Elloree development gets final OK

Orangeburg County Council gave third and final reading Monday to an ordinance allowing the development of a 332-home subdivision outside the Town of Elloree.

Nearby residents continued to ask council to stop the rezoning for the development, but officials have been told there is no legal reason why the project cannot proceed.

Council’s approval ends a process that began on Feb. 8 when the request for the development appeared before the county’s planning commission.

Builder D.R. Horton Inc. has asked the county to change the zoning of the 331-acre property at the corner of Tee Vee Road and Cleveland Street from forest-agriculture to single-family residential development. Surrounding properties are zoned forest-agriculture.

Councilwoman Janie Cooper-Smith was the sole person to vote against the rezoning on Monday.

Prior to third reading, Dyanna Myers repeated her concerns, including concerns about traffic.

In addition, she said, “We still have a lack of EMS, we have a lack of a sheriff’s department on our end of the county. We have two deputies on staff that one shift.”

If both are responding to an incident, it would leave the eastern portion of the county without law enforcement, she claimed.

“With all these houses, this influx of over 2,000 will come in, it will really take a toll on the sheriff’s department,” she said. “They are already short-handed.”

Myers said the Elloree Fire Department is already short-handed.

“They have been begging for volunteers and for people to come out,” she said.

She also questioned whether the town’s sewer system can handle the development following the approval of a 93-home development.

“We don’t have infrastructure in Elloree,” Myers said. “They don’t have a backup plan for sewer.”

Town officials have said the Elloree Water System does have the capacity to handle the new development, but it would be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

No one from D.R. Horton spoke at the meeting.

Canebrake Court resident B.J. Young wanted to make sure there will be 86 acres that will remain forest and agriculture as part of the rezoning of the parcel. He was assured that it would.

No one spoke in favor of the project at Monday’s meeting, but during previous meetings those in favor of the project – primarily downtown business owners and local real estate agents – have said they hope population growth will lead to the town’s revitalization.

According to conceptual plans submitted, the project will include the development of about 169 acres of land into a residential subdivision over the next eight to 15 years.

The plan includes about 332 houses with half-acre lots.

Initially the plan was to build 332 homes on the 332-acre parcel.

After hearing concerns from property owners, D.R. Horton pulled out 86 acres that would be adjacent to the Canebrake community. This will bring the total down to 246 acres.

When 59 acres of wetlands and 18 acres of a wetlands buffer are taken into consideration, about 169 acres can be developed. Of this 169 acres, about 25 are a pond.

The proposed development was rejected twice by the Orangeburg County Planning Commission.