Here’s a recap of the Greenville County Council meeting on March 16:
Approved: Former Union Bleachery mill rezoning
Plans for an ambitious mixed-use project on the site of the former Union Bleachery mill in Greenville are moving forward after the developer’s rezoning application was approved by County Council.
The 238-acre development near the Sans Souci community would include an as-yet-unspecified number of housing options, some at market rates and others as affordable workforce housing, as well as retail and restaurant space.
Developer Dean Warhaft of Florida-based Cone Mills Acquistion Group told County Council members that the project would also feature up to 10 miles of trails, including a spur from the Prisma Health Swamp Rabbit Trail that could eventually extend to Paris Mountain.
Warhaft said he’s currently working with the Environmental Protection Agency and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control to clean up the contaminated Superfund site.
Union Bleachery opened in 1903 and continued to operate until a major fire in 2003 destroyed a large part of the mill, which is located along Old Buncombe Road near West Blue Ridge Drive.
Arial view of proposed redevelopment of Union Bleachery mill site. (Provided by Greenville County)Denied: Dog training facility
Another rezoning request — this one for a proposed dog-training facility on Old White Horse Road — was rejected by County Council in a 10-2 vote.
The 3.25-acre facility would have catered to sporting dogs and included outdoor runs, a diving dock and a swimming pool for dogs as well as daytime kennels and grooming services, according to the applicant.
County Council Chairman Willis Meadows, whose district includes Old White Horse Road, asked that the request be denied because it would have resulted in “spot zoning” in an exclusively residential area.
“In spot zoning, I think we’re asking for trouble down the road,” Meadows said.
County planning staff also recommended denying the request because they said a dog-training facility is too intensive of commercial use for a site surrounded by single-family homes.
