Watching the archived recordings of County Council meetings might be my favorite way to keep up to date because I can pause, rewind, or speed up parts. It's not the most timely method, though, because it seems to take a day or two for the recordings to get posted, but when you're a mom of two with a full-time day job, you do the best you can.
This meeting moved through the agenda pretty quickly, ending after about thirty-five minutes. There were five items on the Consent Agenda, and the list of zoning ordinances was also relatively light, with two zoning ordinances in their third reading, one on its second, and two on their first with no public comments on any of them. Much of the meeting was taken up by the public comments at the end, and the public comments remain my favorite part of these meetings.
One speaker brought up the issue of public transit and the need for more buses and bus lines because there are plenty of people who rely on public transit to get to their jobs. Personally, I'd love to see more of an investment in public transit.
What is a land development concurrency requirement?
After the consent agenda, County Council passed a resolution to study whether Greenville County should have a land development concurrency. After reading the resolution, I can confidently say that I still don't know what a land development concurrency is. But I do know that the resolution is not a vote on whether we should have one or not. It's simply the Council's approval to study whether we need one and how it would work.
"This resolution is intended solely to authorize a study and investigation and shall not be construed as adopting, endorsing, or mandating a land development concurrency requirement."
Basically, a land development concurrency is a way for local government to enact guidelines around building and development in the county. It's a way to make sure any new construction or development matches up with improvements to infrastructure (roads, sewer, water, etc.) so that there is capacity to support the new development. The county would be able to slow down or delay development in areas where the infrastructure can't support it until the needed improvements can be made. Check out the Greenville Journal for a bit more on County Council's resolution.
Greenville County isn't the only county in South Carolina looking at how to control development. According to The State, Lexington County has already enacted a concurrency requirement. There are also a couple of bills working their way through the Statehouse that would provide state-level guidance about what such concurrencies can and cannot do. Read more from The State.
Can County Council install speed bumps or stop signs?
One of the last public comments came from a citizen who lives near the Cherrydale intersection on Poinsett Highway. He's been trying to get action on an issue for a little over a year and now brought it before County Council. The problem is that the street he lives on is a common cut-through for people who want to avoid the Cherrydale intersection and get onto State Park Road. Cars tear down the street quickly in their rush to get around the traffic.
(I get it. I hate going through that intersection, too. But I would also hate to have cars speeding down my street on a regular basis.)
One of the councillors was able to provide some answers in the meeting. The roads there are state roads and not directly under the control of the county. County Council can't install speed bumps, stop signs, or other kinds of traffic mitigation. But County Council can connect the individual with the correct resources and help him navigate the process set out by the state.
It was nice to see a public comment that got some answers in the moment, along with promises of more help with the issue after the meeting.
