The “cons” far outweighed the “pros” Aug. 3 as Clinton City Council grappled with, and finally tabled, the idea of annexing property into the city and allowing it to become a multi-use-housing subdivision.
Cambridge Farms has bounced between the City and the County, then into Court, then back to the City again, running into opposition at every turn from people who live outside the city limits around Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Many say the subdivision, envisioned now for 490 homes, in a city where 2,200 lots already have been approved for housing, simply will not work. “It’s too many houses on too small acreage,” said nearby resident Betsy McKinney. “There’s nothing more sad than a failed shopping center or project.”
Opponents of Cambridge Farms say the “town within in a town,” on Hwy 56 South, will be disruptive from a traffic and wetlands perspective. They say someone else has bid on the property with the idea of leaving it in a natural state, but that bid has been ignored. Patrick McNair, with Veranda Homes, disputes that telling the Clinton City Council at its regular monthly meeting, where Cambridge Farms was up for annexation, “It would have to be a contract, so, no. No one else is going to buy this property. We are going to develop it. I’m just being honest.”
Sarah Whitman reminded the city council that on May 8 the county’s senior planner said having two access points for a 500-home subdivision would be “a nightmare,” and urged the City to require that a new traffic study be done. Teresa Corley, a member of the District 56 school board, said in her 42 years living across the road from this property, “I have never seen a traffic study being conducted.”
Sitting for an hour in an adjoining parking lot, she saw 444 cars and 37 18-wheelers go by what is envisioned to be Cambridge Farms.
“That’s a far cry from what they gave you,” she said. “We want and need growth, but be considerate of long-time citizens of this community. Please, do what you know is right.”
Her son, environmental lawyer Michael Corley, asked, “What does this project mean for the relationship between the city and the county? This subdivision was unanimously denied by the county planning commission, and (developers) sued the county; that case is still pending. Look at your comprehensive plan - that guides the future. It says annexation should be in coordination with Laurens County, that it (coordination) is critical ‘along the fringe’ of the city. Is this a collaborative approach?”
Opponents of the annexation were speaking to council during the public-comments-on-agenda-items time, since this was agendaed as the annexation ordinance’s 1st reading and was not a public hearing. City Council is not required by local rules to have a public hearing on this request, since the Clinton Planning Commission already has had one.
Cambridge Farms was recommended for annexation into the city by a 3-2 Planning Commission vote. It has the recommendation of City staff. City Council indicated it would be after at least Aug. 31 (when all council members could be present) before it would consider the matter again, for a vote.
“When I came here 46 years ago, there was no housing but plenty of industry. Now, there is little industry, the streets are empty, but there is plenty of houses,” nearby resident Tommy Pinson said. “Take a good hard look at what we need; 450 houses in a neighborhood when we already have houses available? Is this what is really needed for the city?”
In all, 16 people spoke against Cambridge Farms in its current 490 homes, 5 different zoning classifications status before the Clinton City Council. “We appreciate everyone’s comments - your passion and your research,” Mayor Randy Randall said.
A Northern Laurens County resident who will take over a Laurens County Council seat in January, Nancy Garrison told council she has experienced first-hand what happens when stormwater is not managed. “The same engineering firm for the neighborhood that built beside us (she owns a ranch near Gray Court) is involved in Cambridge. Stormwater run-off overwhelmed culverts in Northern Laurens County. Make sure all environmental studies are done before this is done.”
Real estate financial analyst Shep Robinson presented “the math” to council, and judged Cambridge Farms as a project that “does not make economic sense.”
“The City would be forced to look at a failed project for years to come,” he said.
Clinton businesswoman Ashley Martin pointed out that the project has gone “back and forth from the city to the county” and said last year’s R-1 (zoning) proposal “is not the project being presented today.”
She said, “500 homes in one spot is not growth; that’s plopping a small town on the outskirts of our town. Clinton has a $44,522 median income. Who will buy these homes as ‘affordable’?”
A 35-year resident of Merrie Oaks, the subdivision that would border Cambridge Farms along Hwy 56, Brenda Stewart, said in 2025 the City Planning Commission told these developers not to come back with R-1 zoning, “now, we have R-1, R-2, R-3 and Retail.” She presented a petition of 500 signatures, all from people who are city utility customers. Because they live just outside the city limits, Stewart said, “We actually get to pay more; I saw my bill this week.”
She urged the City Council members to “look at your own planning documents” to justify their “no” votes on the Cambridge Farms annexation and housing development.
August 26: The Developers,
also information / action, if any, from an Aug. 17 “work session” with 3 topics scheduled for a closed-to-the-public executive session - that meeting happens after the deadline for this issue.
