Two subdivisions designed to capture a piece of what is said to be residential development headed down I-385 from fast-growing Simpsonville toward Clinton were moved along Tuesday evening by the Clinton Planning Commission.
A tract on North Adair Street, accessed by Mt. Moriah Church Road, will be recommended for R1 (single-family residential) on the front and R2 (single-family with duplexes allowed) in the middle and rear to facilitate enough homes to make the project viable.
Developers expect to create 160 lots. That action was taken on a 3-2 vote.
A tract on Hwy 56, between Clinton and I-26, will be annexed and recommended for R2 zoning; it is adjacent to the new Clinton Recreation Center.
Developers expect to create 92 lots. That action was taken on a 3-1 vote.
Both subdivisions will require a state traffic study and a subdivision plan submitted to the Planning Commission, before final action is recommended to the Clinton City Council.
Concerns about the North Adair project were voiced by Janet Young Baker, an adjacent resident; and concerns about the Hwy 56 project were voice by Billy, Jeff and Rachel Pitts. “Over 10% of the population of Clinton is going to be right there,” Billy Pittsw said of the corridor which already has the Clinton Presbyterian Community, Countryside Apartments, and a new townhomes development at the intersection of Hwy 56 and Springdale Drive. “We are not prepared with infrastructure for growth that fast. Let’s take a break and see how fast the approved houses sell. We do not want to lose our small town attitude.”
The North Adair project, located near Clinton Middle School and Wilder Stadium, is complicated by 1967 covenants, which required single-family development on land with direct access to the city street. Residents there are concerned about traffic, already intense during school starting and dismissal times, and home football games. However, developers see a wonderful blank slate with an established wetlands and easy/biking and walking access to schools, the uptown area, and a proposed food-trucks court on East Main Street.
There is a “massive amount” of rock to deal with in developing this property, however, the planning commission was told.
A motion to keep this entire tract at R1 zoning (its current designation) died for lack of a second. Shawn Wilfong made he presentation for the North Adair Street Site, and Tyler Felt made the presentation for the Hwy 56 - Dutton Tract Site.
The Hwy 56 property which will be recommended to come into the city limits is 28 acres in two tracts connected by a strip of land. Developers plan homes on one part and right now will keep the other part undeveloped. The issue here is plans call for just one access point to Hwy 56, and to get another (for first responders and emergencies) developers would have to link onto the city’s road into the Recreation Center, which likely will have its official opening this summer.
“This is a very reasonable development for the city,” said Joseph Dyches, whose firm is the engineer for both projects - North Adair and Hwy 56.
