If the past few years have told us anything, they’ve told us Spartanburg is going towards growth – historic and unprecedented growth.
The Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce knows that to be true, but the question has remained, “What kind of growth?” Thanks to the leadership of Spartanburg County Council, staff, and smart growth advocates, the chamber now has an answer.
Performance planning has been a long time coming in Spartanburg County, and it’s a crucial step in our county’s evolution as a preferred and premier destination to live, visit, work and invest.
In late-September, Spartanburg County Council gave final approval to a performance planning ordinance spanning the unincorporated parts of Spartanburg County, stretching from Greer to Woodruff. The plan is the first of its kind in Spartanburg, one that allows for more flexibility for developers and residents while preserving the unique characteristics of that particular area’s landscape.
Support for countywide performance planning stretches back years, including being a key finding of the OneSpartanburg community assessment. Recommendation 3.2.2 specifically found that survey respondents wanted to see more live, work and play developments while also adopting strategic approaches to growth management.
Spartanburg County is growing. And it’s growing fast.
Nearly 7,000 new residents came to Spartanburg County in one year alone, from July 2017 to July 2018 making our area the 19th fastest growing community in the United States. If you break the number down into a daily average, 19 people a day moved to Spartanburg over a 12-month period. With a quarter of the state’s investment coming from Spartanburg based announcements over the past five years, we have no equal in business growth.
That kind of momentum is proof positive of how necessary performance planning, and intentional development countywide, really are.
The plan itself – an impressive 160 pages – outlines where growth is expected to occur fastest across Spartanburg County. The fastest wave of industrial and residential growth is expected in the area from Greer to Woodruff, making it an ideal first target for performance planning efforts.
The plan classifies roads from least-traveled to most-traveled. The more traffic a certain roadway sees, the more uses that are permitted there. High-traffic roads could see development in the form of schools, daycare centers, hospitals, shopping complexes, manufacturing facilities and more.
Lesser-traveled roads could see various types of development based on where that road fell on a spectrum of development possibilities. Some more intensive uses would still be allowed, but those developments would have to meet compatibility requirements, such as screening, setbacks, noise and light reduction, and more.
With this key first step having taken effect on Jan. 1, the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce hopes early success will lead to transformational performance planning efforts across the entire county. The beauty of this plan is the fact that, as County Councilor David Britt put it, “the plan will be living and dynamic and will change and grow in tandem with our community.”
Please visit the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce website and Area Performance Planning website for additional information.