Managing Growth
The number one issue continuing to face our community is growth.
Southern Greenville County is growing rapidly, with northern Laurens County right behind it - and Fountain Inn is at the intersection of it all.
On the Record:
As tracts of land, some of them hundreds of acres, are being sold by local families across the region, the question Fountain Inn has had to wrestle with isn't simply "yes or no", it's been "what is the appropriate role of government in these personal and family decisions?"
That appropriate role is zoning.
In 2019 we promised to begin zeroing in on our zoning laws as the key to controlling growth. You get what you allow with zoning, and it’s become clear that we need to change what we allow, without impeding the rights of private property owners and without interfering with the free market.
We’ve spent the last four years laying the groundwork for the largest overhaul of our zoning laws since Fountain Inn established zoning in the 1980s. It’s a complex process governed largely by state law, but we’re well on our way to achieving this goal.
You can read more about my position on growth and role of government in one of my monthly columns in the Simpsonville Sentinel by clicking here.
Overhauling Fountain Inn’s Comprehensive Plan
We’re in the process of overhauling our City’s “Comp Plan”, which guides how the City should grow over the next ten years and is the first step to rewriting our zoning laws en masse. It’s a process governed by state law and will also include a Parks Master Plan. Read my column in the Simpsonville Sentinel on just how important this step is.Zoning Laws Changed
While we’re teeing up a complete overhaul of most of our zoning codes, we haven’t sat idle. We’ve approved numerous changes to existing zoning laws that needed to be changed quickly, including many that help control density. We’ve made our Commercial zoning stronger for businesses, overhauled key elements of our Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals governance, and more.Infrastructure Improvements
Infrastructure is vital to maintain healthy growth. We’ve made tremendous progress in some of our most requested, and necessary, improvements. We've doubled local road funding (city-owned roads) and worked with DOT to move of our biggest state-owned road priorities up the list. We were awarded a $10 million grant to help get our sewer rehab project to the finish line, plus we teamed up with the City of Mauldin on a $500,000 stormwater grant to put together a master plan for both communities. We’ve also represented Fountain Inn at the tables where funding priorities are made, resulting in moving many projects forward faster than in years past when we sat on the sideline.
Click here to see projects completed or in process over the last four years, and what’s next.
What's Next:
How do you manage growth while balancing property owner rights, respecting the free market, and honoring your community’s vision? The responsible answer is zoning. It’s the primary, objective, tool local governments have to control growth. It’s why we’ve been focused on laying the groundwork for major changes in our zoning laws (see above). Over the next four years, you can expect major changes in the actual laws that govern what we allow as we grow.
Zoning Re-Write
After the completion of our Comprehensive Plan, we’ll immediately begin putting the community’s updated vision and direction into action - changing zoning laws at almost every meeting so that we can better control our growth. This won’t be an overnight process, nor will it be easy. There are real implications to private property owners, city services, and more, as these decisions are made. There is a long list of changes we’d like to see happen - some broad strokes, some extremely detailed - and we'll get to work immediately after we adopt our Comp Plan.Rural Zoning
One item that we lack, and aim to get included in our zoning re-write, is the creation of a “Rural Zoning” category. Many are surprised to know that even our most “rural” zoning currently allowed isn’t as rural as you think. And while I believe government shouldn’t dictate every thing that happens on private property, we have to provide owners with options that help protect the community’s rural character, and an option for Council to incentivize.Continued Advocacy for Fountain Inn
One item that won’t make the front page, but has been instrumental in positioning Fountain Inn to control its own destiny is simple - relationships. We have intensely focused on building stronger relationships with various entities that help us make correct decisions, not only right ones, around growth. From DOT to Laurens County; from the State House to DC - we’ve been heavily focused on building a strong base of support so we can navigate growth in a systemic way and not haphazardly.