Planners vote 'no' to proposed Florence housing complex

FLORENCE — The Florence County/Municipal Planning Commission has recommended the denial of a rezoning request that could allow 64 multifamily housing units on 12½ acres in northwest Florence.

The property would have included one-story quadruplexes that would feature combinations of one-, two- and three-bedroom units off Harmony Street and North Hartwell Drive.

The same developers also have built Lakota Crossing Apartments, which are managed by the Housing Authority of Florence, developer Hollis Fitch told the commission Tuesday.

Neighborhood resident Deborah Bailey read a statement on behalf of the Harmony Street community in opposition to the development.

“We do not want any more cheap housing in our neighborhood,” she said. “We do not want any more negligence in our neighborhood. We do not want anyone else owning our neighborhood.”

Florence City Council will vote next month on the request.

The residents of the Greater Wilson Heights community, in north Florence as well, say they’ve also been fighting a long battle to protect their neighborhood from multifamily housing.

The planning commission on Tuesday deferred a vote on the proposed Wilson Road Overlay District, which would allow no duplexes, multifamily units or town homes. The deferral means the issue likely will go before Florence’s city planning commission, which will have its first meeting in July.

John Richburg, one of the 36 neighborhood residents at the meeting, asked the commission to recommend approval of the district “because the overlay gives us a chance to be dignified in our homes.”

Nearly 20 developers at the meeting opposed the overlay, which they say has unfairly stopped their approved plans in the area.

Developer Gary Finklea said he wants to continue building single-family homes in the area, but the pending ordinance has limited what he might be able to do.

“It’s underhanded, and it’s deceitful,” Finklea said of Florence City Council’s initial approval of the overlay last month. “I don’t know if that was the intent, but I hope it was a mistake, and I hope they will take steps to correct it.”

The city has a similar residential overlay district in the Timrod Park neighborhood, although the restrictions are on design, not use.

The commission on Tuesday also recommended for Florence County Council to approve a rezoning request that would allow a distribution center for OM Ships ministry materials to be shipped worldwide from a local church’s property.

Community Bible Fellowship, on St. Andrews Road near Southborough Road, has donated 12½ acres for the ministry. The request is to rezone the land from single-family residential to a Planned Development where future plans include town homes for volunteers at the distribution center.