We, the undersigned residents and property owners of Clinton and Laurens County, respectfully urge the Clinton City Council to deny the proposed annexation and rezoning of approximately 283 acres on Highway 56 South (the Cambridge Farms development), for the following reasons:
1. No demonstrated need. The city already has roughly 2,200 residential lots approved and awaiting construction, and existing developments are building and selling slowly. Adding nearly 490 more homes before that inventory is absorbed risks unfinished, undersold subdivisions.
2. Out of character with the area and the city's zoning. The property sits at the southern gateway to Clinton along Highway 56, next to Merrie Oaks and other established, large-lot neighborhoods that give this entrance to the city its character. The applicant describes every lot as R1 while requesting the denser RS-2 and RS-3 classifications, which he acknowledged he needs because the lots do not meet the R1 lot-width standard. The result is R1 lot area on paper but narrower, higher-density lots in fact, out of keeping with the surrounding neighborhoods and with the comprehensive plan's call for new development to reinforce the character of the surrounding area.
3. Wetlands and downstream flooding. The property adjoins wetlands and the Bush River, and nearby residents already experience flooding. The same engineering firm retained for this project, Blue Water Civil Design, served as engineer on another Laurens County development that became the subject of litigation over stormwater damage to neighboring property. No approval should occur without independent, current stormwater and floodplain review by a neutral authority.
4. Outdated, incomplete traffic analysis. The existing traffic study was prepared roughly two years ago for a larger, earlier version of the plan and did not include the proposed commercial development, on a two-lane stretch of Highway 56 that neighbors already describe as dangerous.
5. The county's decision is still before the courts. The Laurens County Planning Commission unanimously denied this project. After the developer obtained a reversal in circuit court, Laurens County appealed to the South Carolina Court of Appeals, where the matter is now pending. The City should not annex and rezone this property while a higher court is still deciding the county's approval of the same development.
We ask the City Council to deny this annexation and rezoning until the city can demonstrate genuine need, complaince with city zoning, complete independent review of the traffic, stormwater, and floodplain impacts, and allow the pending appeal of the county's decision to be resolved.