also reported that she had received many emails urging her to vote for the rezoning. However, no one except the E-Capital representatives spoke in favor of the rezoning during the public hearing.

    Noting that residents had said over the past year that if the TROS in their neighborhood were rezoned, it could cause a domino effect for other nearby golf communities, Dickerson pushed back.

    “I am not looking at Windermere, Woodchuck [sic], Spring Valley, Wildwood, Longtown [sic]. All of you seem to be in a gated community with deed restrictions on some of your properties.

    Due to a large turnout, many of those residents who came to the meeting were held in the lobby until near the end of the meeting. They were told by a security officer that seating was over capacity. Some left while others, including The Voice reporter, were not allowed in until the proceedings were almost over.

    Council will have two more votes on the issue. Tuesday night was the only opportunity residents will have to publicly address the issue before council.

  • RC Council to vote on golf course zoning

    BLYTHEWOOD – Tuesday night’s Richland County Council meeting could be a turning point for the residents of Crickentree concerning a rezoning request they oppose for the 183-acre golf course property that adjoins their neighborhood.

    The meeting will include a public hearing on the issue and the first of three votes to deny or approve a request from the property’s owner, E-Capital Management, to rezone the property from Traditional Recreational Open Space (TROS) zoning to Low Density Residential (RS-LD) zoning.

    While the council has three votes, the first vote – yay or nay – more often than not portends the final outcome. If council members vote against the rezoning on the first vote, that’s the final vote. If council votes to approve the rezoning, it will have two more votes. If the second is a vote for approval, the third vote will determine the outcome.

    If, like the last time it came before council, E-Capital pulls the request before it is considered, the request could return as another zoning classification, perhaps Rural (RU), and re-enter the rezoning cycle.

    The residents and the rezoning applicant will only be allowed to express their concerns prior to the first vote.

    Tuesday will be the second time around the block for a rezoning request. It was initially recommended earlier this year by the county staff for Medium Density Residential (RS-MD) zoning, but subsequently recommended for denial by the Planning Commission. On April 23, E-Capital’s attorney Robert Fuller pulled the item from council’s agenda before it came up. After a new zoning request for RS-LD was recommended by the county planning staff in the Spring, the Planning Commission balked again, recommending on June 3 in a 5-2 vote that Council deny the rezoning request.

    The ball is now back in council’s court. The issues are still myriad.

    Some residents say TROS is not subject to rezoning.

    Resident Russ St. Marie said chapter 26 of the county’s zoning ordinance directs that TROS zoned properties and their current uses are to be preserved and protected.

    Planning Commissioner David Tuttle, one of the two Commissioners who voted for the rezoning, disagreed. He explained that TROS is just like any other zoning classification that comes before council.

    “Prior to the creation of TROS zoning,” Tuttle said, “golf course properties within neighborhoods were subject to being reverted to their previous zoning without coming before council. The purpose of TROS was to insure that the property would go before council before it could be rezoned.” He said that process served as a protection for adjoining property owners, that it gave the neighbors a say in the rezoning process.

    Fuller reasoned that the RS-LD zoning, allowing 3.63 homes to the acre, is the same as the current Crickentree property zoning, Low Density Residential.

    County zoning administrator Geonard Price pointed out, however, that Crickentree lots are actually larger with 1.04 homes to the acre, possibly making Low Density zoning of the golf course property incompatible with surrounding properties.

    “In RS-LD zoning, lots would be restricted to no less than 1,200 square feet,” Fuller told the panel. “We would restrict the number of homes to 207 with a 150-foot buffer between the golf course property and the Crickentree neighborhood. This is the only way the owner can make anything of it.”

    The issue will go before County Council at 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 25 for first reading and a public hearing.

  • Crickentree residents take 5-2 PC vote

    Rezoning Request Now Heads for Richland County Council

    COLUMBIA – In horseracing terms, it’s pretty close to a hat trick.

    More than 50 residents of Crickentree and other Columbia area golf course communities pulled off a third upset in their quest to stop the rezoning of a former golf course property that borders their neighborhood from Traditional Recreational Open Space (TROS) to a residential zoning classification

    This time the win came at Monday afternoon’s Richland County Planning Commission where the panel voted against recommending Low Density Residential (RS-LD) zoning to council with a vote of 5-2.

    In April, the Commission voted against rezoning the property to Medium Density Residential (RS-MD) by a vote of 7-1. The third victory, of sorts, occurred last month when the applicant, E-Capital, withdrew its rezoning request for Richland County Council’s consideration just minutes before the matter was to be discussed and voted on.

    The county planning staff recommended approval before it went before the Planning Commission on Monday.

    Robert Fuller, a Columbia attorney representing E-Capital, reasoned that the RS-LD zoning, allowing 3.63 homes to the acre, is the same as the Crickentree property zoning.

    County zoning administrator Geo Price pointed out, however, that Crickentree lots are actually larger with 1.04 homes to the acre.

    Resident Russ St. Marie said chapter 26 of the county’s zoning ordinance directs that TROS zoned properties and their current uses are to be preserved and protected.

    “TROS zoning is just another zoning designation,” Commissioner David Tuttle, one of two commissioners voting for the rezoning, said. “It’s just another zoning classification.

    “In this zoning, lots would be restricted to no less than 1,200 square feet,” Fuller told the panel. “We would restrict the number of homes to 207 with a 150-foot buffer between the golf course property and the Crickentree neighborhood. This is the only way the owner can make anything of it.”

    The issue will go before County Council on Tuesday, June 25, for first reading and a public hearing. This is the only meeting that residents will be allowed to speak to the issue.

  • E-Capital pulls rezoning request

    COLUMBIA – More than a hundred residents of Crickentree breathed a sigh of relief Tuesday night at a Richland County Council public hearing after the Texas investment firm, E-Capital, withdrew its application for the rezoning of the former Golf Course of South Carolina.

    The withdrawal was announced by County Councilwoman Joyce Dickerson at the beginning the hearing on the rezoning. Dickerson represents much of the Blythewood area, including Crickentree.

    E-Capital’s proposal to rezone the golf course from Traditional Recreational Open Spaces (TROS) to medium density residential (RS-MD) would allow  up to 600 homes to be developed on the 183-acre property. TROS is a zoning category designed to protect golf courses, ensuring that they remain open green space.

    Residents fear smaller lots and hundreds of additional homes will lower their large-lot home values and further congest already unmanageable traffic in the area.

    Robert Fuller, attorney for E-Capital, spoke with The Voice after the meeting. He was asked if E-Capital plans to come back to council and request a different zoning classification for the property.

    “I don’t know,” Fuller said. “I can’t say what they will do. Nothing has been decided.”

    In attendance at the meeting and signed in to speak in support of the residents, Mayor J. Michael Ross has been forthcoming in public meetings about his desire for the county to purchase the golf course property and turn it into recreational opportunities for the northern Richland County area.

    A story on the front page of The State Monday morning laid bare Dickerson’s irritation with Ross over that proposal.

    “If he wants a park, he can put it in there,” Dickerson was quoted in The State. According to the newspaper, Dickerson was miffed that Ross had “approached the Richland County Recreation Commission before the rezoning request was filed.”

    The story quoted Dickerson as saying that “caused some ill will when the mayor skirted County Council and pitched a plan for land not in the Blythewood city limits.”

    Later in the day on Monday, Ross emailed County Council members.

    “I wanted to reach out before tomorrow night’s meeting and express to you my concerns about the rezoning of the Crickentree property. Even though it was pointed out in The State newspaper today that the property being discussed is not in our town, it sure is close!!! If you don’t think another development of 200, 400 or 600 homes right down Langford Road doesn’t affect our town and its citizens, well I know you do! I encourage all of you to do what you and I were elected to do and hear the people’s wishes and vote in favor of preserving this wonderful green space in northern Richland County.  If this is rezoned and the TROS classification is lost, it will only be the first in this area to go.  The Windermere Golf club property will be right behind it.   I hope you, like me, would like to see a pause or hold on all the home development in northern Richland County especially when it devours ‘green space!’”

    The email ended with Ross’ trademark lightheartedness.

    “Thanks for all you do and, Mrs. Dickerson, I still know we are the best of friends no matter what!”

  • Golf course zoning up for vote

    Council Meeting Set for April 23

    BLYTHEWOOD – Crickentree residents who oppose the proposed rezoning of the former Golf Course of South Carolina may have their toughest battle yet on April 23 when the issue goes before Richland County Council for first reading.

    Last month, the County’s Planning Commission voted 7-1 in the resident’s favor – to recommend that Council not change the zoning of the golf course, which shares a border with Crickentree, from its current Traditional Residential Open Spaces (TROS) to Medium Density Residential (RD-MS) use.

    But that win was only the first step in the residents’ effort to defeat the rezoning bid. The request for rezoning will now have three readings (votes) by County Council. The first, on April 23, will be the only opportunity that residents will have to address council about the issue. If Council votes is in favor of the rezoning at that meeting, it will hold two more readings without residents being allowed to speak. If council votes against the rezoning, the issue will be dead for another year or until a different zoning classification is requested.

    Crickentree residents have been reaching out to residents of other golf course communities to attend as well, since those golf courses could be affected next if the Golf Course of South Carolina is rezoned.

    The County planning staff has recommended approval of the rezoning, saying it complies with the county’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan which recommends for that area to be zoned RS-MD in the future. That zoning designation would allow up to 600 or so homes to be built on 8,500 square foot lots.

    But while the planning staff makes that recommendation, it also concludes that approval of the request may promote a density which is not consistent with that of the established and proposed developments of the adjacent and proximate subdivisions (Hunters Run, The Park at Crickentree, and Crickentree).

    Attorney for E-Capital, Robert Fuller, laid out a plan for the property to be developed under medium density zoning, but promised that no more than 237 homes would be built, not the 600 or so allowed under the requested zoning classification.

    Commissioner Heather Cairns interrupted Fuller’s presentation to point out that the Commission’s responsibility was not to consider the plan he was presenting, but to consider whether 186 acres should be rezoned to allow 8,500 square foot lots over its entire existence.

    Resident Russell St. Marie also challenged Fuller’s plan for development of the property.

    “E-Capital is on record that they have no intention of developing this property,” St. Louis said. “They merely want to get the zoning changed and sell the property to a developer.”

    Under questioning by the Planning Commission Chair, Stephen Gilchrist, Richland County Zoning Director Geonard Price said that, according to the purpose statement of the TROS ordinance, it was to insure preservation of conservation, recreation and open space.

    The public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m., Tuesday, April 23 at the County Council Chambers, 2020 Hampton Building. Those wishing to sign up to speak for or against the rezoning will need to arrive early to sign up.

    For more information call the County Ombudsman at 939-6000 to direct your call to the planning staff or call Concerned Citizens of Crickentree at 803-719-1242 or visit SaveGolfCourses.com.