A volunteer, citizens committee has stopped short of recommending that Laurens County adopt Zoning to control future development.
Instead, the Citizen’s Task Force on Land Use and Zoning, after 15 meetings, 8 of which were in community centers to hear from fellow citizens, recommends for sure that Laurens County research and adopt a Comprehensive Land Use Map.
Committee members said at the council’s Monday meeting that such a map is referenced in county codes but, actually, does not exist.
The idea of Zoning was once vigorously opposed in agricultural Laurens County. As housing developments have popped up on farms and ranches, the idea of land protection is being looked at in a different light.
After 45 years of discussion, 5 decisions by county council, and study by 3 committees, “no action was taken and a lot of people have been hurt,” Committee Chairman Robby Bell said. “The People of Laurens County want y’all to protect us. We need you. We literally can’t do it without you.”
In other business, Council Member Arthur Philson Jr. presented certificates of appreciation to Registration & Elections board members and office staff. Council recognized National Historic Preservation Month, appropriate since the County re-dedicated the renovated Historic Courthouse in Laurens on Friday; and Council Chairman Jeff Carroll read a proclamation on a profession “near and dear to my heart,” National EMS Week, May 17-23, with the theme “Improving Outcomes Together.”
Council has been meeting in the Voters/Veterans Center on Bolt Drive in Laurens while the Historic Courthouse has undergone 3 years of renovations - it is expected that the County Council will move its meetings back to the second floor of the courthouse perhaps as early as June.
Assessor G.W. Dailey continued his series of updates on property values reassessment for tax purposes. He said notices should be mailed out June 8 to property owners of record as of May 15. On a recommendation of Council Member Justin Lane, Larry Franklin of Clinton was accepted for membership on the Assessment Board of Appeals.
Council gave 2nd reading approval (of 3 readings) to a re-authorization of the Hunter Industrial Park, Laurens, agreement with Greenville County.
Council conducted a closed session related to legal advice regarding a pending civil action, then conducted a budget work session. Members are working with staff on times when department heads can make appearances to discuss their budgets, and money they recommended that is not making its way into next year’s budget (last year’s Laurens County budget was $48.7 Million; the amount of tax levy is determined after the budget receives the final of 3 readings and a public hearing before the County Council). It is anticipated that the FY2026-27 budget will have a shortfall, and council members will have to decide between cuts and raising revenues.
Carroll described these budget work sessions as “where the rubber meets the road.”
The work of budgeting became part of the Citizen’s Task Force on Land Use and Zoning presentation when Bell and Vice-Chair Nancy Garrison indicated that it could take $75,000 to $100,000 for a professional firm to develop an useable land-use map for the County (one time expense). That money, Philson said, instead could hire and equip another Sheriff’s officer.
“I’ve been to meetings, I’ve learned a lot,” Philson said about his first year on the council. “Sheriff, Fire, EMS, everybody needs personnel and I understand what you’re saying (about land-use protection) — They (others on council) find money when they want to find money.”
“We believe we can guide growth,” Garrison said. “Doing nothing is still a decision, and it comes with consequences.”
She agreed with Council Member Kemp Younts that a contracted processional simply could help Laurens County “get through the process” of establishing land-uses.
“Someone to help us through the ordinance and it does not have to be done right away. We have to do something to control this growth because of the same issues you (Philson) are talking about. It needs citizen input and it needs to be done.”
“We don’t have to argue questions about funding with them. We should present questions about what they presented,” Carroll said.
Now that it has presented its recommendation, Garrison said the Citizen’s Task Force’s work is done.
Garrison and Bell were asked out of about 45,000 people in the unincorporated areas of Laurens County, why did only about 300 show up for public meetings, and which did they prefer, council action or a referendum?
“Their property rights were their biggest question,” Garrison said. “About Zoning, we discussed implementation in a protective way — what you see in the cities, nobody wants that (what you can have in your yard, what you can have on your farm). When they look at County Council they don’t see a vision. Residents when they came forward, they were asking about different ways it can be implemented, (could it be implemented) in areas affected and not in others. There was so much resistance to zoning years ago, we thought we would see more of that. It wasn’t the pitchfork resistance that we had heard about. People see the need for protection.”
In his presentation, Bell said, “Laurens County’s greatest treasure is our youth. Our committee is about the future. On 11-11-25 we were formed with 5 goals set by council. As of March 3 of last year we’ve had 15 meetings, 8 scattered across the county, and people said they appreciated that we came to them. These were not formal meetings, this was a conversation style meeting. We sat in the crowd. We tried not try to lead the meeting and we didn’t and it was very effective - 342 people attended the 8 meetings, we had 210 participants (speaking). Everybody felt pretty comfortable.”
The most prevalent opinion, Bell said, was “we need protection; unregulated growth does not seem to be working for us. A lot of things happened, we are losing community identity and overburdening the services we have now. We need upgrades now and, if we add more people, things will be worse. The availability of child care even came up at our meetings and it’s something that needs to be addressed. …
We had a good idea 15 years ago about where we were headed. we just didn’t take heed of it.
“This is the time something needs to be done. We are not recommending Zoning. That’s not what you are going to hear from us (but) people want protection and to know that you will try your best to protect them.”
