Bailey Taylor (left), Cali Swearingen and Alyssa Atkerson celebrate their final home game on senior night.
WINNSBORO- The Richard Winn lady Eagles had a rocky offensive outing on Thursday,senior night, when Wardlaw Academy came into town. The Patriots notched a 2-0 win thanks in large part to a devastating pitching performance courtesy of junior pitcher Savannah Rodgers.
Rodgers was dealing on the mound all seven innings and racked up 13 strike-outs compared to only two base hits. Eagles starter Bailey Taylor had a solid outing with a complete game performance, two earned runs, five strikeouts but Richard Winn did give up seven hits, including a triple.
The dominant pitching became evident early. Wardlaw retired Richard Winn’ side of the first with three consecutive strikeouts and the Patriots only base-runner in the first reached due to an error, but her teammates were unable to get her in for a score.
Alyssa Atkerson, a senior, led of the second with a single, that turned out to be the last hit that she would tally at the Richard Winn softball field. Rodgers got the next three Eagle hitters in relatively easy fashion.
Wardlaw applied some pressure to Richard Winn in the second when Abbie Spurlock clocked in a single and Ashlyn Yount kept Spurlock moving with a base-hit of her own, but the momentum was brought to a halt after a strike-out and pop-fly ended the inning.
After the Atkerson hit in the second, the Eagles bat his a cold-patch that they would not be able to shake. Richard Winn down in order in the third, fourth, fifth and seventh inning, and their only hit during that span was a Sallie Costenbader single in the sixth.
The Patriots offense was not a great deal better, but it only required one solid inning for them to pull-out a win, and that inning was the fourth. Annalee Rodgers walked to start the fourth and it was not long before an Abbie Spurlock triple brought her all the way around from first, to give Wardlaw a 1-0 lead.
Spurlock was rewarded for her triple when she scored on another Ashlyn Yount single. Bailey Taylor got the next two batters to prevent further damage, but the 2-0 lead proved to be insurmountable for the Eagles.
Seniors Bailey Taylor, Alyssa Atkerson and Cali Swearingen were honored after the game. Richard Winn will be in playoff action at the SCISA State Tournament on May 12-13.
Jacob Declemente (21), Ian Stephan (14), Aiden Massey (13), Thomas Murphy (7), Banks Faulkner (11, Head Coach, Daniel Zippel (3), Todd Mattox (4), Landon Cruz (20), Hunter McCoy (19), pose for one last picture as teammates on Blythewood’s senior night. Photo/GoFlashWin
BLYTHEWOOD-On Friday night, three days after Spring Valley beat Blythewood 6-5 in nine innings, the Bengals returned the favor, albeit in slightly less dramatic flair.
The Bengals built a 7-0 lead at the Blythewood baseball field over the Region V-5A rival Vikings, and closed out a 7-4 win on Senior Night.
Even though no extra-inning heroics were needed, the Bengals needed three pitchers to get out of a seventh-inning jam. Spring Valley had the bases loaded with nobody out before the final reliever John Lanier began to close out the game.
“You gotta embrace the pressure and learn to enjoy it,” Banks Faulkner said, noting his team’s late-inning struggles. “But we still get uncomfortable in that situation, but that’s just a young team.”
With one run in, Wynston Dyer reached on a bloop single into short left that scored Daishon Redden, but Baylor Berry was thrown out trying for third on the play. Later, Khyree Miller hit into a fielder’s choice and Hunter Rogers grounded out to end the game.
“We continued to battle,” Faulkner said. “We played error-free baseball, which was really good, and we’re looking forward to go on the road to competing against Sumter.”
Blythewood, 14-10 overall, finishes Region 5-5A play 6-6. The Bengals head to Sumter Tuesday to take on the Gamecocks in the opening round of the 5A-District VII tournament.
The Bengals put four pitchers on the mound Friday night.
Ben Lang-Spittler started the game and went three innings, followed by Landon Lucas, who gave up three runs on six hits in three-plus innings of work.
Lucas started the seventh, but left the mound after two batters. Hunter McCoy faced two batters and Lanier three.
“We had planned that. We wanted to keep our options open for Tuesday,” Faulkner said. “It’s probably going to be a combination of guys. We haven’t decided completely what we’re going to do, but Benny’s battling an oblique issue and that limits him, he can’t come down to the side and mix his arm angles, and that’s what he needs to do to be his best.”
Lang-Spittler got into trouble in the first, loading the bases with one out, but he got Ryan Gurganious to ground out and Bryson Garrett to fly out to end the inning. In his time on the mound he faced 13 batters, struck out one, walked one, and hit one batter.
Meanwhile, the Bengals got to Spring Valley starting pitcher Baylor Berry early. Todd Mattox led off the game with a double, and Aidan Massey singled him in. Later in the inning, with two out, Landon Cruz reached on an error that scored Massey to give Blythewood a 2-0 lead.
Courtesy Runner Ian Stephen, running for Josh Cowan, who had singled, was caught in a rundown between second and third for the final out.
Blythewood picked up three runs in the third and two more in the fourth to build a 7-0 lead.
Massey’s single enabled Mattox to score, Lang-Spittler tripled in Massey, and Zach Bailes drove in Lang-Spittler on a bunt single in the third.
In the fourth, Massey drove in Jacob DeClemente and Spittler batted in Mattox.
“We mixed the lineup a little bit, Mattox led us off and we put Massey at No.2,” Faulkner said. “He (Massey) has been a really good hitter. He’s struggled at getting RBIs in some situation, but he had three RBIs tonight and had a good night at the plate.”
Massey went 3-for-4, Mattox went 2-for-3 with two doubles, and Lang-Spittler went 2-4 with a triple.
Spring Valley got two runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh. Chase Hayes doubled twice for the Vikings. Ronald Hollins also doubled and went 2-for-4. Miller went 2-for-3
Spring Valley 0-0-0-0-1-0-2- 4 8 2
Blythewood:2-0-3-2-0-0-x-7 11 0
WP: Ben Lang-Spittler. LP: Baylor Berry.
Hitters: Spring Valley – Chase Hayes, 2-3, 2B (2). Ronald Hollins 2-4, 2B. Khyree Miller 2-3. Wynston Dyer 2B. Blythewood – Aidan Massey 3-4. Todd Mattox 2-3, 2B (2). Ben Lang-Spittler 2-4, 3B.
Raegan Auton (left), Faith Manly (9), Courtney Watts (17) and Erin Goff (3) savor the moment prior to their senior night game.
BLYTHEWOOD-The Blythewood softball team tried to spark a rally several times against Spring Valley Tuesday night.
But on Senior Night at the Blythewood softball field, Jordan Bostic and the Vikings stayed one step ahead of the Bengals.
Bostic went 4-for-4 with a 3-run home run in the third inning to give Spring Valley an 11-5 win to close out the regular season.
“It just seemed we were one hit away, one catch away,” Blythewood head coach Jordan Atkinson said. “We had several 0-2 (in the count) hits, and that can’t happen. We weren’t very selective at all (at the plate), and in the third inning they batted through their lineup.” Blythewood (4-8 in Region 5-5A, 7-13 overall) opens the playoffs at Ashley
Ridge Thursday in the District V Tournament. West Florence and Lexington will also play in that bracket.
The Bengals took a 1-0 lead on Spring Valley in the bottom of the second inning. Grace Campbell led off with a double, moved to third on Savannah Simpson’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on Courtney Watts’ infield groundout.
Faith Manley struck out to retire the side.
The lead didn’t last long.
Spring Valley sent 10 batters to the plate in the third. With two runners on and nobody out, Bostic got things started when she swung on a 2-1 pitch and sent it over the leftfield fence to give the Vikings a 3-1 lead. Spring Valley got two more runs in the inning to take a 5-1 lead.
“In the first game they didn’t have Edgerton (who went 2-for-3) and Bostic,” Atkinson said, referring to Blythewood’s 10-2 victory March 28. “We let them control the game.”
Blythewood rallied for two runs in the bottom of the third, but got cut short.
Reagan Auton drew a walk, Emily Bush singled and Parker drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out. That set up Sammy Hall’s 2-run single to cut Spring Valley’s lead to 5-3.
Unfortunately for the Bengals, that’s all they could get. With Hall and Parker aboard and nobody out, Spring Valley retired the next three batters to strand the tying runs.
The Vikings then got a run in the fourth, two more in the fifth, and three in the seventh to take an 11-3 lead.
Blythewood, which stranded two baserunners in the sixth when they were down 8-3, got a hot start in the final inning.
Bush singled to lead off the inning and Parker doubled her home to make it 11-4 Vikings. Hall reached on a fielder’s choice that struck Parker from the bases. Erin Goff was hit by a pitch and Grace Campbell singled in Hall to make it 11-5, but that was the most Blythewood could get.
Savannah Simpson struck out and Courtney Watts hit into a game-ending fielder’s choice.
“You leave runners on base and make errors, it’s not a success,” Atkinson said. “Not a success.”
Spring Valley 0-0-5-1-2-0-3-11 12 0
Blythewood: 0-1-2-0-0-0-2-5 8 3
WP: Molly Coleman LP: Emily Bush
Hitters: Spring Valley – Jordan Bostic 4-4, HR. Molly Coleman 2-3, 2B. Alexis Edgerton 2-3. Mary Freeman 2-3. Jade McKie 2B. Blythewood – Kendall Parker 2-3, 2B. Grace Campbell 2-3, 2B. Emily Bush 2-4.
Best of Show and Best Behaved awards went to TY10, a handsome, 1-1/2 year old German Sheperd. TY10’s very proud owner is Tyrone Guyton
It was the day of the pet in downtown Winnsboro on Saturday as all kinds of dogs (as well as a baby goat) arrived at the gazebo on Congress Street for the third annual Downtown Merchants’ Paw Parade.
After registration, the contestants settled into competition mode, and the judging began. And this year, it was serious judging.
There were several competition categories, such as ‘Best Tail Wagger,’ ‘Best Smile,’ ‘Best Costume,’ etc.
Then the four-legged contestants took to the streets for a sidewalk parade. It was a traffic stopping event.
Following the parade, the winners were named and awarded gold star trophies. Best in Show went to TY10, the big German Shepherd. TY10 also won the coveted ‘Best Behavior’ trophy.
The Paw Parade is an initiative of the Winnsboro Downtown Merchants Association supported by the Town of Winnsboro and the Fairfield Chamber of Com
Humble ingredients result in a crunchy, peanut butter cookie that begs for a glass of sweet tea.
Recently I took a little road trip deep into the South to the place I call home. I drove along dirt roads, watched chickens peck while I sipped coffee and silently cursed the fact that there was not a grocery store within 40 miles that stayed open past 6 p.m.
Seeing old friends and family is always a delight and reminiscing about old times is even more delightful. At one point, conversation turned to my grandfather and how a great portion of the food I grew up with came from his farm. I was particularly fond of thick, slab bacon, turnip greens and cornbread.
Driving back to Blythewood I began to daydream about cornbread. I grew up eating buttermilk cornbread bread cooked in a black iron skillet but on some level I knew there was much more to be done with stone ground cornmeal.
A little investigating and good old-fashioned community cookbook turned up lots of great cornmeal recipes. It was a brutal decision, but I managed to narrow it down to my top three.
I was instantly intrigued by a cornbread that was leavened with yeast and included a lot of flour. What sort of Yankee invention was this? At first glance, I’d be hard pressed to call this cornbread yet this airy loaf is exactly that. While traditional corn bread is a quick bread that is leavened with baking powder, Arizona Corn Bread is more time consuming and depends on yeast for a rise.
I love this strange (to me) mix of yeast bread and corn bread. This is best straight out of the oven; it tends to go stale quickly. If this happens, immediately cut it into cubes and make croutons for taco salad or chili.
Arizona Corn Bread
Yield: 2 loaves
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 Tablespoon sugar
2 packages (1/4 oz each) active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup sour cream
½ cup canola oil
½ cup chopped green onions
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 ¼ cup shredded pepper jack cheese
1 cup cream style corn
2 large jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
5 to 6 cups all purpose flour
Additional cornmeal
In a large bowl, combine the first six ingredients; set aside. In a saucepan, heat the sour cream, oil and onions to 120°F to 130°F. Add the to the cornbread mixture; beat until blended. Beat in the eggs, cheese, corn and jalapenos. Stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about an hour.
Punch the dough down; turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into two loaves. Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans; dust with additional cornmeal. Place loaves, seam side down in the prepared pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30-45 minutes.
Brush butter over the loaves; bake at 375°F for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown; cover loosely with foil if the top browns too quickly.
Remove from the pans and cool on wire racks.
Southern culture is a complicated thing. We have much to regret, but we’ve done a few things right, pimento cheese and corn muffins come to mind. Pimento cheese folded into corn muffin batter can transform a bad day into a good day. I am not joking. Try it and see.
Pimento Cheese Muffins
Yield: 6 jumbo muffins or 12 regular muffins
1 cup yellow cornmeal
¾ cup of flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 cup of milk
2 Tablespoons canola oil
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup prepared pimento cheese
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray and set aside.
Place the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and sugar in a mixing bowl; whisk to combine. In a separate mixing owl, combine the milk, oil, and eggs; stir to fully combine and then stir in the pimento cheese.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fill the muffin tins 2/3 of the way and bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 3 minutes and then turn out on a wire rack. I prefer these served hot.
Making cookies with cornmeal was a new experience for me. These Peanut Butter Cornmeal Cookies are such a nifty twist on a traditional peanut butter cookie. I love the crunchy, sandy texture that the addition of cornmeal gives these little gems. You’ll want to have some in the cookie jar with friends come to visit. They go just great with a glass of sweet tea on the porch.
Peanut Butter Cornmeal Cookies
Yield: about 4 dozen
½ cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup butter, at room temperature
1 cup smooth peanut butter
2 cups of granulated sugar
2 eggs
½ cup whole milk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper; set aside.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, salt and flour. Set aside.
In a separate mixing bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter and sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, milk and vanilla extract. Stir in the dry ingredients.
Drop by the teaspoons onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Stanley McManus (10), Tracy Williamson (4), Rodric Woodard (2), Jeff Russell (3), Tydarius Young (7), and Travious Williams (31) take one last photo on senior night. Photo/ Ross Burton
WINNSBORO – The Griffins notched a 9-7 victory over Newberry High on their senior night, their last game before the start of the playoffs. Fairfield jumped ahead 9-2 early, and it was looking like a route in the making, but Newberry battled back to make it a much closer game.
“Good way to finish up the season,” Griffins’ head coach Scotty Dean said. “We got a good baseball team when we throw strikes and put the ball in play, and when we don’t throw strikes and kick it around we’re bad. Today I thought we played pretty good on defense, I think we only had one or two errors, maybe, I think we had a few hits, put up nine runs.”
Newberry actually jumped out to the early lead in the top of the first. Trey Kinard reached on a walk, then swiped second and, after a pick-off attempt went over the third baseman’s head, Kinard crossed the plate easily.
Fairfield wasted no time in re-grouping, putting up two runs in the bottom half of the first frame. Montavious Thompson led off with a single, then stole a base and Rodric Woodard was walked by Bulldogs’ pitcher and former Griffin Ivan Ruff.
Stanley McManus brought both Thompson and Woodard in to score with one swing of the bat for two of his four RBI’s on the night. McManus collected a double, but was tagged out in a close play as he tried to stretch the double into a triple.
An error for the Griffins at shortstop allowed Adam Kessler to score from second and knotted the game back up at 2-2. Fairfield did not answer back in the second, but their bats erupted in the bottom of the third.
Jacob McManus kicked off the third with a fly ball to right that should have been an easy out, but the rightfielder had trouble handling the ball, and McManus reached first. Newberry recorded a strikeout next, but then gave up a walk, an RBI-single, a double, an RBI Double, two hit batters and five-runs before they collected another out.
The 7-2 Griffins lead continued to grow with two more runs in the bottom of the fourth. Montavious Thompson, who was hit by a pitch, score after a couple of errors opened the plate up for him, and Rodric Woodard scored on a Stanley McManus grounder, that left Woodard just enough time to squeak across home.
The 9-2 lead seemed like it would be far too much for the Bulldogs to overcome, but they were not done rallying. A couple of singles and a couple of walks given up by the Griffins, allowed Newberry to put two runs in the top of the fifth.
Newberry followed their two-run fifth with two more in the sixth. A pair of sack flies, along with a walk and hit batter set the stage for the two-run sixth inning.
Fairfield could not plate anymore runs in their half of the sixth, meaning Newberry had three outs remaining to score three-runs and tie up the ball game, and they managed to score one of those but a double-play off the bat of the former Griffin Ivan Ruff put a bow on the game for Fairfield.
“It was 9-2 in the fourth and we wind up making it interesting,” Dean said. “When you got young pitchers and they’re struggling to throw strikes, that kind of thing happens. But I got a lot of confidence in our guys. We start the playoffs on Tuesday. They did a good job making the playoffs.”
Dean took a moment to remember the seniors that would be leaving the team.
“This senior class right here has won a lot of ball games. This is probably the winningest class of seniors other than that 2014 group. Monk’s been playing varsity baseball since seventh grade. Rodric’s been playing a lot of baseball for us. Trey’s a four year starter. Jeff Russell just came out and he’s seemed to be pretty good. I’m gonna miss this group of guys , you can’t replace people like that.”
FCHS:2-0-5-2-0-0-X-9
NHS: 1-1-0-0-2-2-1-7
Hitting: 1B- Montavious Thompson, Stanley McManus (FCHS) Adam Kesler, Alec Blackmon (2), Tramas Ruff (2), Bentrez Douglas, Riley Summer (NHS). 2B- Stanley McManus, Travious Williams, Antonio Jackson
After Blair resident Jeff Schaffer brought the neglected monument of revered former Jenkinsville School Principal W. L. Drummond to the attention of County Council two months ago, the County announced last week that it is looking into rescuing and moving the monument to a more centrally located, accessible location.
Blythewood J. Michael Ross tosses out the first pitch ahead of the Bengals opening game
Blythewood baseball team finished off J.L. Mann 5-4 in eight innings Saturday to claim the consolation game of the SC Diamond Invitational, but the Bengals very nearly let it get away.
“That’s sort of how it’s been,” Blythewood head coach Banks Faulkner said. “It’s been really tough for us to finish games. I feel like if you want to make a playoff run, you’ve gotta learn how to finish games and you’ve gotta learn how to rally.”
Faulkner was glad to see his team take some steps toward learning how to rally.
Blythewood took a 4-2 lead going into the seventh inning. With two out and Miles Daniels at second, J.L. Mann found a little good luck. Blake Jeter hit a lazy fly ball out to left field, and Blythewood’s Brady Beasley was tracking it.
And then Beasley lost track of the ball. When it dropped, Daniels raced around third and crossed the plate for the third run. With Jeter parked at second, King Price smacked a line drive that carried into the rightfield corner. Jeter easily made home, and Price slid in safely to third for a triple.
Price stayed stranded as Ryan Watson flied out to centerfield and ended the inning.
Blythewood nearly walked off with the win in the bottom of the seventh. Zach Bailes and Landon Cruz stroked back-to-back one-out singles, and Ian Stephen drew a walk to load the bases.
The situation looked primed for a walk-off play, but Beasley hit a ground ball to Kyle Forman playing between first and second base. Forman fired to Watson behind the plate to force out Bailes, and Watson threw to Robert Powell at first to get Beasley and end the inning on a double play.
Blythewood wasn’t finished. Relief pitcher John Lanier set the Patriots down in order in the top of the eighth. Then Ben Lang-Spittler lashed out a long double in the right centerfield gap to lead off the bottom half.
In an odd move, likely looking to set up another double-play, J.L. Mann intentionally walked Todd Mattox and Aidan Massey to load the bases with nobody out.
This time, Blythewood got a break. Cowan swung on and hit a lazy grounder to Powell at first. Powell moved in several feet in front of the bag to get it, but hesitated enough to allow Lang-Spittler to score the winning run.
“You’ve got to learn to man up and find a way to keep competing,” Faulkner said. “Looking back, I’m glad something happened like that, because it tested our resolve and tested our spirit. We just kept fighting.”
Late Friday, Dutch Fork beat Belton-Honea Path 7-6 in the fourth-place game.
In other games Saturday, Lexington beat Nation Ford 7-2 in the third-place game. T.L. Hanna won the tournament championship with a 4-2 victory over Dorman.
The Bengals finished the tournament 3-1.
In the first game Wednesday, Blythewood chalked up a 4-1 victory over Nations Ford. Bengals starter Daniel Zippel worked a complete game 3-hitter, striking out five. His only run was unearned.
On Thursday, the Bengals got out to a 3-0 lead going into the sixth, but the Yellow Jackets got four runs in the sixth and closed out a 5-3 victory.
Blythewood rebounded with an 11-5 win over Belton-Honea Path Friday night. After three scoreless innings, the Bengals picked up three runs in the fourth, two in the fifth, three in the sixth and three in the seventh. They were up 11-1 before the Bears picked up four runs on a hit and three Bengals errors in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn’t enough.
“It was not easy for us, but we’ve got a saying that we’ve used, ‘the tougher it is, the more we like it,’” Faulkner said. “I don’t truly feel like our kids believe that, but hopefully this will help. We’re a very improved team. We’ve pitched really well the entire tournament, and defensively we played together. Just trying to put everything together has been a challenge for us, but we’ve focused on controlling what we can be controlled and staying positive.”
Saturday
Blythewood 5, J.L. Mann 4
J.L. Mann:2-0-0-0-0-0-2-0- 4 5 1
Blythewood:2-1-1-0-0-0-0-1 – 5 12 2
WP: Landon Lucas. LP: Jamison Patterson.
Hitters: Blythewood – Josh Cowan 3-5. Zach Bailes 2-4. Landon Cruz 2-3, 2B. Jordan Flemming 2-3. Ben Lang-Spittler 2B. J.L.Mann – Myles Daniels 2-4, 2B. King Price 3B. Matthew Lumsden 2B. Blake Jeter 2B.
Friday
Blythewood 11, Belton-Honea Path 5
Blythewood: 0-0-0-3-2-3-3- 11 12 3
Belton-Honea Path:0-0-0-0-0-1-4- 5 6 1
WP: Landon Lucas. LP: Jamison Patterson.
Hitters: Blythewood – Todd Mattox 2-4, 2B. Landon Lucas 2-4. Thomas Murphy 2B. Belton-Honea Path – Griffin Jester 2-4. Jacob Keown 3B.
Thursday
T.L. Hanna 5, Blythewood 3
T.L. Hanna:0-0-0-0-0-4-1- 5 8 2
Blythewood:0-1-1-0-1-0-0- 3 6 1
WP: Tyler Kirkland. LP: John Lanier.
Hitters: T.L. Hanna – Gaines Yates 2-4. Austin Welborn 2-2. Alex Meredith 2B.
BLYTHEWOOD – In an effort to slow high density growth in the town, Council voted last month to pass first reading to amend the Blythewood zoning ordinance text. The goal was to start the wheels turning to, sooner rather than later, repeal R-5, R-8 and R-12 zoning districts which allow minimum lot sizes of 5,000, 8,000 and 12,000 square feet respectively within the town boundaries.
“The major concerns are that we have gotten developments and neighborhoods that have so many houses in them, and we don’t have infrastructure to take care of them. We have tried to eliminate some of the smaller lot districts and request that they be a certain size,” Mayor J. Michael Ross said at the April Council meeting.
Following on the heels of that vote was a request to the Planning Commission from developer D. R. Horton to rezone approximately 98 acres on two tracts of land located on Wilson Boulevard between Oakhurst Road and Highway 21 to accommodate the lot sizes that Council had voted a week earlier to banish. That property is currently zoned Development (D-1) with a minimum lot size of 20,000 square feet.
That request, presented by D. R. Horton representative Jordan Hammond, was not well received by the Commissioners who unanimously sent a recommendation to Council to deny D. R. Horton’s request, citing the high density allowed by all three of the developer’s requested options: PDD zoning (including R-5, R-8 and some commercial zoning which is a mixed-use requirement of PDD zoning), a combination of R-5 and R-8 zoning for the entire property and a third option of all R-8 zoning for the entire property.
While the Planning Commissioners as well as the Town’s Planning Consultant, Michael Criss, questioned whether only 1.7 acres of commercial zoning in the requested PDD actually met the requirements for true mixed-use zoning which is a required component of PDD zoning, Hammond countered at last week’s Town Council work session that it did meet those requirements.
“Whether it’s the prototypical, exemplary PDD zoning you see in San Antonio, Texas on the river (River Walk), it may not be that, but it’s a true mixed use of residential commercial and recreational uses,” Hammond said.
But the PDD requirement wasn’t the only thing the Commissioners had trouble swallowing. In his presentation to the Planning Commission, Hammond discussed the higher density that is possible for the property.
Commissioner Donald Brock challenged whether the density that could be approved for the property, should be approved.
“If you left it up to homebuyers looking to move to Blythewood, the answer would be absolutely yes,” Hammond said. “The demand for homes out here and in Cobblestone is huge. We’re in touch with homebuyers every day and the demand for this area is more than the density we’re proposing.
“Yes,” Brock said, “but I don’t know if the demand for yards you can mow with a weed eater is there. Your rezoning request is a very nice masking job, but it’s nothing more than that. It’s skirting the requirement to get the high density zoning that you’re looking for.
“The Town of Blythewood is a great place where people want to live,” Hammond told Council last week. “It’s a great community. We want to be involved in it. From the development side of it, if there are ways that we can be creative, there are things like Neighborhood Improvement Districts that we want to have conversations about with the Town. There are negatives a development is going to have, yes, but D. R. Horton, a large developer, can contribute and participate in the (Master) plans the Town has and we want to have that conversation. We don’t want just denial. We want recommendations and feedback,” Hammond told Council.
“So, with that, could we have a breakout meeting with Council or could I talk with (each of) you individually or just try to meet with you on Tuesday for breakfast and have this conversation?” Hammond asked at the end of his presentation.
“I think all the options are open” Ross said, “but I think I need to remind you that the people who sat on the Planning Commission are the citizens of this town. They were appointed to be there and they certainly listened to your proposal and I have seen the minutes from that and their opinions and they are valued. They represent the people in this town….This has been through the proper channel of the Planning Commission. They gave their determination. I think you want us to look at something different.”
Ross said Council would be open to considering other options presented by the developer.
Acknowledging that eliminating R-5, R-8 and R-12 zoning districts could turn in to a mountain of administrative work for the Town staff and Council, Councilman Tom Utroska asked Criss If there was another way to accomplish their goal of less density without the peripheral problems that might be created with the elimination of the three zoning districts.
“Instead of eliminating the three zoning districts from the zoning map, you could consider leaving them in the text as is, but down zoning select parcels throughout Blythewood to lower residential density,” Criss told Council. “That approach would declare Council’s concern about density, but still preserve the zoning of existing or invested development in neighborhoods like Oakhurst (55 parcels), Cambridge Pointe (92 parcels proposed), Dawson’s Creek (25 parcels), Dawson’s Pond (25 parcels), Abney Hill Estates, Phase 1 (93 parcels) and Abney Hill Estates, Phase 1 (53 parcels proposed).”
Criss explained that if the R-5, R-8 and R-12 zoning districts are eliminated from the zoning test, they also become void on the Town of Blythewood zoning map causing each of the hundreds of affected parcels to be rezoned to another remaining district, presumably a residential district with a larger minimum lot size.
“That would create many nonconforming lots” Criss said. “And along with larger minimum lot sizes come larger minimum building setbacks. That would create many nonconforming structures which couldn’t be rebuilt in the same location if they sustained damage beyond 50 percent of their replacement cost. In the private sector, zoning nonconformity of lots or structures can also affect issues such as titles financing, insurance and marketability,” Criss added.
An alternate proposal is expected to be on the agenda for the May 24 Council meeting to be held at 7 p.m., at The Manor.
Senior starting pitcher Stanley McManus hurls a rocket off of the mound
Fairfield Central headed into to hostile territory, and dropped a close 5-3 game against regional opponent Chester on the Cyclone’s senior night. The contest was the Griffin’s first since the Spring Break Holiday
Chester built an early lead, scoring single runs in each of the first three innings. To lead off the home half of the first, Anthony McCullough tried to lay down a bunt for Chester, but he got a little more air under it than he wanted, but it handcuffed the Griffins first baseman and his late throw was errant, sending the speedy outfielder to second base.
McCullough reached third on a passed ball, but was still standing there with two outs. Senior Luke Blanchett took care of that, stroking a single that plated McCullough and gave Chester a 1-0 lead.
In the second, Luke Wright drew a walk, stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball. Jordan Price got him in with a sacrifice fly to boost Chester’s lead to 2-0.
McCullough was a catalyst again in the third, reaching base on an error and scoring on a J.D. Carter single to make it a 3-0 game.
Wright, a freshman, got the start on the mound for the Cyclones. Powell decided to go with him because he’d pitched so well in an earlier 19-2 Chester win over the Griffins.
Fairfield Central looked to have something going in the first with Trey Williams hitting a shot back up the middle, but Trent Johnson made a terrific diving stop to record the out. Wright got the Griffins in order (with two strikeouts) in the second and pitched around a hit batsman to avoid trouble in the third.
He hit another batter in the fourth but Johnson made another diving stab of a catch to wipe out a certain hit and keep the Griffins at bay. In fact, the visitors were hitless until the fifth when pinch-hitter Antonio Jackson came up with a solid single.
The next batter walked, and after a fly ball out Montavious Thompson got his team on the board with an RBI single. Stanley McManus brought another one in with a sacrifice fly and it was suddenly a 3-2 ball game.
Carter walked to start the sixth frame and stole second. Jake Stroud knocked him in, then scored on an error to put Chester up 5-2. Fairfield scored one unearned run with two out in the seventh, but Blanchett closed it out.
Fairfield will close out the season with three consecutive home games. They hosted Indian Land on Wednesday, then will host Newberry Thursday and finish off the season Monday with Eau Claire.
