Greenville County Square redevelopment

[gman430]

10 minutes ago, transplant08 said:

This has to go through two rounds of votes. The second  of which will have new city council members. Things will change.

Unless the new council members feel the same way as their predecessors. All of the council members including the new ones know a lot is at stake if they vote no like with the affordable housing and convention center they all want. Having the mayor and the planning commission recommending a yes vote doesn’t hurt either. 

18 minutes ago, vicupstate said:

The wyff article reads like a rehash article, not a new update. County councii approved the Conference Center funding  tonight but  stipulates County Square has to be approved by year-end or the money commitment could be reversed. 

I don't see that anything has essentially changed.  

Makes sense. That news reporter definitely needs to do some better research. 

Edited October 16, 2019 by gman430

[vicupstate]

9 minutes ago, transplant08 said:

This has to go through two rounds of votes. The second  of which will have new city council members. Things will change.

All I meant was nothing had changed tonight as a result of the county vote.  There may indeed be some more tweaks coming but the fundamentals will be hard to change.

[gman430]

I don't understand why some of these council members are upset. What's another measly $2 million on top of the millions upon millions that are slated to be spent on this project by the county? Besides isn't this money coming from a settlement with Prisma anyways? It's basically free money. 

 

The deal struck by Kirven and White didn't sit well with some County Council members who have long criticized Kirven for acting on his own.

Councilman Willis Meadows said the council should be able to debate whether affordable housing is even a county responsibility.

“There’s a lot of little side deals, and it’s got to stop somewhere along the line,” said Meadows, who told his colleagues he was prepared to vote against the financial pledge if not for the guarantee that the council could reconsider if the County Square vote wasn't favorable. “It has to be more than a one man show or a two man show. We’ve got to stop doing things the way we're doing. Otherwise, we don’t need a council.”

Councilman Ennis Fant said that the county should "take the high road" and show leadership before the city's verdict but be willing to reconsider.

Councilman Rick Roberts, who said the council should have never delayed the conference center vote two weeks ago, asked what the value was of a conditional pledge for people trying to plan for funding the project.

"Is it worth what it's written on?" he said.

Roberts criticized Kirven directly for making decisions outside of a broader council consultation. He told Kirven at one point that he shouldn't be smiling at his comments.

“There’s five or six of us that feel like we’re not getting to represent our district in a fair way,” Roberts told Kirven.

“I think that’s on you, Rick,” Kirven responded.

“No, I don’t," Roberts said. "I think it’s on you. But we’ll agree to disagree there. You can’t make decisions on your own and continue to do that without us being involved.”

Kirven said that he negotiated with the mayor after a year and a half of the County Square project being bogged down.

“Somebody had to do something,” Kirven said. "We pushed the issue as far as we could go. But to get it over the goal line will require the efforts of both the city and county councils.”

The County Council's vote on Tuesday was 11-0 without Councilman Joe Dill present.

Edited October 16, 2019 by gman430

[vicupstate]

^^  Basically they think they can negotiate as a committee of 12 and Kirven knows better.  

[gman430]

https://greenvillejournal.com/2019/10/15/neighborhood-association-leaders-want-input-on-county-square-redevelopment-project/

[gman430]

Updated article: https://www.wyff4.com/article/greenville-county-council-offers-support-for-downtown-project-pending-university-ridge-support/29492746 Hopefully the planning commission and rest of city council feel the same way as the mayor.

Speaking of that, I wish we could hear some opinions on how city council members feel in regards to voting yes or no. All I have seen is what the mayor thinks. 

Edited October 17, 2019 by gman430

[gman430]

Fox Carolinas has a live feed on their Facebook page of the planning commission meeting. 

[vicupstate]

Huge turnout. Council chamber filled and overflow into other rooms in the building.

Sent from my LGLS676 using Tapatalk

[distortedlogic]

Feed stopped working about 15 minutes ago. 

[Krugerdk]

5 minutes ago, distortedlogic said:

Feed stopped working about 15 minutes ago. 

Greenville Journal is streaming live on Facebook.

(EDIT: They started a new live stream)

Edited October 17, 2019 by Krugerdk

[distortedlogic]

1 minute ago, Krugerdk said:

Greenville Journal is streaming live on Facebook.

Thanks!

[gman430]

Are they ever going to vote or do we have to listen to residents talk until midnight? 

[gman]

Keep us posted. I stopped doing Facebook a year ago. 

[gman430]

8 minutes ago, gman said:

Keep us posted. I stopped doing Facebook a year ago. 

I gave up watching the feed. Lol. There should be a limit on how many people can talk otherwise they’re gonna be there until 5am. 

[gman430]

NA.

Edited October 17, 2019 by gman430

[gman430]

I started watching the live feed again. I’m predicting a no vote sadly. 

https://www.foxcarolina.com/news/members-with-we-can-do-better-greenville-want-input-on/article_e1b7c2d0-f12d-11e9-94e4-abc612212a01.html

Edited October 17, 2019 by gman430

[Krugerdk]

From what I've heard, I would agree with you. The affordable housing issue seems to be a major sticking point and residents have made that clear. 

[gman430]

6 minutes ago, Krugerdk said:

From what I've heard, I would agree with you. The affordable housing issue seems to be a major sticking point and residents have made that clear. 

That along with height and the residents claiming not to have been involved enough with the process. With a no vote though, the city won’t get their new parking garage and conference center downtown. 

[vicupstate]

The Planning Commission is not the final word. they make a recommendation only. 

[gman430]

4 minutes ago, vicupstate said:

The Planning Commission is not the final word. they make a recommendation only. 

Oh I didn’t realize that. A no vote still isn’t good though. Hopefully the city council thinks differently and the developer along with County come up with a better solution for the affordable housing issue to please everybody.

Edited October 17, 2019 by gman430

[gman430]

Did they ever vote?  Or did they all fall asleep? Maybe go out for a beer?  Can’t find a live feed anymore. I was going to attend the meeting. Glad I didn’t now. O o 

Edited October 18, 2019 by gman430

[Krugerdk]

10 minutes ago, gman430 said:

Did they ever vote?  Or did they all fall asleep? Maybe go out for a beer?  Can’t find a live feed anymore. I was going to attend the meeting. Glad I didn’t now. O o 

Hahah can’t find a feed either. Guess we’ll have to wait for an article to be published now. 
 

53 minutes ago, vicupstate said:

The Planning Commission is not the final word. they make a recommendation only. 

Good to know. Is the Planning Commission the only city representation or is there an additional vote needed by city officials?

[gman430]

1 minute ago, Krugerdk said:

Hahah can’t find a feed either. Guess we’ll have to wait for an article to be published now. 
 

Good to know. Is the Planning Commission the only city representation or is there an additional vote needed by city officials?

Two votes are needed by city council. 

[gman430]

They voted YES: https://greenvillejournal.com/2019/10/17/citys-planning-commission-recommends-approval-with-conditions-to-countys-proposal/  5-2 was the vote. 

Edited October 18, 2019 by gman430

[gman430]

The only downside is that the 20 story buildings didn’t get approved but they can go back and modify it later to include those. The city council has the final say on that also anyways: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2019/10/17/board-approves-1-b-county-square-plan-throws-out-20-story-buildings/3988358002/ and https://www.foxcarolina.com/news/greenville-commission-votes-in-favor-of-modified-county-square-plan/article_e1b7c2d0-f12d-11e9-94e4-abc612212a01.html

As part of the approved plan, more than 5,200 parking spaces will be created inside garage-like structures. The square will also provide green spaces and three options for affordable housing for seniors and families. Several trails were also proposed to connect the green spaces, along with the creation of new bike lanes and parallel street parking. Additionally, two central plazas and three dog parks have been proposed in the plan.

This will, however, mean major infrastructural changes. University Ridge will need to be re-aligned, and more left turns will be added to some areas.

The applicant who proposed the plan suggested a 20-story building, two 12-story buildings, and numerous other buildings that are 8, 6, and 4 stories in height. However, the commission voted against to the 20-story building for now and said they'd revisit the plan to modify it later.

Edited October 18, 2019 by gman430