Planning commission sends priorities to city council

The Hartsville Planning Commission agreed to final touches to a list of planning priorities for 2010 and will now send it to Hartsville City Council.

Topping the commission’s list is the Vista area bounded by West Carolina Avenue, Chinaberry Street, Coker Avenue and Fourth Street.

“Efforts should be made to keep the area neat, tidy and well maintained,” the commission’s memo to council reads. “Eliminating or repairing dilapidated buildings should be intensified.”

The memo notes the high visibility of the area by visitors and residents alike and says it is important to keep it presentable. The commission should evaluate existing zoning and land use issues in the area and make appropriate recommendations to council.

Number two on the list is the Sixth Street corridor from Marlboro Avenue to South Fifth Street. With the pending work to be done in the area – the S.C. Department of Transportation plans to pave Sixth Street from Marlboro to South Fifth next year – the commission recommends using the Butler High School and Sixth Street Corridor Neighborhood Plan report as a guide.

Third on the list is intensifying efforts for annexation.

“We must speed up our efforts and commitment to expanding the city limits so that we can better serve our citizens and the general community,” the memo reads.

“Recognizing that we have limited financial resources, we urge the mayor and council to place an increased emphasis on this issue with the city manager, city staff as well as the planning commission,” it reads.

Also on the list is the Mill Village neighborhood off Railroad Avenue, an area the commission memo says is becoming more visible and important to the city’s future.

“In addition to the efforts in the Vista area, this should be a prime area to use programs such as ‘Paint the Town’ and community outreach to enhance its physical and structural appearance,” the memo states.

The memo also suggests that the city building inspector as well as council lead efforts to gain more active support from residents who live in the neighborhood as well as from the neighboring S.C. Governor’s School for Science and Mathematics.

The memo stresses that the commission is not suggesting that other parts of the city be ignored. “We are, however, recommending that we recognize the importance of these areas and rally the resources available to enhance them to be in line with the 2020 Comprehensive Plan,” it says.

The memo solicits ideas and suggestions from council and suggests that a work session involving the commission, council and city staff may be appropriate to address some of the issues targeted by the commission.

The commission also agreed to move forward with upgrading the city’s zoning map to bring zoning classifications in certain areas of the city more into line with desirable uses.

In other business, the commission approved a request from Darlington County Habitat for Humanity for a small subdivision on Heatley Drive where Habitat plans to build as many as 10 homes in the future.

City Council has already annexed the property into the city limits. The planning commission’s recommendation for the subdivision will now go to council for action.

Six lots have already been identified in a plat. Four others will be developed from another part of the property.

Brenda Kelley, planning and zoning administrator for the city, said the six lots identified on the plat meet all city standards for subdivisions.

Louis Yount of the Habitat Board of Directors told the commission that Habitat hopes to begin building houses on some of the lots next year.