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Sweetwater Zoning takes center stage at
planning commission meeting Edgefielddaily.com web posted May 13, 2005 The Edgefield County Planning Commission met Thursday night, May 12, with the Sweetwater Road zoning being the main focus of the meeting and the sole reason for public attendance. After preliminary votes to approve minutes and agendas Chairman James Burt asked Guy Muller to report on results of the questionnaire that was mailed out to residents and landowners along Sweetwater Road. Guy Muller said, “We sent out sixty or sixty-five questionnaires and got thirty six back, six were from outside the area.” Muller passed out a packet containing the results of the returned surveys which showed, of the thirty-six residents, twenty said they were in favor of some type of zoning and nine were against, but also said twenty were for it and 15 against including all returned surveys. Chairman Burt ran through the list of questions with many having a wide assortment of answers, none of which brought any single position forward. On the question of “If there was zoning”, how far should it extend had answers from 1000 feet to 250 feet and a few in between. Muller said the answers showed a majority favored zoning in, “some fashion.” However, when questioned on why there were no responses to another question which asked for an explanation Muller said, “We got answers like, ‘nature is beautiful’ so we didn’t include them.” This raised the brows for the near dozen members of the public who began to question the questionnaire itself. Commission member Bernadette Hudson stated to another of the questions asking “Do you care about what happens on Sweetwater Road?” and another as to if growth is a concern, “I think that is a loaded question. Of course people are going to care whether they want it (zoning) or not,” she said. Those attending the meeting began asking whether the questionnaire was a fair measure since so many had come to the meeting last month to protest and so many did not return the questionnaire. “How can you get an accurate figure with an inaccurate questionnaire,” one said. Others asked for a more thorough polling of the residents. The way the questions were worded some said made sure many would not answer for fear any answer would be used to promote zoning, “Shouldn’t you follow up with another (questionnaire) that asked more pertinent questions?” another asked. Mary Shaw Barnard said the wording is why she did not return her survey, “I did not reply because I thought the questions were ‘loaded’ and they couldn’t be answered yes or no.” A theme many also said their neighbors had. Guy Muller stated he had spoken to some property owners who said their neighbors did not want the zoning and Muller stated he informed the individuals the neighbors had not returned the survey. Commission member Hudson stated there were more people present at the work session who voiced opposition to the zoning then there were who retuned the entire survey and said, “I find that odd.” Comments from the public said many felt it was going to pass and that they had done their part letting the commission know their position. Chairman Burt stated “we are not going to shove this down anyone’s throat. We are going to take our time,” adding that a new form of polling was “worth considering.” Chairman Burt reminded everyone the commission was, “not going to take a vote tonight,” and the process would move on slowly and they would probably hold another work session to take in more public comment. The survey results were taken in as information only. When public comments were finished the chairman thanked the public for coming and moved on to the next item which was on the training of workers in the planning and zoning department. Guy Muller stated he had attended one of the training sessions in Columbia and had one more to go to and he could begin training county workers. Commission member Norman Stephenson said he found the state guide to Comprehensive Planning (or SC Code 6-29) “very helpful,” and said, “I got a lot out of this and think it would make training a lot easier,” if others would read it. Before ending the meeting Muller passed out revisions to the planning commission’s ordinance book and suggested members read them. With no other business before the commission a vote to adjourn was taken. The meeting lasted about 40 minutes. The planning Commission's next meeting will be June 9, 2005 Opinions Planning Commission issues promised questionnaire web posted April 15, 2005 Promised Sweetwater zoning questionnaire still not drafted Web posted April 7, 2005 Planning Commission gets input from property owners on zoning Web posted March 10, 2005 Zoning issue stirs anger towards county web posted March 2, 2005 Proposed zoning uses web posted March 2, 2005 Return to Main Page
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