Greenville council approves multiple annexations and a zoning change for industrial site

Greenville City Council on May 14 approved ordinances to annex a package of properties across the city and unanimously approved a rezoning request for an industrial site.

Assistant Director Shante Gooby summarized each proposal during the public hearing, telling council the Hungates Commercial Park parcel (Item 4) is roughly 0.50 acres in the Fork Swamp Canal watershed and would require 25-year stormwater detention if rules apply. Davenport Farms Phase I (Item 5) is about 4.94 acres and is expected to yield approximately 45 multifamily units with an estimated $9 million in improvements, while Tucker Farms Reynolds LLC’s 2.20-acre request (Item 6) is anticipated to produce about 36 multifamily units and $7 million in improvements. The Helen Adams Division (Item 7) covers a 2.074-acre site with an existing 7,400 sq. ft. building (estimated improvement value ~$400,000). Oxford Ridge Phase 1 (Item 8) would annex 13 acres anticipated to yield about 31 single-family homes (estimated tax value just over $9 million).

Gooby emphasized that all of the properties are inside the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction and that, per the city charter, developments still have options for sanitary sewer service if annexation were denied. Where required, staff noted applicable watershed detention requirements and likely voting-district assignments if annexed.

The council handled the requests by voice votes: motions to approve for each annexation passed by unanimous 6-0 counts. During the Oxford Ridge discussion neighbors asked whether construction traffic could be routed to avoid an established subdivision entrance and whether stormwater retention costs would be shared with an existing HOA. Mayor Pro Tim Foreman and staff agreed to consult the developer about possible construction easements and to return with options for residents.

Separately, council unanimously approved a rezoning request for roughly 34.45 acres at the northeast corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Highway and Silk Parkway (Item 9). Staff said the change—moving the site from a planned industry district to a standard industrial district—would reduce setback requirements to allow the owner to construct an additional building without increasing traffic intensity. Applicant counsel Tom Terrell told council the change was "purely because you have some arbitrary setback requirements in one district that you don't have in another" and described the request as noncontroversial; the planning commission had recommended unanimous approval.

The annexations and rezoning will be recorded and implemented according to statutory processes and the usual staff follow-up. Council approved each ordinance by a 6-0 voice vote and instructed staff to pursue the follow-up steps discussed in the hearings.