Hartsville Design Review board hears concepts for PDRTA stops, banners

HARTSVILLE - The Design Review Board heard a proposal from a Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority (PDRTA) representative during its regular monthly meeting on Wednesday. The board also discussed the possibility of stringing banners across the Fifth Street and Carolina Avenue intersection.

Don Strickland with PDRTA presented the board with potential signage for a new fixed Hartsville route within the city as well as a commuter route.

The inter-city route will initially accept passengers anywhere along the route that flag down the bus. After six months of the flag-stop system, PDRTA officials will study the route and ridership and determine where to put bus stops, Strickland said. PDRTA tries to keep patrons from walking more than two blocks and tries to keep the route at about a one-hour run time.

“We have been working w PDRTA on routing,” Interim City Manager Vern Myers said. He said that included rides through the city with Police Chief Tim Kemp.

Strickland added that PDRTA has had a lot of interest from Sonoco especially for a commuter route. The commuter route would connect the three cities of Hartsville, Darlington and Florence and also could specifically help Florence-Darlington Technical College and Francis Marion University students.

“We’ve committed to work with PDRTA to make this happen,” Myers said, which is why he suggested PDRTA approach the board.

The 18-inch by 12-inch crescent-shaped signs would have a white background with yellow and green highway colors making up the logo and writing. The signs can be mounted on existing poles, or PDRTA can install its own posts.

Most of the poles in the city are owned by S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) or an electric company.

The PDRTA poles can also accommodate benches that are typically white, but these would not be installed until after bus stops are designated and then not at all stops. The benches can be attached to PDRTA poles but not existing poles because of the clearance needed between the bench and the street.

“We would caution you on if signs and benches start popping up without us knowing,” Board member Bill Segars said. “We’d ask that anytime you make a change you come back before us.”

Strickland agreed and said that he simply wanted a concept approval to move forward since the bus stops may not even end up being in the B-1 district. The board only deals with signage within the B-1 district, an area of about 16 blocks downtown, and not all the bus stops may fall within its purview.

The board unanimously approved the concept of the signage in the B-1 district and asked that a PDRTA representative return as things progress.

The board was also receptive to the idea of banners that would hang across Fifth Street and Carolina Avenue to communicate community events as long as the banners were professionally made and were only up for specified periods of time.

Myers told the board that a number of business owners, Coker College, Hartsville Downtown Development Association (HDDA) and the Greater Hartsville Chamber of Commerce want a way to improve communication with citizens. The group specifically had discussed banners to welcome Coker College students or the Dixie Youth World Series, for example.

“This comes up quite frequently,” Myers said. He added that control measures determining size and color as well as eligibility would need to be established too.

“My thought is that it could be controlled through the city, and the city would be the administrative arm of creating the signage,” HDDA Executive Director Lenora Lefew said.

There could be a permit fee for the use of the mounting hooks, and city workers would hang and take down banners at scheduled times.

The board asked Myers to come back with a sample sign as well as the guidelines for final approval.

In other business, Myers informed the board that the Bank of America clock may be functioning within the next 60 days and that a citizen-driven committee to discuss the downtown streetscape had been formed. The next meeting of the streetscape committee will be 9 a.m. Tuesday at city hall.