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Opponents press council on Paris Mountain and cluster housing as text amendments go to planning committee
Summary
Multiple speakers opposed cluster-housing provisions and an Altamont Inn proposal on Paris Mountain, arguing the mountain’s steep slopes and remaining open land make cluster development inappropriate; council referred a Paris Mountain ESD text amendment and an LDR cluster-housing amendment to the planning and development committee for review.
Residents and conservation advocates urged Greenville County Council on April 22 to reject cluster-housing development on Paris Mountain and to block an Altamont Inn-style project that speakers said would damage sensitive land.
Audrey Pazin opened public comment with a direct appeal: "The fix is in. Right? TR gets whatever it wants. Is that how this works?" She told council that a park parcel, Poinsett Park, had been transferred to Travelers Rest under a recent agreement and argued the transfer led to a map amendment without the public process required by the state planning enabling act. Sherry Sutton, citing a personal conservation ethic, opposed development of pristine land on Paris Mountain and asked council not to "destroy the ecosystem and the pristine beauty."
Other speakers emphasized planning and technical concerns about cluster subdivisions: one speaker (audience comment) warned that cluster housing as currently allowed may convert steep, undevelopable acreage into intensified building areas and called the approach a "fiction" that treats acreage as uniformly developable. Several council items reflected those concerns: council introduced for first reading an amendment to the Greenville County zoning ordinance providing special provisions for the Paris Mountain environmental sensitive district (ESD) and referred it to the planning and development committee; council also referred a land-development-regulations amendment to prohibit new cluster developments to the same committee.
Why it matters: Paris Mountain contains environmentally sensitive slopes and habitat. Speakers said cluster-housing mechanisms that concentrate lots on developable portions of a parcel can produce dense building patterns, erosion and loss of wildlife habitat. Council’s referral means the planning committee will review technical language, the ESD provisions and whether to continue allowing cluster development in the county.
Ending: The planning and development committee will take up the Paris Mountain ESD text amendment and the proposed cluster-housing LDR deletion; public testimony will continue at the committee level and at future council hearings.
