Here is a recap of the city of Greenville’s Planning Commission from Feb. 16.
Approved: 20 acres annexed into the city of Greenville
David Walsh, vice president of support services with Bon Secours St. Francis, applied to have 20.88 acres of lot area and 6.35 acres of right-away to be annexed into the city of Greenville.
Currently located in the Sterling Special Emphasis Neighborhood within Greenville County, the board approved for the land to be annexed in the city and will be zoned as Campus (CM) upon adoption of the new Greenville Development Code and Zoning map. The new zoning allows campus-like settings, with larger buildings and larger lots, which include hospitals.
Deferred: Conflicts of interest precautions
The city of Greenville is looking to quash any conflicts of interest, whether real or perceived, within its Review Board members.
For the city of Greenville, the Review Board is a term that includes the Planning Commission, Design Review Board and Board of Zoning Appeals, each of which makes decisions about proposed developments and other major projects.
City staff applied for two text amendments to the current code of ordinances regarding the review board. The amendment would not allow review board members to directly submit an application to the review board they serve; they would instead need a representative to do so. If a review board member owns the property, their name would still be required on the application.
City staff’s understanding of the intention behind the request is to “minimize real or perceived conflicts of interest or preferential treatment for applications presented by a Review Board member.”
Currently, it is standard practice for a board member to step out in the case of a conflict of interest, and would continue if the text amendment is approved. Though board members supported efforts to increase transparency and wish to limit as much conflict as possible, some members felt that this amendment might worsen conflict or be confusing for the public.
Shannon Lavrin, assistant city manager, requested to defer the application to address the board’s concerns and bring back the edited amendment at next month’s meeting.
Approved: Text amendment of 19-2.218
The second amendment would require two-thirds supermajority vote of a planning board or commission to approve an application given a recommendation of non-approval from city staff. Recently, city council adopted a similar standard for applications receiving a denial recommendation from planning commission. The board approved this portion of the changes to text amendments.
