Simpsonville City Council voted to advance a pair of items related to the possible renaming of Gracely Park.
The 4-3 vote regarding a resolution to return Gracely Park to its original name, Simpsonville City Park, came during council’s Sept. 22 meeting. Mayor Paul Shewmaker and Councilmembers Shannon Williams (Ward 3) and Sherry Roche (Ward 4) voted against the measure.
Council also voted 6-1 to advance an ordinance to remove the retroactive date of Jan. 1, 2023, from an amended ordinance regarding naming city-owned or -controlled property. Councilmember Chad O’Rear (Ward 1) voted against this item.
The updated property naming ordinance was approved during council’s Sept. 8 business meeting, when O’Rear introduced an amendment that applied retroactively to city-owned or -controlled properties, not including city streets, that were renamed from Jan. 1, 2023, to present day.
City Attorney Daniel Hughes wrote a letter to council which recommended correcting the effective date to the day it was passed because the amendment added at final reading was a substantive change and public notice of the change was not given before adoption.
The ordinance presently requires that no public city-owned or -controlled property, facility, building, park, street or space be named in honor of any living person. It establishes a one-year waiting period before any public property is named after a deceased person.
It also allows for property to be named after individuals who have contributed land, money or other significant resources to specific public property, provided the donor stipulates the naming in writing as a condition of the contribution.
These items will go before the City Council for approval on Oct. 13.
Advanced: Traffic calming on Hudders Creek Way
Council voted 5-2 to advance a request to add a speed hump midway on Hudders Creek Way between Norvin Court and Nakkol Drive and set the road’s speed limit to 20 mph. This item will go before the City Council for approval on Oct. 13.
Other items: Speed humps, Flock cameras
During his report to the Council, City Administrator Tee Coker said 16 speed humps were delivered to the public works department and will be installed in the coming weeks, starting with Jones Avenue and in the Poinsettia subdivision. Coker also said the police department’s Flock cameras transparency portal and policies are available on the city website.
