July 28 would be the absolutely perfect time for the Clinton City Council to take final action on a massive land deal that could impact the city for generations to come.
That is, AFTER it conducts a public hearing.
July 28 would give the City the chance to advertise in The Clinton Chronicle and The Laurens County Advertiser (June 23 issues) a public hearing for that evening on ARK Management’s proposal to buy 552 acres of city-owned property for $2,500 per acre, and develop a baseball-themed subdivision and commercial area on the massive tract.
The City of Clinton was gifted this property, and more, after most of the Whitten Center Village was declared “surplus” state property.
Council gave first reading approval on June 30, at a called meeting. It was scheduled to give second and final reading, without a public hearing, at its July 7 meeting; but the matter was tabled at the suggestion of City Manager Joey Meadors. Council Member Megan Walsh asked Meadors to post a rendering of the proposed complex in the lobby of the MS Bailey Municipal Building for the public to look at - but, to what end, if there is no public hearing? No chance for people to say to the council “This is a great idea!” or “What about traffic and police and schools?” or even “What is the emergency exit for people in this subdivision in case there is a hurricane?”
Not having a public hearing on this “game-changer” proposal is a serious mistake.
Setting a final-action meeting for July 28 would give the Clinton City Council the chance to correct this egregious error.
The People need the chance to comment on this land deal.
First of all, are we really going to give over this once-in-a-lifetime asset to the first person who comes along with $1.3 Million in the bank?
Second, is this the wisest use of this land, much of which already is being clear-cut?
Third, we already have a baseball complex 8 years in the making, why do we need another one?
Fourth, what will be the role of heavily damaged Old Colony Road be in providing a second in-and-out route to this complex and the 208 houses (costing $450,000 to $475,000 each) proposed for this property?
This project has the potential to change Clinton forever. Don’t believe it? Just look at Everson, Georgia, in the shadow of Atlanta and home-site of the massive LakePoint Sports complex, home to 30 sports on 13,000 acres.
The Clinton project, to be developed and run by Elite Baseball Academy, does not have the scope of LakePoint - at least for now - but, it does have the capacity to “take off”.
City Council has been told that travel baseball is a thriving sport and what better place to have a year-round baseball complex than right off Interstate-26? It would be bigger than ANYTHING currently in South Carolina - on the largest tract of undeveloped and uncommitted land between Columbia and Greenville-Spartanburg (the city is thinking about building an industrial park on the other side of the interstate).
Just the mention of this project has hotels and restaurants paying close attention to this intersection - the Hwy 72 / I-26 gateway into Clinton, The Chronicle has been told. QT and Starbucks saw to that.
Their commitments to this gateway give it “legitimacy,” a knowledgable source told the newspaper. Also, this intersection is home to two small industries.
John Suter, the project’s developer, says three hotels will be proposed within this baseball/subdivision complex. It is a proposed $300 Million investment that could create 30 - 40 jobs, according to people who apparently have seen the land-sale ordinance.
Chad Webb, owner of Elite Baseball Academy, has said this facility could host 38 weekends of tournaments attracting 120 teams each.
It would be up to the Powers That Be in Clinton to figure out ways to get all these visitors to come into the main business districts of North and South Broad Street to actually see — and spend money in — Clinton.
Otherwise, it’s just a city-within-a-city with little or no contact with its host city. People come, people spend money “out there”, people leave.
All these issues - along with schools’ capacity, police and fire, planning and development — are there even water and sewer pipes accessible to this land? - cannot be addressed in a single public hearing.
But, maybe, it’s a start.
In any event, the Clinton City Council should play no part in shutting out the public from commenting on this project.
This is not the City Council’s land.
This is the Citizens of Clinton’s land.
We have a stake in how it is developed.
And, besides, what motivation could the City Council have in NOT conducting a public hearing. It is full transparency, after all.
The City had the chance for full transparency when it posted to its website the minutes of the June 30 called meeting when council gave this land-deal first approval. The minutes have a narrative of what was said, but the minutes COULD HAVE included the proposed land-sale ordinance and the proposed contract.
Learning what’s in the contract after it’s signed is of no use to Clinton citizens.
Neither the ordinance nor the contract is posted along with the minutes, and that looks like the opposite of full transparency.
In any event, go to The City of Clinton website and look under the Government tab to Agendas and Minutes, and under Council Meeting Minutes 2025, you can find June 30.
If you can’t comment on the City of Clinton’s sale of 552 acres of prime real estate for something in the neighborhood of $1.3 Million, at least you can read about it.
We don’t want this commentary to come off as “paralysis by analysis”; but, given the choice, we will always come down on the side of Public Hearings. Maybe no one would speak, but that has not been the case in recent planning commission hearings related to the several other subdivisions coming to Clinton.
And, we are always mindful of the second word in Public Hearing — the council hearing from its citizens. It’s a right we enjoy, or we can squander, in our nation.
