A group of residents urged Greenville County officials to recommend denying a request to rezone 125 Cary Road in Fountain Inn from RR3 to RR1, saying the change would undermine an established rural character and create traffic and access problems.

At the county zoning public hearing, resident Kyle Gilly said the narrowness of Terry Road made higher density inappropriate. “Terry Road is 18 feet wide. If you meet oncoming traffic on Terry Road, one of you has to pull over,” Gilly said. He said residents had collected 362 signatures seven years earlier to secure RR3 zoning and asked the county not to reverse that effort.

Carol Gilley, a neighboring property owner, said the property was purchased with RR3 zoning in place and that reversing zoning would set a precedent that could erode the area’s low-density protections. “This was zoned RR3 because over 70% of the land owners wanted it zoned RR3,” she said. Allison Burns and Richard Sabo also spoke in opposition, citing the rural character of the road and the fact that the existing house on the parcel appears unoccupied.

No applicant representative spoke at length during the hearing, and no formal recommendation or vote was taken at the meeting; county staff noted the public hearing is the first step in a multi-month process. The Planning Commission will make a recommendation after staff analysis, and the Planning and Development Committee will prepare committee recommendations on 2025-08-18, with county council readings scheduled later in the year.

The hearing record shows multiple neighbors emphasized traffic safety and preserving the RR3 designation achieved previously by petition. County staff reminded speakers that written comments may be submitted to the zoning office and that rezoning requires three readings before county council.