Florence City Council needs to move ahead on its cleanup efforts

The building that housed Carolina Sandwich Co. sits abandoned in downtown Florence at the corner of Palmetto and Coit streets after burning down last year.

By: Morning News | SCNow
Published: January 18, 2009

Florence City Council can’t stop now.

At a recent council work session, city staff presented the council with options on ways to clean up abandoned buildings and overgrown, unkempt lots.

And now the council is waiting to hear back from staff about what they think will work best.

We urge the council to move as quickly as possible on this issue, which leaves a poor impression of Florence, creates problems in neighborhoods and, in some cases, gives criminals a place to operate or hide.

For some who think that property owners are the only ones with rights, we point out that when they fail to properly maintain their buildings or lots, they become public nuisances and government needs to take action.

There certainly need to be safeguards, but these eyesores need to be cleaned up.

And we are talking about all over Florence, from major thoroughfares to neighborhoods.

At the city council work session, it was estimated that 2,426 of the city’s roughly 15,000 parcels are vacant and abandoned.

At the meeting, Florence Community Services Director Scotty Davis presented the following suggestions to council:

-- A vacant building registry, in which property owners pay a fee for a building to remain empty

-- A rental property registry, which also could include fees at council’s discretion

-- Creating green spaces on problem properties obtained by the city

-- Business license fees for landlords

-- A maintenance registry for landlords, which would include local numbers for maintenance workers who would fix problems that might arise on a property

-- Use of a “rule to show cause,” as in Myrtle Beach, where property owners must give city council a reason why they haven’t complied with an order following a violation.

-- Neighborhood sweeps to clean up vacant or abandoned parcels

-- A livability court to handle property codes violations

-- Ordinance updates

Florence city ordinances establish fines of as much as $500 or 30 days in jail for property owners who don’t comply with orders to handle buildings that are unsafe, overgrown or unfit for human habitation.

We urge city council members to keep this issue on the front burner.

It’s been ignored for too long.

Public input and understanding is needed, but so is action.