Spartanburg City Council Approves Westside Neighborhood Park

At their meeting on Monday, Spartanburg City Council voted 6-0 to approve a new neighborhood park and playground on the city’s westside, estimated to cost around $51,000.

Council member Sterling Anderson was absent from the meeting due to illness.

The City will enter into an agreement with Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church to use a parcel adjacent owned by the church sitting adjacent to its parking lot (click here to view a map). The parcel is located on the edge of the Wadsworth Hills neighborhood and near Park Square Apartments. Under the agreement, the City would enter into a 10 year ground lease of the park area. After 10 years the lease would renew annually unless terminated by either party. City Parks and Recreation Superintendent Kim Moultrie said the park will open once playground equipment is installed and landscaping is complete, hopefully by later this summer.

Also at last night’s meeting, Council voted 5-1 to overrule the City Planning Commission and deny a request to rezone property at 241 Cedar Springs Road from residential to institutional use. Formerly home to the Ellen Hines Smith Girls Home, the property’s owner, Hope Center for Children requested the rezoning to allow the property to remain a group home facility Assistant City Manager Chris Story explained that when the parcel was first annexed, its use as a girls home was nonconforming but was grandfathered in. Several neighbors spoke against the rezoning request, raising concerns about allowing another organization to use the facility as a group home.

In other business, Council:

• Voted 6-0 to award a $715,931 contract to Ashmore Brothers, Inc. for this year’s City street resurfacing. Follow this link to view a full list of streets to be resurfaced. 

• Approved 6-0 a new traffic signal for the corner of Fernwood and Dupre Drives. The project is expected to cost $107,000, with funding coming from the Spartanburg County Transportation Committee.

• Appointed and reappointed numerous boards and commission members: Ralph Daniel was appointed to the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission, Sarah Love, Matthew Manley, and Thomas Koenig were appointed to the Board of Architectural Design and Historic Review, Cecil M. Amick, Elizabeth Brady, Bryan Burnett, and Paul LeFrancois were appointed to the Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission, Suzanne Cole, Molly Talbot-Metz, Brenda Thomas, Thomas Lounds Jr., and Thomas White Sr. were appointed to the Housing Authority Board, Cassandra Lindsey-Williams, Brandon Lybrand, and Brad Wright were appointed to the Public Safety Committee, and Marshall Irby was appointed to the Board of Zoning Appeals. All appointments were unanimous.

For more on last night’s Council meeting, see the full video as well as a roundup of our live tweets below.