EASLEY, SC — 10/18/22 11:00 AM
What is the City of Easley Planning Commission?
The city planning commission is a 5-person committee of Easley citizens who hears and votes on city planning and development issues.
They hear and vote on variance, zoning/annexation requests, development projects, and other topics.
The commission is overseen by Easley’s City Planner, Mario Dipietro, and Zoning Officer Paula Rowland.
Currently, the commission consists of:
- Donald H. Hamilton, Chairman, term ends: 12/31/23
- LaTresa Gilstrap, term ends: 12/31/24
- Bob Fedder, Vice Chairman, term ends: 12/31/25
- Lowell C. Seal, term ends: 12/31/26
- Calvin Wright, term ends: 12/31/26
The 5 members serve in 4-year terms. After the 4 years are up, they can be recommended for another term by the mayor, and the city council votes on the appointment.
Several commission members, like Don Hamilton, have been serving for over 30 years. Calvin Wright is newly appointed to the commission and sat in his first planning meeting tonight.
How do Planning Commission meetings work?
Unless there’s nothing on the agenda, the meetings are held the 3rd Monday of each month at 5:30 pm at the Easley Law Enforcement Center, 220 North West Main Street, Easley, SC 29640.
The agenda for each meeting is posted on the City of Easley calendar at least 20 days prior to the meeting.
The meetings are open to the public, and the citizens of Easley are allowed to speak and ask questions regarding the issues on the agenda. The city planner brings the topics of discussion individually before the board. The person or company representative who made the request is asked to come to speak about the request and answer any questions from the board.
Once the board has the answers they need from that individual, the commission opens the floor to others. Often the people who stand to speak are those who would be directly impacted by the request: neighbors, and businesses in that area. However, anyone in attendance can come up to ask questions or voice their concerns.
City of Easley Planning Commission Meeting Etiquette
There are several basic etiquette rules that must be followed when attending and addressing the planning commission.
- One person is allowed up to the podium to speak at a time.
- When they come up, the person must first state their name and physical address.
- All requests must go through a 90-day process: They must be heard and voted on by the planning commission, and then read before the city council at the next 2 monthly council meetings.
October 2022 Meeting Notes
What happened at the October 2022 planning commission meeting?
At this meeting, there were only 9 individuals from the public in attendance, including myself. Only 3 were there simply to witness (or report) what happened during the meeting.
There were 3 items on the agenda for October 2022:
1. REZONING REQUEST
Approximately 1.5 acres located at 223 Glenwood Road, Easley, SC from GC (General Commercial) to R-10 (Residential)- Don S. Craig, 59 Streater Lane, Pawleys Island, SC 29585-Located on Tax Map: 5029-05-28-1089
DISCUSSION: Mr. Craig owns a home on the land in question. He is looking to sell his home and property but discovered that it’s currently zoned as a commercial property. He is looking to rezone it to residential. City Councilwoman Denise Davidson asked the commission how many homes could be built on that land under the new zone designation (answer: 4).
RESULT: The commission voted unanimously to approve the request, and the readings of the requests before the city council were scheduled for November and December.
2. ANNEXATION REQUEST
Approximately 1.58 acres located at, East side Crenshaw Street/Dacusville Hwy, Easley, SC to R-10 (Residential)-Car Investments, LLC, 4545 Old Easley Bridge Road, Easley, SC 29642. Located on Tax Map: 5029-05-09-2812
DISCUSSION: The developer requested 1.58 acres located just outside city limits to be annexed into the city limits for development. The company also already owns about 6.44 acres of adjacent property inside the city limits. They are able to develop both, but if the commission didn’t approve the annexation, part of the project would be inside city limits, and another would be in the county.
RESULT: The commission voted unanimously to approve the request, and the readings of the requests before the city council were scheduled for November and December.
3. REZONING REQUEST
Approximately 1.1 acres located at Ballentine Street, Easley, SC from GC (General Commercial) to GR-2 (General Residential)-Mark Thoennes Builders, LLC-106 S Calhoun Street Greenville, SC-Located on Tax Map: 5028-06-49-5972
DISCUSSION: The builder proposed rezoning the property from commercial to residential to build 5-unit ‘affordable’ rental homes. These would be two-story townhomes in the $250,000 price range. Under the new designation, however, the builder could technically sell to another developer who could build almost any type of residential home as long as they didn’t violate building codes.
Several neighbors of the property expressed concerns over this request. Tim Turner from across the street wanted the city to keep the commercial designation because he is also considering making a rezoning request to make part of his property commercial as well. June Valor expressed concern about traffic and the speed of the cars in that neighborhood. With the added traffic of the new construction, the issue could get worse. The planning commission brainstormed ways to safely slow down traffic in the area.
RESULT: The commission voted against the G2 request: 4 against, and 1 for the rezoning. The commission offered a solution of rezoning as an FRD. That means that the builder can bring a specific proposal created by an engineer, and the commission could approve the rezoning of the property but only for that specific build. As a result of the negative vote, the builder can move forward with the reading at the city council meetings, or withdraw the original request, go back to square one, and resubmit an FRD proposal at the next planning commission meeting.
You can access the list of the current rezoning and annexation proposals here.
For variance requests to city ordinances for specific projects, use this link.