Monday, July 9, 2007 by Denise Walsh

Council delays action on land swap, street closures

Action on proposed street closings delayed until August 6

This article first appeared in The Daily Reflector on June 15, 2007 following the June 14 City Council Meeting regarding the proposed Street Closing

by T. Scott Batchelor
The Daily Reflector

The Greenville City Council on Thursday voted to postpone until August action on closing streets downtown after business owners and others voiced opposition to the plan during a public hearing.

The City Council on April 12 passed a resolution approving a land transfer with Jarvis Memorial United Methodist Church that would net the city more than 60 public parking spaces and give the church room to expand.

Contingent upon the deal going through is the closing of Dickinson Avenue/Washington Street from Reade Circle to the alley separating the city's Municipal Building and Jarvis Memorial; and closing of Sixth Street between Dickinson Avenue/Washington Street to Evans Street.

During the public hearing, Jim Carter, chairman of the Jarvis Memorial building committee, said the church, established in 1907, is "among the oldest buildings in downtown Greenville" and "has been an integral part of downtown Greenville since that time."

He said the church draws thousands of people to the downtown area each week, and those people shop and eat while visiting the church.

"Jarvis has run out of space, and this is limiting growth," he said, including plans for a children's ministry.

Andy Piner, a Greenville resident and member of Jarvis Memorial, said the church, by its location, "is physically part of uptown Greenville and therefore has a vested interest in downtown." The church provides food, clothing shelter, tutoring and volunteer time for the community, he said. Street closings will not have an adverse impact on any businesses, he said.

Rick Smiley, a member of the city's historic-preservation commission and Uptown Greenville, kicked off a stream of opponents who addressed the council.  He expressed concern about using bond funds passed by voters in 2004 with the purpose of revitalizing the "Center City." He took issue with using about $1.8 million of the $5 million in bonds "to rearrange the streets when there's a wide array of (projects) those funds could be used for ..."

Denise Walsh, executive director of Uptown Greenville, a nonprofit downtown development entity, said she didn't think "closing a street brings any tangible benefits" and "consumes more than one third of bond funds allocated for the downtown area."  She said "there is no mention of a street closure" in the master plan developed for the downtown.

Eric Clark, president of Uptown Greenville, suggested that implementing streetscape plans would be a better use of bond funds that would bring a more immediate benefit related to downtown revitalization.  "We'll have tangible, physical results" that can help win support for future bond votes, he said.

Candace Pearce, a downtown business owner and member of the historic-preservation commission, as well as the committee that helped win passage of the revitalization bonds, said "closing the streets will deface uptown" and "slow revitalization efforts."

Alan Boutilier, co-owner of Starlight Cafe on East Fifth Street downtown, said the map showing the new routes after the streets close, "looks like a rat maze to me."  "It's a poorly conceived project to benefit a small organization unrelated to commerce," he said of Jarvis Memorial.

Katherine Wetherington, owner of Dulcinea on Washington Street, said hindering traffic on her street would hurt her business.  "I rely on those 2,500-plus (vehicles) per day, more than 12,000 cars per week, to survive," she said. "My business cannot survive the street closing."

Mayor Don Parrott said the city was not doing the deal to benefit Jarvis Memorial, but for the city and downtown.  "We're getting value for what we're spending our money for," he said. "Jarvis Church is giving up in value as much property as we're giving up."

"We're also getting property along Evans Street, which in my opinion is the most valuable."

Councilman Chip Little said of the city, "We currently own no parking associated with our public library (Sheppard Memorial Library)." The land deal and street closings would yield city-owned parking spots for the library, which he said is "a very focal part of the downtown area."  However, Little said he is "not convinced that all of this money should come from our bond fund." He suggested that capital reserve funds could be used to pay for all or part of the deal.  Councilwoman Pat Dunn said she had no problem with delaying action while people become better informed about the terms of the deal and the reasons the city is pursuing the plan.

Fellow board member Rose Glover agreed and suggested postponing any council action on the street closings.  "I would rather that we give this some more time," she said, so "everybody can work together."

Councilman Ray Craft countered those who complained about a lack of notice about the street closings and land swap.  "This process has been going on for a while," he said. "This information's been out since early April." 

"Most of us haven't heard any opposition to this thing until the last 10 days," he said.  However, he ultimately made the motion to postpone the action while representatives from the church, business community and city work together on resolving differences.  Little asked City Attorney Dave Holec if time were an issue in the agreement with the church. Holec said the only requirement was that the street-closure order be adopted by Aug. 10.

The City Council voted unanimously to delay action until the Aug. 6 meeting.