Peter, I planned to attend and speak at the Planning Commission meeting this evening but as luck would have it, I have been asked to attend meetings in Columbia for the next three days. Would you please do me a favor and read the following on my behalf.
My apology to the Planning Commissioners for not being here this evening. My name is Jim Clements. I am a resident of the city of Georgetown first and a city councilman second.
I have read the comprehensive plan thoroughly. In fact, my wife and I provided edits that were hopefully sent to the Waccamaw Regional Council of Governments to be incorporated into a revision.
While reading the plan, we were both struck by the lack of a working knowledge of the City of Georgetown. Clearly somebody unfamiliar with our town was tasked to update the Comprehensive Plan and much appears to be cut and pasted from other documents.
For instance, the document recommends the city own and operate its own electric utility to facilitate annexation. I trust all present know the city already owns its electric, water and sewer utilities. The report references the city’s failure to charge tap fees for sewer and water, which we do.
A repeating theme of the Plan is to add residential density. Here again, the plan fails to adequately address the heirs issues which tie up most of the vacant residential lots nor the many dilapidated buildings that could, and should, be demolished to make room for new housing. Until the State finds a solution, these lots and unsafe houses will continue to hold Georgetown hostage.
The bottom line is that the abundant open land in the County, not the City, is our best hope to add housing. Our neighborhoods should be embraced as they exist as they are the very fabric of our community. This Plan, in its current form, should be rejected until it correctly addresses Georgetown’s challenges at a granular level.
One last comment: I see from your agenda that the West End Development Plan is making the rounds again. That plan is decades old. Why would we embrace an outdated plan other than to get it off someone’s desk. That’s not the intent of “Planning” and I reject rubber stamping it by sticking it into the Comprehensive Plan. Neither Plan should go forward until they are intelligently updated and in synch with the current community.