Spartanburg Off-Topic

[westsider28]

H-J article on the proposed 2023/24 City Budget.  Would be $51.5M (up from $48M this past year).  Big sticking point for Council is a proposed $90 solid waste fee increase (from an annual $108 currently, to $198).  It would bring the fee in line with other cities and still wouldn't fully cover service costs (City partially subsidizes).  Also proposed is a minimum 5% raise for all City employees.

Lots of large one-time budget items:

$9.2M for Fire Dept HQ ($2.5M of that from ARPA funds)

$4.5M for West Main streetscaping (funded by state grant, design and contract this summer)

$2.5M towards affordable housing initiatives

$2.4M police tech & facility upgrades

$1M parking garage enhancements

$650k for Duncan Park enhancements

$500k toward library planetarium

$100k to develop a Morgan Square programming and management plan

Due to the solid waste fee and employee pay concerns, Council delayed first reading of the budget until their next meeting.

[Spartan]

Just an observation, but Spartanburg is really crushing its tourism investments right now. Dan Trail's $25m RAISE grant, Saluda Grade Trail is up to $15million, and the baseball stadium is a $250m investment - mostly private, but will be a huge boost for local tourism. And lets not forget the planetarium expansion on the library site, and the Morgan Square renovation will create more space for more events downtown... what else am I missing? Seems like a great time to invest in Spartanburg County!

[westsider28]

On 5/16/2023 at 11:53 AM, roads-scholar said:

I met the auditorium manager yesterday.  He has 40+ years experience managing venues bigger than SMA and he knows the business like he knows the back of his hand.  Spartanburg is lucky to have him.

He mentioned a few things of note:

• the auditorium will soon announce a Broadway series.
• a new website will be launched soon.
• large and small booking agents have taken notice of the auditorium.
• future bookings for both the theater (upstairs) and arena (downstairs) are way up.  Downstairs has a new stage and sound system for smaller acts. 
• a new roof is planned next year.
• the auditorium is looking to add more staff as business is demanding it.  
• the auditorium is working with the county to ensure the property across the street (currently the county administration building) is redeveloped to complement the auditorium.

The Memorial Auditorium announced the 2023-24 Broadway Series this evening.  Chicago, Stomp, Mean Girls, and Book of Mormon (plus a holiday add-on show: A Magical Cirque Christmas).  Looks like they're single shows (vs multi-show runs), but it's a very solid line-up!  https://www.crowdpleaser.com/broadway

[hub-city]

It may just be me, but how many times do I have to tell Urban Planet that I’m not a robot!  This only started in the last month or so……

[NotNotSanti]

Did you by any chance start using a VPN at that time? That could do it.

[Spartan]

I get those a lot too. VPN is usually the problem, or if you have a browser/plug-in that deletes cookies. 

[BorninSparkleCity]

Spartanburg made this list again:

https://realestate.usnews.com/places/south-carolina/spartanburg

[drexel]

I have brought this up several times to a number of city council representatives. I believe we need a stricter city sign ordinance. Last week spent a few days around Red Rock Colorado on the outskirts of Denver. NEVER saw a billboard and almost all the commercial signs were low monument style. Evidently Clemson has a similar restriction as well as some other towns in SC. It is so much more attractive than what we have now. The county is the absolute worst and does not care how big signs are or where they are located. Also saw less litter in a hundred miles than in one mile in Spartanburg/Upstate and the Co. pot tax pays for some damn good roads.           

[vicupstate]

On 9/13/2023 at 5:44 PM, drexel said:

I have brought this up several times to a number of city council representatives. I believe we need a stricter city sign ordinance. Last week spent a few days around Red Rock Colorado on the outskirts of Denver. NEVER saw a billboard and almost all the commercial signs were low monument style. Evidently Clemson has a similar restriction as well as some other towns in SC. It is so much more attractive than what we have now. The county is the absolute worst and does not care how big signs are or where they are located. Also saw less litter in a hundred miles than in one mile in Spartanburg/Upstate and the Co. pot tax pays for some damn good roads.           

 

I have visited several cities in Colorado, and do not remember seeing any billboards anywhere when I traveled there.  Vermont, Maine, Alaska and Hawaii have statewide bans.

[rancenc]

From Southern Living magazine!

https://www.southernliving.com/best-things-to-do-in-spartanburg-south-carolina-8357371

[vicupstate]

^^ I didn't even know Spartanburg had an art museum. 

[Historyguy]

On 10/17/2023 at 3:00 PM, vicupstate said:

^^ I didn't even know Spartanburg had an art museum. 

More than one, even!  SAM at the Chapman Center, Johnson Collection on Morgan Square which has an amazing collection of southern art...  Artists Guild Gallery at Chapman as well...  

[MidtownSpartanburg]

On 10/23/2023 at 8:46 AM, Historyguy said:

More than one, even!  SAM at the Chapman Center, Johnson Collection on Morgan Square which has an amazing collection of southern art...  Artists Guild Gallery at Chapman as well...  

off topic, but nothing would make me happier to see the Johnson’s (massive) collection of Southern art turned into a real museum of Southern art here in Spartanburg. What a benefit that would be for our city! 

[hub-city]

Is the old Calvary Baptist at the corner of Church & Pearl simply being demolished due to its condition or is there a plan for the space?

 

[westsider28]

29 minutes ago, hub-city said:

Is the old Calvary Baptist at the corner of Church & Pearl simply being demolished due to its condition or is there a plan for the space?

It's owned by Gibbs, so no real plan.  They briefly tried to rezone it, since it's awkwardly split-zoned.  But I think they gave up after they and the City couldn't come to an agreement on what zoning category was appropriate (especially because it was speculative, not with a particular plan in mind).  They did have a rendering of a possibility, though. 

But anyway, they've been marketing the site for sale recently (though I can't find the listing right now), but again, Gibbs seems to be reluctant to ever go through with a sale (their Beaumont Mill land went under contract, but then the buyer backed out).  It's a shame they didn't take care of the church building, it could've made a cool adaptive reuse project...

[hub-city]

Agree,  if nothing else it  could have been Church Street Lofts or something that tied the church into the area.  Didn’t know Gibbs opened the space.  Explains a lot…..

[MidtownSpartanburg]

14 hours ago, hub-city said:

Is the old Calvary Baptist at the corner of Church & Pearl simply being demolished due to its condition or is there a plan for the space?

 

Another great, historic building gone. Quickly on our way to being a city that looks like every other city with little original character left. 

[westsider28]

4 hours ago, MidtownSpartanburg said:

Another great, historic building gone. Quickly on our way to being a city that looks like every other city with little original character left. 

I thought we were starting to get serious about protecting historic landmarks after the HARB and City Council put several buildings (particularly those important to the black community) on the local register.  But then City Council got cold feet after HARB recommended the Kress Building and Masonic Temple be added.  We need to make City Councilors aware of how important historic preservation is to citizens, and hopefully they'll do more.

[Historyguy]

On 11/2/2023 at 8:24 PM, westsider28 said:

It's owned by Gibbs, so no real plan.  They briefly tried to rezone it, since it's awkwardly split-zoned.  But I think they gave up after they and the City couldn't come to an agreement on what zoning category was appropriate (especially because it was speculative, not with a particular plan in mind).  They did have a rendering of a possibility, though. 

The Gibbs folks wanted it zoned B-3.  I felt like it ought to be DT-5, but the planning commission was sort of weirdly composed the night it was on the docket.  It went to Council as B-3, I think - mostly for the density that B-3 allowed for apartments.  Otherwise B-1 might have made more sense.  Staff sort of went out of the way to tell Council they could take a different path and they weren't bound to stick to B-3 as recommended by Planning Commission.  (In fact, the previous month, planning commission had substituted B-1 for a petition for B-3, so there is discretion in this process.)  I vaguely recall that Council may have passed it as DT-5 but then it never came back for second reading - probably because the developer asked for a pause.  

[NotNotSanti]

I remember being able to watch the Spartanburg County sessions live online, yet I can no longer find the link to that. Are they no longer streaming it live, or am I being a goofball and completely missing the link? Hard to attend the meeting in person when in Inman 

Edit - it would help if I attempted to watch the right type of council session. It's City today. Found link for County and presumably it still works.  Would have deleted but can't seem I can!

Edited November 13, 2023 by NotNotSanti

[BorninSparkleCity]

Spartanburg dropped to the Third Tier in the 2024 Milkin Institute 's Best Performing Cities report. The city did still have  positive indicators.

https://milkeninstitute.org/best-performing-cities

 

[westsider28]

Spartanburg ranked #3 on Southern Living's "The South's Best Cities on the Rise 2024".

[gman430]

Spartanburg was the 8th fastest growing metro area of the country from July 2022 to July 2023 according to Census: 

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2024/population-estimates-more-counties-population-gains-2023.html (Table #9 at bottom of page)

Edited March 15 by gman430

[Spartan]

Didn't see this mentioned anywhere, but the City of Spartanburg just hired a new planning director. It's been nearly 10 years since the last one left. Presumably Chris Story and Martin Livingston have been providing leadership in that area, but its exciting to see that they've hired someone to be solely focused on that job.  I've not heard of hear before, but her varied experience, notably with a strong background in Urban Design, are a plus. 

I hope that she will stay around a while and get to know the community. 

https://www.cityofspartanburg.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=61

[Historyguy]

On 4/9/2024 at 6:52 PM, Spartan said:

Didn't see this mentioned anywhere, but the City of Spartanburg just hired a new planning director. It's been nearly 10 years since the last one left. Presumably Chris Story and Martin Livingston have been providing leadership in that area, but its exciting to see that they've hired someone to be solely focused on that job.  I've not heard of hear before, but her varied experience, notably with a strong background in Urban Design, are a plus. 

I hope that she will stay around a while and get to know the community. 

 

Yes, some of us have been pushing pretty hard to get the city to hire a director of planning for a while. It's been unfair to have Martin Livingston carrying that portfolio while carrying his other duties, and I am looking forward to seeing what having a full time professional focused on planning can do for us.  I'd asked, does the city want a bureaucrat or a visionary, and was told pretty directly that we want a visionary.  I think there's still some staffing up to do in the planning department.